houtex

In this section (2005-2009 Mustang: S197 Discussion & News) you can find the 'Suspension Scare Story Time' post by yours truly, and you're all welcome for it. Heh.

But related to that, while she was up on the rack today, I had the opportunity to also inspect the rear axle suspension 'cause having issues. And yes.. my goodness yes... does the rear axle situation have an issue.

Digression... In the signature below you'll find the upgraded stuff for the suspension... which includes the BMR panhard and lower control arms for the axle... but missing is the Upper Control Arm for the axle. That setup of bushings, arm and mount is stock. "So what?" I hear you ask. "Why would this be a topic?" I also can hear some ask...

Well, why not? Also, here's how I suspected the stuff was bad... because it's definitely bad, turns out. See, I'd been noticing what feels like a hesitation at cruise. Got the cruise set for whatever speed, and there's this weird... bump... now and then. Another symptom, this more dramatic, on a curve at decent speed, you push for a little speed, then let off... I could feel the car's body shift around in the back. Like it's trying to fishtail just a little bit, but not really. And always the same motion. Oh yeah, and a little bit of a very faint clunk/bop sound here and there.

And so the inspection today revealed what I'd suspected... them upper bushings for the axle and control arm are not only done... they're *DONE*. Like as in next to may as well not even have rubber in them. They're dried up, cracked and pieces missing... But it all makes sense. If your rear is doing some weird shifting while in a curve, or at cruise you're getting a weird bump that feels sorta like a hesitation... might wanna look at the upper control arm situation. What's happening: wheels rotating top to front to bottom to back to top... and the axle wants to go reverse to that... so the axle top shifts backwards on acceleration, and shifts forwards on deceleration, as the rubber bushings are allowing the top to flex, and the lower control arms are holding the works in place, especially with them BMR polys. Which on a three link with panhard bar means the panhard mount gets shoved down on acceleration, or up on decel. Which because poly bushings in my case, leads to the panhard geometry dictating the axle shoves rightwards during acceleration, leftwards on decel. Hence, the bumps and clonks and body shifts described. I suspect, given the conditions of the bushings on both ends, the entire top of the axle has anywhere from a 1/4-3/4 inch leeway for movin' around. Be interesting to see how it'd look with a GoPro or such in there to watch...

It's a little weird, honestly, 'cause otherwise handles and acts like normal! Still, I guess that after 12 years of being in there, I suppose it might make sense it's time to replace the setup.... So I get to add to my signature soon!

BMR Differential Bushing Kit... check.
BMR Non-Adjustable Rear Upper Control Arm Poly Bushing Hammertone... check.
BMR Upper Control Arm Mount Bracket... check.

All on its way and should be here Friday sometime for a Saturday install. Whee.

I'll be getting a 1.5" hole saw and 1.5" wire brush as you have to keep the OEM bushing shell in the differential mount. So you gotta drill out the old bushing and wire brush out the remnants before you put in the new bushing setup. But all the rest of the stuff I got. Including the transmission jack which will do a great job at lifting that axle what with the tilt it can do... That's gonna come in hecksa handy, I bet. We'll see, of course... Oh, wait, I also need a big C clamp for the diff bushing kit's inner sleeve... but that's not a huge either. (Kinda odd I don't have one, you'd think after all this time...) And I think I'm gonna get a new grease gun, 'cause I think the one I have is janky... seems something's messed up. So I'm all set other than those things, which aren't bigs...

Oh yeah, I finally will get them Koni oranges installed back there while I'm at it. Been meanin' to, just... well, y'know, other things... And the rear shocks didn't do the bouncing to an extent I never felt like I hadda *hadda* do it... meh. I've had them in the corner of the garage for way too long, but they'll be ok, I'm sure.

So bottom line, dudes and dudettes, is that Awesome's gonna be better than ever after this weekend if all goes well! Will report back with results, maybe some pics. Just wanted to say. Well, ok, ramble. Still, just tryin' to help anyone out if they have similars and are pulling hairs out of their sockets about it. Laters!

