i know some of you have knowledge about mustangs, and the question is--- im workin on a 66 and it is making a hell of a rackett in the left front suspension area i seem to remember a friends car when i was a kid making this same kind of noise, and it being the lower control arm, can any one help on this one?
When does it happen. I had a ball joint, upper control arm failure once but I don't remember noise. It was a 67. Jack up that corner at the subframe and check for slop when you move the wheel/tire up and down. Wide wheel/tire combos are tough on ball joints. Dan
just drivin. it has a new upper ball joint and the rest of the susp. is pretty tight. i cant physicly shake the car and make it happen, only when its moving. ive seen stangs that have had holes cut in the unibody and grease fittings put in the lower control arm bushings.
check around where the suspension mounts to the body. these areas are basically sheet metal and are prone to wear and rust out.
If its a squeek(you didnt really say what kinda noise) its the upper arm bushes, pull the arm out and chuck some good poly bushes in. If mustangs are lowered a lot, the upper ball joint can lock up, that is the stud is jammed against the edge of the slot,effectively locking the joint.maybe check that if it a real low car.
It is the UPPER control arm, they all would eventually squeak.The have a kit that allows you to put grease fittings in with out cutting a hole in the tower, they where a disc that acted as a wrench, then you would put a long zerk fitting in.If you can't find one you'll have to drill a hole in the tower & put them in.I use to back the upper bushing nuts off till they hit the towers & just pack grease in the as best as i could.It would last about a year or so. 65 & 66 mustangs also had trouble with the taillites filling up with water & the left signal would turn itself on when you would pound shifts( if it was a stick).Besides that there great cars. In 1966 I bought a brand new Mustang, 4 speed,289 225HP with a AM radio & WW for $2486!!! JimV
a couple of more tips for handling..go with an export brace and a Monte Carlo bar like Shelbys used.. Makes a difference man!!
What JIMV said. They tried sending them from the factory with plugs where you would normally have grease fittings. Either their maintenance free design was bad, or they never thought Mustangs would be running this long. Mustang mail order shops even have special kits to replace the plugs with special grease fittings.
On those struts that run from the lower arm to the front of the car, try tightening the nut on the front end of the strut a turn. Mine once were a little loose and had a klunking noise.
My guess is the strut rod too. I had a thunk when I turned, and it was the bushing for the power steering ram, where it mounted on the frame... the bushing just fell apart, and caused some wierd steering problems. My ball joints are wasted, and my 67 coupe hunts all over the road..
friend of mine had a '62 falcon (same front end parts as mustang for the most part) the bracket that holds the strut rod to the frame tore away at the front.it was a pain in the ass to weld,back then i only had a AC buzzbox.we rebuilt the front end with all new stuff,worked fine after that-george
Check the spring saddles. The bushings wear out and they will hang up. You'll probabbly have to remove the coil to inspect it.
hey jimv i have checked every thing on the front side thats makin the noise, the strut rod was loose and tightening it fixed the clunk, but the squeek is still transmitted thru the whole car, its almost unbearable and i think your right, its the upper arm. how hard is it to replace the bushings in the arm, IF i cant back the nuts off and pack em full? thanks for all the help guys. oh yeah, the lower shock piviot bushing is junk also, could that be some of the problem too?
The control arms are easy to get out, they are a bitch to get apart and a REAL bitch to get centered when your putting them back together. Ever look at some "restored" early stangs and notice that the front wheel looks like it sits too far forward in the wheel opening? It is too far forward and thats because the control arm shafts are not positioned correctly in the arm. By the time you get an upper arm shaft kit, a new upper ball joint and clean up and paint the upper arm you'd be dollars way ahead to buy a new repop replacement arm assembly. www.Americanpony.com sells complete arms for 68 dollars. The last time I checked you couldn't even buy the shaft kit and ball joint for that kind of money. The old arms have a tendency to crack as do the shock towers, especially when the upper arm bushings are seized. Replace the spring perch while your there, its bolted to the top of the upper control arm and holds the bottom of the front coil spring and the shock as well. If you've got the money you would be much better off buying a complete kit that includes new upper and lower arms, spring perches and the bushings you'll need to freshen everything up. The same place sells a whole kit for 280 bucks that does both sides of the car. You can't beat that. The Midolyne bushings (not urethane) they sell are a real nice compromise between the stock rubber and polyurethane bushings. Do NOT use polyurethane strut rod bushings if you plan any performance type driving. They bind too much and flex the strut rod instead of the bushing. The rod work hardends and breaks....usually in a hard corner. I've been restoring, driving and racing early stangs for 20 years. Got plenty of info and suggestions if you need/want it. PM me anytime. -Mike.
Thanks for the tips BigChief! I've got a beat-ass 67 Coupe right now. I really need to rebuild the frontend, because it's pretty tired. I'm interested in the plastic joints, but i've done poly before on a chevy, and i'm not a big fan of it. In the long run, i'd like to ditch the stock crap and stick a early XJ jag frontend under it to get R&P, disk brakes, and better geometery...
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