Armydad

Hi all,

I have heard bad things about using poly bushed upper rear control arm, binding, damage etc. Is this true for mostly hard driven cars, or does it effect even moderately driven cars?
I have a set of poly arms, and should change the originals ( 10 year old rubber), can I use what I have or should I buy a set of the Ford jobbers?

Also are ther noticeable handling gains upgrading the sway bars? Would urathane bushings be enough? I'm not road racing or anything, just weekend summer driving with some twisties here and there.

Thanks

Jazzer The Cat

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Poly/poly bushings are horrible for corners and hard on torque-boxes and such. If you already have them installed, I would rather see you install the OEM ones than continue to drive around in them. If you DIDN'T have them installed, I would recommend you get a set of sphercial ended (Heim joint) ones to free up some articulation of the rear axle.

As for sway bars, they are really a tuning device meant to address understeer/oversteer issues. Depending on which you have, I would recommend one or the other, in most cases.

Does your car "push" in a hard corner or does the rear tend to "kick-out" too easily? The SN95 Mustang tends to have understeer issues (front end push) so a new REAR bar would be up for consideration.

Head over to The Official Suspension Guide and there are some specific sections on Upper and Lower control arms and sway bars as well.

Jazzer

Armydad

Well thank you very much. I do not have them installed yet, and I will not. I will get the Ford racing ones with the rubber bushings. I think the car handles well now, I just wanted to improve it a tad. Again I dont do any crazy driving, but i do like to wind it up a bit now and then. I think I will leave the bars alone and just get some poly bushing and be done with it.

Again thanks

Jazzer The Cat

I would NOT get the FRPP UCA's, as they will be WORSE than OEM ones due to their somewhat heavier design. Stick with stockers or put up with some additional NVH (Noise Vibration Harshness) and go with aftermarket LCA's/UCA's that have a spherical end to improve your grip on ALL surfaces and situations.

I would not bother with poly bushings for existing sway bars. They will not do much good and especially since you have rubber bushings everywhere else in your suspension. This is not a bad thing as it greatly improves what would otherwise be a noisy ride. Take a ride in my car at the opposite end (far, far opposite end) and would be easy to understand the trade-off.

If you want to improve your rides handling, as well as, reduce the small rattles and door closing issues you will have over time, install a set of full-length sub-frame connectors. This is the absolute #1 step in the modification process for performance of ALL kinds and where I recommend everyone start when looking to increase performance of ones ride.

Jazzer

Armydad

Actually I do have an MMR sfc, that was going on with the suspension work.
Do you like UPR's products? Spherical uppers are hard to find, any recomendations?

Jazzer The Cat

I like the UPR Pro Series LCA's/UCA's, but the good ones are not sold in packages, unfortunately. You would need to purchase them separately:

UPR Pro Series UCA's


UPR LCA's


These would be the ones I would recommend to you based on what you said your needs would be. If you were to go more hardcore into 1/4 mile stuff or aggressive cornering and oval track stuff, I would go a different direction in some ways.

Jazzer

Armydad

Great! They were the ones I was looking at as well. They dont seem to come with the differential bushings though, should I go rubber or is a poly ok .

Jazzer The Cat

They come with poly on the LCA's and the UCA's just use the OEM rubber or can get poly for the axle side of the UCA.

Jazzer

jr50rider

Hey "Jazzer" i have those same upper arms i just put in last week. they definately help with the handling of the car but i have noticed there is a ton of noise now. have you experienced anything like this or heard of it? i am going to make sure the bolts are tight tonight, just to be safe.

Jazzer The Cat

As mentioned in my post #4 NVH is an un-fortunate byproduct of a cornering ride. I am not surprised to hear your ride is more noisy, but the reduces snap-steer will hopefully be of benifit.

Jazzer