Glenn

Thanks for the heads up

Bert

another thanks for the heads up, and yeah I think I have this going on in mine too, gotta get under there and take care of it sometime soon

One note of caution: in the rear upper control arm, you do not want super-firm bushings that will prevent twisting. There is some "articulation" or twisting needed up there, so the axle can move up on one end and down on the other at the same time. If the UCA bushings are too hard, then the differential bushing has to absorb all of this motion and it dies an early death. I haven't made the investment yet,but I think I am going to get a UCA with a joint in it, that allows it to rotate, before I replace the diff bushing, so I won't need to do it all again in another year or two.

shaneyusa

Certainly more serious than the other mentioned! Will be watching out for this. Thanks!

houtex

I'm replacing the differential bushing, so it won't die an early death. It'll be all poly BMR arms and bushings when I'm done. Eibach GT500 swaybars. And the Koni Oranges.

I don't think I'll be destroying any bushings.... or at least I hope not. That's the overall intent. I'm doing this once, then I won't do it again, or so the idea goes, if I've been reading all the things(tm) right. Plus, I enjoy the car's handling and feel of the road, so I absolutely don't care much about cushy ol' rubber, gimme that poly ride!

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My *goodness* it's freakin' humid today. 84% right now and going UP. Pour me in a bucket. Temp's nice, but good gravy I'm being braised... Or maybe it's crock-potted...?

houtex

Story time! Like it or not. I gotta vent. Sorry.

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Ok, not done. Issues.

First, it's freakin' humid as mentioned, so I hadda take breaks 'cause the garage is a little miserable. So that slowed me down, hydration is key. Got the car jacked up, on ramps in front on 6 ton jacks in back, semi-adequate room to play in... but still bumping my head here and there... ow...

Taking the UCA off the differential wasn't difficult. One bolt/nut, popped it out, ok, next.

Undid the body mount bracket (one bolt inside, two under) and then undid the UCA bolt/nut. Dudes. That was a little difficult. If anyone thought losing the 10mm sockets is bad... Why the heck Ford used 18mm, to which just about every wrench set out there *does not have in it*... I have some 18mm stuff, but it's a real pain in the buttocks, 'cause it's not nice as my other wrenches, 'cause nobody carries the 18mm wrenches that much...

Anyway. Gonna be fun to put it back together...

So I got the actual arm out. Whee. Then I drilled out using the prescribed 1 1/2 inch hole saw, first one way then the other. Rubber everywhere, the chuck got a little burnt/ground down, but then it just popped out easy as you'd like.

Wirebrushed... I believe I got that sleeve clean and nice...

(Note to self. Buy the stock bushing, chuck it in a vise and swap the guts out that way. Then press the thing in. Yes, the pressing in will be painful, do it anyway. If you need to. Hope you don't after all this...)

So now I'm ready to remove the UCA-body mount and... Then I had to abandon the swapping of the UCA-body mount because there just was no way. I tried, though, I undid the bolts for the tank, even though other videos and such say it's possible to get it out without dropping it, but I don't know what's going on. Tank would not budge. Straps were way loose, I had the transmission jack under it, I tugged and tugged, but nope. It's stuck. Well, ok. I guess I can live with the stock mount. Fine. Bolted the tank back up. Whatever.

Ok, new grease gun! Woot! My old one was big and clunky and the fitting was really hard to get on and off the zerks so I splurged and purchased a Lucas Oil mini gun... Partners, that was a mess. The hose was what I needed so I had flexibility, especially regarding that UCA's zerk fitting. No way the tube version was gonna work. So just transfer the fitting from the lil' pipe they give... And friends, that was a tough cookie to crack. Seems they put some sort of loctite/sealer that just would NOT let go. Fine, but worse, there's no way to hold the pipe the fitting was on. The flexble hose does not go on the pipe...and it'd be backwards anyway... I decided I would simply vise grip the the HECK outta the pipe and get a wayyy oversized adjustable on it... and it didn't wanna let go.. but FINALLY I won. Transferred the fitting and... well, dude, the thing won't go through the handle.. fine, put it on the end... now I can't get the plug out because the TOOLS won't go through the handle... had to rig that up, got it figured, and finally, FINALLY, I can put the lil' grease tube in... which then proceded to push the grease out... wasted a tube of red and tacky 2... figured that out on the second tube (nobody can write instructions worth a flip, but I got it now.) Yay, finally grease gun of small and win! (Then it airlocked, and I made a mess part two, but it's all figured out now and it won't happen again, Captain.)

