Front lca replacement

[03chromecobra]

Almost 100% sure I have the known TSB 09-24-16 front lca issue. I have an 08, obviously out of warranty. Looking for opinions. Should I get the revised front lca from ford or go aftermarket? The ford racing parts are about $50 cheaper than the revised oem parts. Would these solve my problem?

 

[Robert M]

Almost 100% sure I have the known TSB 09-24-16 front lca issue. I have an 08, obviously out of warranty. Looking for opinions. Should I get the revised front lca from ford or go aftermarket? The ford racing parts are about $50 cheaper than the revised oem parts. Would these solve my problem?

Which Ford Racing? the M3057E which are the GT500 rubber bushing replacements? or the FRPP BOSS 302 set with the poly bushings?





R

 

[Tob]

Get the appropriate replacement from FRPP and I'd also suggest adding the factory TSB heat shields if your car didn't come with them.

 

[Robert M]

Get the appropriate replacement from FRPP and I'd also suggest adding the factory TSB heat shields if your car didn't come with them.

Tob - Do you have pictures of the heat shields? Are they a standard item on the earlier GT500's? or something that was added in later production?



Thanks



R

 

[Tob]

Late production and TSB.

And if your rear bushing shell doesn't have the requisite tabs or they aren't drilled you could always do something like this... http://themustangsource.com/forums/f821/lower-control-arm-heat-shield-install-532898/

 

[Robert M]

Late production and TSB.

And if your rear bushing shell doesn't have the requisite tabs or they aren't drilled you could always do something like this... http://themustangsource.com/forums/f821/lower-control-arm-heat-shield-install-532898/

^^^^^Cool!! Thanks Tob. I have not looked, but I doubt my 2008 has the mounting points for these shields. That forum shows a great alternative!!

Actually, Tob, is that mounting bracket for the shield, the u-shaped piece also a bolt-on part that can be purchased through Ford? like the saddle that holds the bushing in place? and it would be a simple remove and replace part and then add the shield on each side? OR is it part of the bushing sleeve?

 

[Tob]

The U-shaped piece is welded to a tube and the bushing and its respective sleeve are pressed into it. It cannot simply be removed like it may appear. It takes a bit of work and can get a little messy.

 

[Robert M]

The U-shaped piece is welded to a tube and the bushing and its respective sleeve are pressed into it. It cannot simply be removed like it may appear. It takes a bit of work and can get a little messy.

^^^^That is what I was wondering. Can the bushing assembly with the u-shaped piece be purchased from Ford and directly replaced on the earlier cars?







R

 

[03chromecobra]

Yeah I was referring to the M3057E.

 

[03 DSG Snake]

Almost 100% sure I have the known TSB 09-24-16 front lca issue. I have an 08, obviously out of warranty. Looking for opinions. Should I get the revised front lca from ford or go aftermarket? The ford racing parts are about $50 cheaper than the revised oem parts. Would these solve my problem?

I'm in the same boat and have been looking at swapping mine fornthe larger revised balljoints.

Some info in here as well http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...lower-control-arms-and-or-bushings&highlight=

 

[phinhead34]

I just did mine with the FRPP one. Quiet like new. It did not come with a heat shield though.

 

[Robert M]

I just did mine with the FRPP one. Quiet like new. It did not come with a heat shield though.

Did they come with the drilled tabs to mount the shields?





R

 

[Robert M]

I'm in the same boat and have been looking at swapping mine fornthe larger revised balljoints.

Some info in here as well http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...lower-control-arms-and-or-bushings&highlight=

When going to the larger ball joint, does this also require a spindle change to properly accept the larger ball joint? <<< I am guessing the part of the ball joint where the spindle attaches is the larger/revised diameter?







R

 

[phinhead34]

No they did not Robert M.

 

[Tob]

This can be a confusing issue. Grain of salt, but something to keep in mind...

Posted 01 November 2010 - 05:24 PM
I have been reading about this TSB thanks to Grabber and came across some interesting information. I had to replace my lower control arms so I ordered the part numbers specified in the TSB TSB 09-24-16,(AR3Z-3078-A Right hand GT 500) and (AR3Z-3079-A Left hand GT 500) These are the parts number specified in the TSB for the newer lower control arms. By the way these part numbers are now superceeded to part numbers (AR3Z-3078-D Right hand GT 500) and (AR3Z-3079-D Left hand GT 500). When the new parts arrived we opened the box and measured the lower ball joint shaft and guess what, the shaft diameter is 18mm (0.709in) not 19mm (0.748in) as it indicated in the TSB. Needless to say I was a little confused over the wording on the TSB that indicated that the new part number should have the larger ball joint shaft. After about 2 weeks of phone calls all over the Ford organization I finally got a call back from one of the Ford engineers that explained the situation. Indeed the new control arms had the new improved bushings, but the ball joint shaft was still actually the 18mm one. He explained that they did not go to the 19mm ball joint shaft until the 2011 model year, and to do that meant also replacing the steering knuckle to accomodate the larger 19mm ball joint shaft. SOOOOO, in conclusion, if you did the TSB on a car newer than 2011 you received the improved bushing but not the larger ball joint shaft, unless of course you paid for the new 2011 lower control arms and new steering knuckles. By the way a 19mm ball joint shaft will not fit the hole in the 2010 and earlier steering knuckle. Now, how many that did this TSB will be going out to their garages tonight with a dial indicator in hand to measure their lower ball joint shafts?

