USMC3040

Hey All,

Just purchased my first Mustang. 2006GT with Cervini Shelby Package. Car is in great shape but I found out shortly after I purchased that it needed a lot of front end work. I needed both tie end rods as well as both right and left sway bar links were bad. I've never worked on a car before but after I saw the price tag to get all this work done, I decided to purchase and repair it myself. That being said, the car handles 100 times better but there is still a slight rattle in the left front side when I hit small bumps. I'm wondering if it could be the sway bar bushings being bad? I looked online and was thinking of getting the Ford Suspension kit which comes with all the goodies for around $1500.00.

Wondering with the work that has already needed to be done on the car, should I just go ahead and pull the trigger on the upgrades to avoid any further issues down the road?
<a href="http://s151.photobucket.com/user/highnrgnitelife/media/IMG_1765_zpsat42bgsh.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s126/highnrgnitelife/IMG_1765_zpsat42bgsh.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_1765_zpsat42bgsh.jpg"/></a>

RedFire281

The sway bar end links would be a good place to start. There are several threads on this and other forums regarding the difficulty getting the nuts to hold torque and the weakness of the 08 and prior end link design which could be the cause of your NVH over bumps and possibly turns. If you're going to upgrade, there's a lot of options so do your homework.

BTW: NICE car.

USMC3040

I replaced the end links but you think the problem is they are not tight enough?

-Tom

RedFire281

Could be. Some of the guys having issues are good wrench turners. You might want to PM a couple of them to ask how/if they finally got their issue resolved. As you already know, forum members are really helpful and won't steer (pun intended) you wrong.

USMC3040

Good to hear. Anyone in particular I should reach out to? First to this site so not sure who to go to for this type of issue. I have an appointment at the Ford Dealer tomorrow in the event I can't figure it out today. Car is currently up on stands at the moment in the garage.

RedFire281

First, let's be clear that the end links may not be the issue. The strut mounts on our cars also can induce a rattle or clunk going over bumps in which case many of us install the GT500 strut mounts which usually resolves the clunking (especially on heavy convertibles). But since you have the car on stands, go ahead and torque the end link nuts to 85 ft/lbs and see if that fixes the rattle.

As for other forum members try PM-ing Simon1 or Derf00. I've read their posts and both seem to have the kind of knowledge and experience you might need with regard to either the end link or strut mount questions.

Here's a post by Derf00:

"For me it was a combo of stuff, strut mounts, sway bar bushings, and control arms. The links honestly did nothing in my case BUT, there are revised end-links for the 2010+ mustangs that fit on the 2005-2009. The revisions are three fold.

1) They add a nut (17 or 18 mm) at the base of the end link stud to make it easier to keep the stud from rotating while you torque the End link nut to 85 ft lbs. The older version had a simple 8 mm hex head.

2) They changed the threads from coarse to fine. This provides better grip so the nuts don't back off.

3) They also added a different locking insert on the nuts used with the finer thread. Again to keep the nut from backing off.

If you buy the upgraded sway bar end links, be sure to pick up the corresponding nuts. They do not come included with the links.

A tip for sway bar end link installation, It's better to remove the sway bar with the old end links attached (obviously remove the stabilizer link from the strut first).

When you put the new end links on, attached them to the bar first. This is so you can properly torque the end links to sway bar to 85 ft/lbs. If you try to do this while the sway bar is in the car, good luck fitting a torque wrench in there. It will butt up right against the engine or engine cradle.

The End links to strut are easy to do since you have the wheel well to work in.

For brands, I wouldn't cheap out on the LCA's by going off brand. You never know with aftermarket if you are getting an equal or better part when it comes to suspension.

Lifetime warranty is crap if you end up replacing the arms every couple of years because they use sub-par bushings in them. The Ford GT 500 ones will probably last as long as the car at this point."



Also, this might be of help: http://www.cjponyparts.com/mustang-f...uctions/a/398/

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

USMC3040

Ok, I found out what the noise was in the front driver side... it was the strut which was bad. I could literally push the strut with two fingers all the way down. At least I have everything replaced in the front end now (both Sway bar links, both Tie rod ends, left and right control arms, and sway bar bushings).