That took *entirely* too long. But movin' on. So next... the bushing setup on the axle housing was... fun.

I lie. It was a nightmare. Easily the most miserable part of the entire ordeal. It's a five(5) piece bushing, two end caps, swappable, an inner sleeve, and two 'middle' bushings, one for the passenger, one for the driver side of the outer sleeve, which is still in the axle. And the instructions were, I kid you not, "Press the passenger side bushing half in from the *drivers side*"

What. In. The. Heck. But that's how it's supposed to go, so fine.

Way too many minutes... more than an hour?... later... I guess I got it right, I dunno. Really messed up install, bad enough gotta get the old rubber thing outta the sleeve, but then the pushing in of the new one? Passenger all the way through from the driver? It got a little angly and whatever, but at the end.. Ughs. Just... yeah. I finally got a rig figured out... well several iterations. This was the nightmare. Kept dropping this and that and the other misaligning and and and... I was really really unhappy. But got it pressed through and in, the caps are on, the inner sleeve pressed in (by the way the words 'use a c-clamp' and this operation? DON'T. Just... don't. I have learned,and will be getting a long dang bolt and nut setup next time. I got the rest figured out, just need that now... if there's a next time, which as stated in earlier post is the point of doing this, so I don't do it again anytime soon...) ...and it looks good, all lubed up, seems to be lined up, so I'm goin' with it. Wish me luck, but it seems fine.

Then ONE MORE try to get the stupid OEM bracket out (without dropping tank), and no way, Ted. It's not coming out without the tank coming out and the tank's not willing to come out. Plus it's sorta got enough fuel I'm skeert of playin' with it too much. I can swap it out later when I need it on a rack and have better help than just me. I saw a video on this bracket, but maybe there's a difference on 2011-2014 tanks?

Ok, time to stick in the actual UCA arm on the bracket. Done, not too hard... but man, again, the 18mm thing rears its ugly head and trying to use two 1/2 rachets up in there (you just can't get a big 1/2 cordless impact in there to assemble easily now) is just *maddening*... in desperation I figure out that a 3/4" ratchet wrench will do for 18mm in a desperate pinch to help things along and (I keep using this word, I'm not sure it means what I think it means) FINALLY I get the bolt/nut tight enough I can then put the underside bolts in the bracket and get it where it needs to be.

And now... get the UCA arm on the differential. Again, I'm not thrilled with the entire bushing deal on it, but it's the best I can do. Gonna be a struggle. Jack up the axle... no, gotta reposition, it's too far forward... too far back... ok, there we go, let's shove it on...

*fwop*

Huh. COOL. It's ON THERE LIKE IT BELONGS.

Kinda the first thing that went right. Little more adjusting with the jack for the axle to line up and...

*sproing*

Bolt went right in. Just a couple of hits with a rubber mallet to get it all the way through!

I was... pleased at this. But then I had to tighten THAT... and it was so much worse than the UCA arm/body mount bolt/nut... ow... even with the 3/4 ratchet trick... Ok, it's on and done.

Went around and greased all my zerks so I know that's done back there. 9 of 'em now (two swaybar, two panhard, two each LCA, one UCA). I'm going to enjoy the lil' grease gun next time!

Now... while I'm here, lemme hit them shocks like I want... Wait. Ok, take the wheels/tires off (yes, I hadn't, didn't think it needed to be done until I hit the shocks.) Not helpful. How am I gonna get that bolt past the sway bar...?

Ooookay, that's enough. Packed it up, I'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm dehydrated, I'm cranky, just... yeah.

Got a pizza. Yum. That helped my mood. And plenty Coke Zero to hydrate, yay.

