northy_polk

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I hate to be a wet blanket, especially on a cold, snowy day like today, but my fix did not work. I spent about 3 hours this morning, start to finish, installing a square "tube" of steel using 4 bolts with lock washers. The tube was 1/16th thick, I think, which may be too thin, but I wanted to have a tube structure rather than just one bar, and that's all they had at Home Despot. I went for the test drive and just as usual, thunk-thunk go I. [Insert montage here with wave of emotion, yelling, denial, crying, ambivalence, etc.]

If I were not so far upside-down on this car I would get rid of it. A smooth ride is absolutely imperative for me. All the previous cars I've had I always made sure everything in the front was tight/straight/smooth/quiet. And for the people who sold me my car to echo the "it's supposed to sound like that" chorus makes me see blood and want to do something I'd regret for the rest of my life.

Which leads me to say in my unprofessional opinion that I think that this noise is something none of us has yet come across. There are some little bushings above the K member that are in between it and the chasis. Could those be the problem? There are oddly shaped areas around the motor mounts, making me think maybe there are bushings of some sort in there. At this point I've spent too much time and money to give up, but it's creeping into the realm of the ridiculous. I'll believe that the cross member and new bearings will help when I see it. But for the moment, I fantasize about somebody stealing my car and totalling it so I can start over!!! At least then I could buy a Mustang that didn't clunk. . .

wolfey2k

Well sorry to hear that but I told you so.
The material you used is just not sufficient or substantialenough for the job! That's most likelywhy it didn't work.

Also for the time in labor alone you spent fabricating and installing that clunker bar you probably could have just about paid for a new FACTORY cross member then spent less than 15 minutes installing it.

If I were to tackle that job, that's what I would do and I would probably take a chance and install new upper strut bearings too assuming the ones in there now are ruined by the missing cross member.

That would put my car back to factory stock and dead on just like the convertables and Shelby GT500's.
Then I'd go for a test drive gritting my teeth expecting the thunking noise to be gone once and for all!

Anyway, as I have been saying, I am waiting until March or April. That's the wise thing to do IMO.

boss351cj

Hi-

I sent a previous post about the same noise that I have from my 2007 Shelby GT500 with 130 miles. I think that you are wasting your time trying top strut mounts on your cars from the Shelbys, as these cars also 'Thunk' ! According to some on this site, the Shelby has this elusive 'cross brace' under the car. I'll have to check mine in storage, but Ford must have other fixes in their so-called future TSB coming out next month. Anyways, dobn't waste your money on Strut bearings- The 'special' Shelby GT500 parts must also not be the fix. Just my two cents
Dave Christo

northy_polk

Yeah, I'm not really sure what to do about my bearings. I had the Steeda ones installed and hopefully they aren't ruined by the time March/April comes around.

wolfey2k

Hi Dave, that's a bummer. I have chatted with lots of Shelby GT500 owners on their forum and all of them have said they have no thunking issue and they all have the cross member.
It would be amazing if your cross member is missingbut I am just as curious as you are to find out. I'd be really ticked off if it was missing after spending all that doe on a Shelby classic!

Jays Mustang

Boy this is really a pain. We try and try and nothing works. Except for the few that replaced most of the front end with aftermarket HD stuff. But those few people did it as an expensive kit. Roush etc. You know I've also thought about other stuff like mentioned Motor mounts etc. But it just doesn't seem to come from there. Like when I got off the main road and did 15 miles on back roads and listened with the window down, it's suspension noise. Hit some big dips and no noise but these little bumps/ripples and the noise again. Long ago on this thread I believe it was Wolfey2k that said there's a certain amount of free play on the upper bearing assembly. Which would make noise in my opinion. I'm glad the Shelby guy came in on the subject because I did hear from other Shelby owners said they had the same noise right off the bat. I even thought about a weight issue. That the GT's, Shelby's & Conv weight more the the 6's. Thinking just being heavier on the front end pushes down on the front end just enough to lessen the noise. But again we have some of those owners joining our noise group. Boy this is frustrating to say the least.

northy_polk

And there are so many who have replaced struts, springs, mounts, k members, sway bars, etc. to no avail. it's just such an elusive problem, which is why it's so frustrating. The problem is has something to do with weight and stress distribution, as well as whether the suspension is under load or not, all as evidenced by more noise at lower speeds.

Yup, it's expensive. And I don't mind spending the cash it's just that I can't experiment forever! If I knew which part was the culprit I'd just buy it and drive with a smile on my face.

And my girlfriend wants me to be obsessed with HER and not THE CAR. But that's an entirely different story. . .

wolfey2k

Northy_polk,
when you received the aftermarket HD strut bearings, did you hand check them for vertical play?
Was there any play whatsoever in them?
Did you grab the opposite ends of the bearing itself, the main plate and the rotating plate, rotate it, try to move it on it's horizontal and vertical axis and did you feel any looseness or play in it at all?
If you did feel vertical play in them, then it makes sense that they didn't cure the problem.
After you installed them, was there thunking over the first bump in the road or did it take several miles before it started clunking?

Thanks for your answers in advance!

Jays Mustang

Holy Moly. Boy if it starts effecting people in bed then Ford is going to get a lot of letters.
Talk about letters, mine to the Board of Directors should hit Dearborn, Mi. on Tuesday. Time for .... hitting the fan.Especialy about them loosing possibly millions in sales due to this issue. Board of Directors don't like to hear about lost sales.

wolfey2k

Jay, care to post a copy of the letter you sent off to the board of directors at Ford?
I'd like to see it. Maybe others would too.
Wolfey