I am trying to decide what type of control arms to use when I upgrade my ride. It seems to me that the factory control arms/bushings allow some twisting during uneven axle movement. Some aftermarket arms are square stock with stiffer bushings and seem designed to resist this twisting. However, it seems to me that that would place a bind on the bushings due to the twisting moment. Is this the intent? It seems counter productive to me as how does one design the rest of the suspension to compensate when turning and driving over uneven surfaces?

It appears to me that the use of LCAs and UCAs with rod-end-bearings would permit the axle to move in an unrestricted manner without torquing the control arms. Combined with a Watts Link wouldn't this maximize solid rear axle handling?

I am certainly not an engineer but I look at both types and think to myself that the square stock stiff bushing designs are better suited for the drag strip and the rod end bearing type are more appropriate for a road course. I hope to get some feedback from the various mfgrs who are on the forum. Maybe I am reading too much into this and overthinking the problem. Wouldn't be the first time. I enjoy the forum and have gained a good bit on knowledge here. I look forward to some input. Thanks all.

Bill

 

You are correct the typical lower control arm with the square stiff bushings are bad for cornering and really hazardous if you hit a bump mid corner. J&M makes LCA with a hard urethane ball surrounded by soft rubber I use these and they are a nice compromise. Steeda has a narrow square center with soft rubber outer which is another step in the right direction. The problem with rod end ball bearings is they transmit a lot more noise and typically wear out fairly quickly. There are some other alternatives steel ***** in urethane bearings all add some complications and increased cost.

 

Thanks, I appreciate the response. For over 15 years I drove a 1970 Boss 302 with a very stiff suspension, poly bushings everywhere and zero sound-proofing. Add to that nearly 40 years now of flying Bell helicopters and I think NVH is a non-issue for me. (Huh, what did you say?)

Helicopters use a lot of rod end bearings and under high loads. I don't see them wear out all that fast. I infer from your remarks that the quality of the bearings is not very good. As in they were possibly grabbed out of a generic parts bin and not engineered for the task at hand (or axle). The ability to transmit noise you never heard before I get. A helo is an assortment of parts flying in formation and if they rotate they vibrate.

Perhaps a hybrid control arm which has a rod end bearing at the axle but a vibration absorbing bushing at the torque box is a better set-up. I'll just keep researching for now. I'm looking forward to hearing more on the subject. Thanks, again.

Bill

 

I,m going with the Roush uca and the frpp lca soon,dont want any NVH just want to get rid of wheel hop.

 

This would be kind of ideal for a hybrid built street/track car. The poly end would absorb alot of the unwanted noise from the rod end side. The only possible issue I would see is that poly and rod ends deflect at different rates under higher lateral loads.

 

I have finally cured my '11 5.0L's wheel hop issues as of yesterday and finally love my car. It's a Brembo Package GT and wheel hopped badly as delivered from Ford. Over a year ago I installed dual-adjustable rear lower control arms (Maximum Motorsports) and that helped a lot, but didn't eliminate all wheel hop as I could only adjust them down to -2 degrees of pinion angle. The have spherical steel bearings so they articulate great in the corners, but transmit a fair amount of noise into the cabin.

Yesterday, I had a Steeda adjustable upper control installed. It's their street version and I also had the differential bushing replaced with Steeda's firmer bushing. Got the pinion angle down to the appropriate -1 to -1.5 degree range and the wheel hop is 100% gone!!! NVH is up a bit, but I have 4.56 gears and louder exhaust anyway, so I already deal with more noise than normal. This is a street/strip car, so the noise doesn't bother me as much as it would most people.

Why Ford builds these cars with so much wheel hop built in is beyond me, but I finally love my car with the help of the aftermarket!

 

The whiteline products I've noticed have eliminated many of my customers wheel hop while either providing zero increased NVH or a very slight increase. Their UCA is priced very competitively, we run this in our 13 Boss and there is zero increased NVH although that wasn't our concern.

 

I guessed I missed it some where but what year car are we talking about here?