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Of course, I went and looked up the issue with the shock bolts (I got the top nuts off already) and of course, you have to drop the links of the sway bar. "FINE" he says exasperatedly. So a couple of bolts out and that drops, then I can get the shocks swapped out. Then put the wheels back on, torqued, get the rear wheels on the ramps, torque ALL THE THINGS because correct ride height and get the top shock nuts on while I'm there, drop the car on the ground, tighten that last big bolt inside the car for the UCA body mount, and then re. lax.

So it won't be so much tomorrow, really. But that's why I planned the whole weekend for this, overage on Sunday. Whee.

Thanks for listening/watching/reading. Go ahead and smash that 'like' and 'subscribe' button and turn on that reminder so you don't miss any future updates, and I want to thank this post's sponsor the Letter Q! We out here, peace!

wanted33

Oh brother, another riveting adventure with Awesome. I'm thinking on the next installment of "Me & Awesome, A love story" we make a YouTube video. Talk about going viral.

EF1

the 2006 cars must be a bit different than my 2011. I didn't have nearly that much trouble when I changed out my UCA. There wasn't any room to remove the UCA from the upper bracket while on the car. So, I unbolted it from the rear axle and removed the upper body mount with the UCA still attached. I then removed the UCA from the bracket and replaced with the new Steeda adj UCA. Then reinstalled the upper mount with the UCA attached (hanging down). That big bolt under the rear seat tested my impact wrench and the torque spec on the reinstall was more than my torque wrench would do. I maxed out my torque wrench and went another 1/4 turn with a breaker bar. Well good luck in finishing it this weekend.

houtex

Yeah, something's different. The entire bracket is different. The one for the '05-09 ('10?) has three position 'holes' that makes a 'slot with detents' versus the ('10?) '11-14 which has only two holes. Therefore something's weirdly 'tween the two... The UCA is also a different shape at the bracket end, more beefy lookin'. Guessin' the musta did something to hold up to the increased horsepower/torque the 5.0 put out?

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Ok, next chapter the final...? I've got lunch/dinner.. linner? Dunch? Whatever, I'mma gonna go eat, but FIRST...

It's done. For better or worse or merely 'meh'. Thinkin' 'mostly meh' at this point.

Right off... I hurt. I gotta remember that I really don't need to be using the garage to work under a car anymore. It just (a verb what means to move stuff through a tube or vortex using a fairly large amount of negative pressure) and it makes me hurt. Shoulders, back, hips ('cause layin' on 'em) and just overall awkward and stuff. Ugh.

But anyway, as we left off I hadda get the shocks swapped. So dropped the sway bar, wasn't a biggie. Still kinda off putting that Ford made it that way, but whatever. Koni oranges on, sway bar back on, done.

Mounted the tires, torqued them (as was on the parking brake and in first, so axles weren't goin' nowhere.)

Ok, now to torque the UCA bolts. Which meant getting the car off the 6 ton jacks and put her on the ramps in back (she was already on ramps in the front.) This will get her to ride height configuration.

...aaaand now all the stuff is in the way to do the torquing. Fantastic. Pipes, sway bar, panhard bar, axle, driveshaft, gastank... it's almost like they somehow do this with specialized stuff in a factory or something... There is absolutely no way to put a socket on the front UCA bolt/nut. And I'm all out of ratchet 18mm and 21mm wrenches. Not that they make torque ratchet wrenches anyway. So I finagled and I contorted and I reasoned and I just said "eh... guess that'll do..." and I figured out several different methods to get the front one torqued by hand a little bit more than that German stand by measurement goodentite. One big dang crescent on the 18 ('cause again, apparently an 18mm wrench is taboo or something in the industry) and a 21mm regular wrench, and I just kept going until it was obvious there was no physical way possible I could possibly budge the bolt/nut any further.

Then I attacked the differential UCA bolt/nut. Nearly the same thing... but then I did manage to get an 18mm socket and get it bound in the mess back there. Which was good, no way I was gonna be able to hold the thing when I had to use a deep well 21mm on the nut, plus a wobble extension, and then I was able to get about an inch of arch to swing the torque wrench. Which I set dutifully to 129 lb-ft, and proceeded to drive it home. To which it never ever clicked. I spun the thing back to 100, click. 110, click. 120, click? I then figured that with the wobble extension and the other wobble extension on the other wise and it being bound up on the panhard bar brace and there was probably a lil' give in all that, and that I was much like the other nut/bolt in not really bein' able to move it that I was definitely getting enough torque on it. Plus, I had one more 'upstairs' for that mount bracket to do and I'll know by that one's feel if I got these two, as they're all 129s.

