Front control arms need to be replaced - suggestions?

matt5058

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A little background - I have a 2014 Mustang GT, bought new in 2014. Car has just over 45k miles on it. Recently I had been hearing this weird noise when turning the steering wheel at low speeds, and it seemed to happen more consistently in cold weather. Basically when turning in and out or parking spots for the most part. I took it to my normal dealer that I get it serviced at (Jerry's Ford Alexandria VA) to get the tires rotated and to have the noise checked out. I dropped it off this morning and a little while ago the dealer called me to say that the noise is coming from the front lower control arms and swaybar links. He said they need to replace all of those + the hex nuts and they want to charge me $1,200 bucks + another 129 to do an alignment.

My current suspension mods are koni orange shocks and struts, lowered on Roush springs in front, SR springs in the rear, J&M caster camber plates (front suspension was installed and had an alignment by JPC at about 35k miles). I also have Whiteline rear lower control arms and panhard rod. The car has been great on the current suspension setup for the most part, no issues with bottoming out, plenty fun to drive and not too stiff.

  • I guess what I'm wondering is, given the mileage and mods, does needing to replace front control arms sound normal or at least not out of the ordinary?
  • And if so, does it make sense to upgrade the front control arms and swaybar links?
  • Is an alignment needed again after replacing these parts?
Thanks in advance for suggestions and advice :confused:
 

Riddick

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I'd just stick with the OEM control arms. Ford did release revised front lower control arms, maybe you have the old ones. Not sure when the new ones came out though.

Do not let the dealer charge you that much. Install really isn't that bad and you could do it in a few hours in your driveway. If you don't feel comfortable take it back to jpc as I'm sure they will do it for less than the dealer. You can pick up brand new control arms from tasca for under 200. I'd start with these as they are likely the culprit, if not you can swap out the end links in about 5 minutes. Goodluck

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Riddick

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Just realized you were in the Nova area. Hit up @TRBO VNM, he owns competition speed and sound down in Mechanicsville, MD. Best customer service out there and he will make sure your car is done right.

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matt5058

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I'd just stick with the OEM control arms. Ford did release revised front lower control arms, maybe you have the old ones. Not sure when the new ones came out though.

Do not let the dealer charge you that much. Install really isn't that bad and you could do it in a few hours in your driveway. If you don't feel comfortable take it back to jpc as I'm sure they will do it for less than the dealer. You can pick up brand new control arms from tasca for under 200. I'd start with these as they are likely the culprit, if not you can swap out the end links in about 5 minutes. Goodluck

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Thanks Riddick. I was looking at the parts on Tasca's page and the prices definitely seem like a much better deal. I picked my car up from the dealer this evening and from the invoice, they are quoting $1,275 for the control arms, sway bar end links, and hex nuts, and then another $129.95 for an alignment.

On the end links, I thought about buying them from Tasca as well but I did see the OPR end links for 15 a piece and on the other end of the price spectrum, adjustable end links from RTR (109 for a set) and BMR (159 for a set)....makes me wonder if I should upgrade at least the end links.

Right now, I'm thinking I'll go with the OEM control arms, figure out a solution for the end links, and do the install myself in my garage - then see about having JPC (or maybe Competition Speed and Sound) do the alignment.
 

D1984

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matt5058

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Since you're lowered, I can't recommend the Steeda Boss Competion control arms/extended ball joints highly enough. They made a night and day difference in my front end steering response, grip, and stability. Felt like a completely different car almost

Boss Comp Front Lower Control Arms w/ Ball Joints (11-14), 777 4900 - Free Shipping - Steeda Autosports

I had looked at those and considered them but I went with the OEM parts from Tasca. Order still hasn't been processed yet though so maybe I'll reconsider :D
 

matt5058

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IMG-4641.JPG
Parts arrived yesterday - ended up just sticking with the parts from Tasca. Planning to take a day off next week to try and get these installed in my garage.
 

matt5058

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Any update on the install?

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Not yet - I was going to do it last weekend but came down with a cold in the middle of the week and then spent most of the weekend on the couch. I'm getting back to normal and the weather is supposed to be warmer this weekend so I might try and do it tomorrow morning. If not, I'll probably have to wait until mid April when I'll actually have a few days at my house and hopefully the weather won't be too bad.
 

matt5058

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So I spent the better part of yesterday in my garage. I installed my Steeda jacking rails, which had been sitting in the garage for a while. If I had a time machine, I would have gone back and bought those and installed them right when I bought the car.

I also got the sway bar end links replaced, which was fairly easy. Now I'm trying to remove the stock front control arms and for the life of me, I cannot get this one bolt out. Just getting it moving in the first place was pretty difficult but now I can't pull it out because of the tie rod in the way, even with the steering wheel turned all the way to the right.

Any suggestions or tips? I watched a few videos on YouTube but none of the things other folks tried seemed to work for me. I'm wondering if I should just try to remove the tie rod ends.

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Norm Peterson

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You could remove the struts and disconnect the ball joint so that you've got more freedom to move the knuckle around and gain a little more room.

You still have to be very careful to avoid tearing the tierod boot because no matter how much you can move the knuckle you can't get the boot completely clear of where the bolt needs to go.

The factory shop manual has you unbolting the rack & pinion unit.

That's the short version of when I replaced the arms, struts, and strut to knuckle fasteners all at the same time.


Norm
 

matt5058

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To be on the extra safe side, I went ahead and ordered the inner tie rods and boots. Going to make the attempt again either this weekend or next.
 

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