rls82959

Board of Directors
Ford Motor Company
PO Box 685
Dearborn, MI 48126-0685

Ford Motor Company
Customer Relationship Center
PO Box 6248
Dearborn, MI 48121

Mr. Bill Ford
Ford Motor Company
PO Box 685
Dearborn MI 48126-0685

Jays Mustang

Hi Hypro, Ya my car is cold sensitive too. ButI still have it in the warm weather. Just cold it's real loud. Your right it's different with different cars to an extent. Maybe they don't drive in the cold like we do but at 0 degrees mine sounds like it's almost falling apart. This is when I brought up the subject of the fluid bushing on the rear of the front control arm. Some refer to it as hydraulic. I think that hardens up like a rock and transmits the suspension sound into the car. My opinion this would be part of the TSB if it ever comes. Put in a normal rubber one like they've done for years. One company sells a regular bushing for it and if I do it myself, that's going in there too.
Glad to hear more of you are writing to Bill Ford. The more letters that pile up on his desk the better in my opinion.

northy_polk

Hypro: I don't think you need to worry so much about the car going out of warranty. As long as this is documented while it isin warranty, you should be ok.I had a similar issue with a Honda and it went out of warranty in the middle of trying to find the problem and the dealer treated it as if it were still within the warranty because the problem started before the cutoff. Just my opinion, of course. . .

james05mustanggt

Mine is a peice of junk too!!! lol

Jays Mustang

I don't concider my car junk. But the front suspension leaves much to be desired.
Anyways back down the dealer again and still nothing on our problem. I spoke in detail on ideas to resolve the problem if Ford bails out. Like conv struts & GT500 upper mounts. The service manager agreed that I should talk it over with the owner if I get a poor response from Bill Ford. But believe me if I have to buy it myself, I will get good aftermarket struts & mounts. Oh and she agreed that it was a good idea to write to Bill Ford, it's been long enough and time to get things done. As she pointed out I probably spent $100 on gas driving down there every week.

wolfey2k

Hello gang!
So I just got back from taking my baby for a ride to see if she'll still thunk under anycircumstances.
Sad to say yes but,.........,
adding the crossmember did help a great deal!

I'd say having it definately, if not obviously, stiffins the chassis a bit more, of course it would and it has also given her a bit more of a cushy car sort of feeling ride very similar to the convertables I test drove that come with different strut assemblies and the cross member.
All in allI considerthe fix has madea 90% improvement!
I drove her over known bumps, ripples etc. and she is much much better.
Consequently I am much happier with the ride and lack of that darn stinkin chronic thunking noise!

Now the down side is that she does thunk every now and then and it's still over sharp bumps or ridges in the road and over the edge of where the concrete floor of my garage meets the driveway which is about a 1 inch difference. But it's very slight!

I originally installed it with the car on ramps, suspension loaded. Drove it on an errand and found the thunk was still there but slightly less and the handling was better as stated above. So while I was driving back from my errand I thought about it, envisioned the suspension in my mind and really looked at what the difference could be if I unloaded the suspension, losendedthe re-tightened each side.
I decided to jack her up on the passenger side, get under there, losen and re-tighten the bolts.
Took her for another ride.
Thunk diminished 90%! What do ya know! Go figure eh? ;-)
I might try doing the same thing to the drivers side but I have a good feeling it's not going to make any difference. I'm satisfied enough until the TSB comes out.

I talked to my service manager again today, told him what I was up to. I asked him the obvious question and he said "no problem, just make sure you take that home made cross member out before you bring it into the shop for the TSB repair". Cool! He further re-assured me the TSB IS indeed coming out.
Ford cannot back out now, especially since they are now releasing 'stangs with the updated front suspension parts.

We can all probably look forward to an improved set of strut assemblies along with the cross member.
Hopefully they'll have the stinkin TSB outbefore my birthday!

Enjoy your weekend everybody!
Wolfey2k

SOHCman

You rock Wolfey!!!

SOHC

Jays Mustang

Hey Guys, Glad you had some success Wolfey. I'm picking up my "milled" ends crossbar this morning and hope the garage can put it on today or Monday morning. It's like the chassic support turns down the voluum of our noise but doesn't cure it. Anyway I wish I could be as positive on the TSB, but just because Ford's putting on the crossbar on (unsold) coupes doesn't mean squat for our cars, already paid for. I'll be happy when I hear from Bill Ford (or secretary) and go from there. Hopefully with a positive TSB answer. Later guys.

Jays Mustang

The guy won't be done until Monday with the crossbar so I won't get it on until Tuesday at least. Oh well, a few more days. Time for a cruise.

ilmor

I'm happy to report that my new Shelby GT is not exhibiting any of this "thunking", but I'll let you know if it starts.