Alrighty then, so UCA bolts torqued to stupid as best I could... and now I had to execute the Bright Idea I had before starting this endeavor... That's right, time to swap the Synchromesh fluid in the TR3650 for Mobil 1 ATF! I've heard it is THE stuff to stick in the gearbox to solve all the things(tm)! So, here we go! And done! 3.2 quarts out ('cause I overfilled last time due to bad data) and 3.0...ish... quarts in!

"Really, no big deal?" I hear you ask. Well, I imagine I'm hearing you ask. Or maybe it's just some voice in my head saying that you should be asking that... that voice needs to shut the (noun describing a particularly hot place where devils be) up, but anyway, if you were happening to be thinking I was saying it was a breeze? No. Nosir/ma'am, I am not. This was painful in all the comedic ways possible and still be a fail of a success...

The pan slipped off the propping I had under it as it was being drained into. That wasn't optimal nor expected as I was fairly sure it was a solid enough base. Guess not. Fluid all the places. I also didn't pull the upper plug (insert Fred Sanford's admonishment to Demond: "YA BIG DUMMY!") so it did the glug glug as it drained, in addition to the spilling the slip caused, and therefore I had to hold the pan up manually until it knocked the glug glugging off. But finally I got the thing drained, got the pan out, cleaned up best I could under there (which wasn't all that bad to clean up, turned out, just a LOT of blue shop towels) plugged the bottom plug back in. Then attempted to put my previously used and ok last time I used it fluid pump on the Mobil 1 ATF bottle... and the screw on cap don't fit. 'Cause Mobil 1 uses a weird bottle. Of course they do. So I sacrifice the remainder left in an old Syncrhomesh bottle into the drain pan... remember the drain pan? And then transfer the Mobil 1 into that yellow bottle... and there's more Mobil 1 ATF in their quart bottle than will fit in a GM Syncromesh quart bottle... Ok, that's weird. Pour some back. Put pump cap on.

Alright, problem solved, let's go. Proceed to start to pumping the fluid into the transmission... which the hose is too short to leave the bottle on the ground and just pump. And it wants to curl the wrong way. And of course, whatever fluid's still in the pump hose wants to drip out... but I deal with that best I can, tryin' to not get frustrated... Solve for the short hose issue is to put the cap under the transmission so the hose stays in the fill hole, and then push the bottle up into the cap and yay, we're pumpin' fluid. :yay:

...And then the pump top pops off the pump and bottle combo while on a downstroke due to of course it does. Fluid spills, but not a lot, but now my hands and the bottle are covered. Simple enough to just pop the top tube of the pump back in the cap, but still.

It did this three times. Because I had to do this three times. Well four, see the above weirdness re: quarts, but that last one it didn't pop off. The second time, I rotated the tube so it was less likely to want to leap out of the fill hole. And spills kept happening, no matter the care and concern and what not...

But I got it done, (verb meaning to rotate a shaft with a spiral 'ramp' of sorts (thank you Archimedes!) in a way what will likely fasten two things together) you pump and fluid and bottles and drain pan. Remember the drain pan? Yeah.

Fill plug back in. Clean this mess up again. Go get a Coke Zero and deangrify.

Ok, with Bright Idea finished, I can finally put Awesome back on the ground.

And I get my jack stuck under the axle. Heh. I figured I could just jack her up on the axle center, get the ramps out of the way, then let her down... oh yeah, she's on the front ramps so of course, jack got stuck, because geometry, and sway bar got it trapped. Just a little, no harm really. I get the sway bar off the jack by jacking the axle back up, then I get my 'spare' broke-(noun typically misused these days but means a very nice donkey) 2 ton jack I don't use much anymore and stick it ona frame rail, couple of pumps up and I get my low rider 3 ton outta there no sweat. Just figures at this point. Glad I kept that jack though!