Nitro

I have never measured the ID of the 2011+ spindle or the respective ball joint shaft OD. I do have a few '07-'10 spindles as well as a few early control arms. I'll check them and see how consistent they are. I have a sense the newer spindle is simply reamed to the larger diameter without any other change being made. If that is indeed the case, one could simply drill their early spindle out an additional mm and go with the later, larger diameter ball joint.

 

[03 DSG Snake]

When going to the larger ball joint, does this also require a spindle change to properly accept the larger ball joint? <<< I am guessing the part of the ball joint where the spindle attaches is the larger/revised diameter?







R

Steeda sells a set of FRPP arms with poly bushings preinstalled. Per their instructions, you can enlargen the spindle 1mm (iirc its 1mm) with a drill bit or press. I am anal and have been planning on buying new OEM soindles, but they are pricey.

Edit: instructions have the knuckle modification on page 2

http://www.steeda.com/index.php?dispatch=attachments.getfile&attachment_id=309

 

[Tob]

More ambiguity.

FRPP no longer sells the FR500C Front Lower Control Arms (05-10). These came with a longer ball joint but no hydro or front rubber bushing.

http://www.americanmuscle.com/ford-front-controlarms-0510.html


FRPP does sell the M-3075-RA and it fits the '11-'14 (meaning it uses a larger diameter ball joint shaft than '07-'10 models). The ball joint is also longer (which helps with the roll center on lowered cars) and I believe it is manufactured by Howe. Note that it does not come with a rear hydro bushing and that it uses a different front bushing along with an added grease fitting.

https://fordperformanceracingparts.com/parts/part_details.asp?PartKeyField=22437



Ron linked a pdf for a Steeda arm which I believe to be this arm. Steeda is calling it a "Boss competition arm" but doesn't delve any further into its lineage. The ball joint is of the later, larger diameter style, and is also longer. But it is not the Howe unit that FRPP is using but rather what appears to be Steeda's own ball joint, as shown in the link below. Note the hex cut into the top of the shaft and that it matches the one shown on the complete arm that Steeda sells.

http://www.americanmuscle.com/steeda-x11-balljoints-1112.html

 

[Tob]

I was out in the shop and pulled out a few '07-'10 S197 spindles and control arms to take a few measurements.

First up, ball joint dimensions from fresh set of FRPP front LCA ball joints...

Next up, I measured the ball joints on a well used set of 2008 GT500 OEM LCA's. Note that the dimension in this photo is in inches and the previous one was in mm's and that 17.99mm equates to .708" so the numbers are identical, as they should be. Ford refers to the early arms as using an 18mm ball joint - close enough.

Here is a passenger side control arm/spindle to make visualizing the area I'm referencing easier.

I also measured the respective hole in the spindle (I measured four different S197 spindles actually). Numbers were within .002"-.003" which is fine because the joint is cinched tight when torqued to spec.

So my guess is that the '11-'14 LCA's use a ball joint that measures 18.99mm and would require reaming the early spindles to .750" for a proper fit. So upgrading to the larger diameter (read stronger) ball joint as used on the '11-'14 S197 chassis is fairly simple.

 

[Robert M]

I called my Ford parts friend about this yesterday, gave him the TSB info. ect. He pulled up the information and said that Ford documentation says the spindles are required replacement on the 2007-2010 GT500 when the new style arm in installed. So, at the dealership level, apparently they will not ream or enlarge the spindle hole on the earlier cars to properly accept the newer/larger ball joint. He did some research and was not able to verify for sure that the shields come with the new control arms because there was no mention of them.






R

 

[Tob]

The dust shields/hardware are separate from the control arm assembly so they wouldn't come installed on them.

Ford would never have anyone at the dealer modify a spindle in a manner such as drilling it out for a larger ball joint. Again, I suspect this is the only difference between the '07-'10 and the '11-'14 spindle. I doubt any material was added to the immediate area surrounding the hole for the ball joint. One millimeter equates to .0394" which should have no impact on the integrity of the spindle.