Ok, go get the front ramps off (which is *really* scary when you're down to the one side and the car is all kinds of (adjective which has to do with a cute cat and it being struck by multiple people, the poor thing... this one is tough, but it sorta kinda rhymes with 'hattiepompous'), but it's ok... aaand she's on all fours again!

Do the nuts on the top of the shocks in the trunk. 'Cause you gotta do those, y'know? And then that big meanie center bolt for the UCA mount bracket. 129 lb-ft. And when I was done and knew what that felt like, I have no doubt I've slightly possibly overtorqued the front UCA bolt/nut, and the diff one is probably a little over too. So I'm goin' with that, 'cause whatever, it's tight enough, I'm done.

Seat bottom back in. Clean up me, change clothes. Get in, start her up (I missed her so much these couple days!) Back her out, clean up the mess of rubber and spray down the remainder spilt transmission fluid, and take off for a test drive.

And here's the 'meh' part: She sways a little bit still in the curves. I really had thought that was gonna go away. But maybe it's the tie rod ends and I need to put the bumpsteer kit in. She also makes noise on that new center bushing. But I think that's because I didn't get enough grease in that zerk. I had trouble with that grease gun, 'member, and I'm not sure it did the job, so I'll be taking it to my people at work who'll get that thing full, watch. Not concerned at the moment about that lil' bit of squeakin'. Just annoying after all this stuff. And it's only on the more bumpy pavements. Smoother slabs don't make it squeak, so not terrible. Hope I'm right re: need a bit more grease...

But the bouncing from the old shocks not being happy is gone, that's nice. Feels more surefooted without the extra bounce and jounce that she had before back there. And shifting under power is really nice. Just goes. The arm did improve that quite a bit.

Overall it's cured more than it's 'meh'd, this UCA swap, so I'm not unhappy at all. I just... well, guess I expected a little more than what wound up happening?

Oh, wait... one other good thing! Bright Idea seems to have done something! Shifting during the test drive seems to have been much improved! Doesn't resist as much as it used to. It's still a remote shift triple rail TR3650, of course, but it just seems, given how much I was having resistance with the Syncrhomesh, the Mobil 1 ATF has improved the overall situation. I'll be gathering more data though, don't wanna call it 'oooh, y'all do this right naw!' thing unless it stays 'better'.

Anyway. For what *all* that diatribing the past few posts is worth, there's the report. No pics, just not set up to do that with my potato, sorry. Go look on the web for others, it's not much different.

Alrighty, laters y'all!

houtex

Update the Final part Deux, the Updatinator...

Ok, so the part of the squeaking? Yeah. Totally didn't get hardly any grease in that front UCA bushing. I give up on grease guns. Just... *tosses things in a fit*

At work (I work at a dealership group as IT guy) I was able to get her on a lift and get someone better qualified than me to shoot that thing full of grease. He had his issues with centering too, so I'm glad it wasn't just me, but the entire idea of grease guns and zerks. BUT, I did watch and learn so maybe I'll be better with the lil' gun next time... whenever that winds up being.

He had to put about 20 pumps into the thing. 20. After 10 I was getting concerned... then we saw it creep out the sides, so we were there.

There. We. GO.

She rides *real dang quiet* now. Just... yes, really nice.

So a bit less 'meh' now. And I think that after a full day of ramming around, enjoying the shifting smooveness of Mobil 1 ATF in a TR3650 and enjoying the now nearly silent suspension (still have that one right front Koni strut slightly moaning, that'll be next) I have to say that the swaying thing is somewhat gone, actually, and definitely the whole extra bounce in her bootie is gone, which is great. I think the sway I still have in her is a combo of the Nexen N5000 Plus tires with their grooves grabbing the sipes in the curves, and maybe it's time I got the bumpsteer kit put in I never did after lowering her. And/or maybe that one slightly moaning Koni is getting hung up and exacerbating things...?

So still a little bit of a work in progress, but that's sorta the way it goes, right? But dudes and dudettes, it's NICE to be able to shift briskly, and do so without suspension clunks in the back! And again, I'll likely never have to do that again, unless I just HAVE to swap out that UCA body bracket... :hm:

Ok, see y'all!