olvanish

Today I finally got my BMR LCA's installed. Since They were the adjustable ones I did not really want to mess with them so I decided to take the car to a shop. The guys only work on Fordsand I've been there plenty of times and seen a lot of GT500's and even GT's (and I don't mean mustangs) so I figured they are pro's. Anyway, after getting the part installed I was driving back home and I noticed that the noise I used to have before after hitting 60mph or so got a lot louder than before. It sounds like a metal to metal grinding/bearing noise and I can only hear it when the transmission is engaged. It's coming from the back of the car, not sure if it's from the center of it or the sides. I called the shop and the guy said that it's normal to have it and his GT500 does the same thing and it's coming from some kinda joints (the ones I never heard of before and I did not want to sound stupid asking twice), but not the U-joints. Is it normal to have this? Anyone else experiencing this?

PLstang

Are you lowered? Did they properly adjust the LCA's for the correct pinion angle?

DeStonn

Which rod ends do you have? Mine conduct noise alot also. Dont use the LCA for pinion angle adjustment, use an adjustable upper for that

olvanish

I am lowered and the angle adjustment is what I'm wondering about myself. But once again even with the stock LCA it did not sound that bad. The LCA has a bushing on one side and a rod on the other. (TCA021) Is that what happens when it's not properly adjusted, meaning the noise part? And is it ok to use LCA for pinion angle adjustment?

DeStonn

Your rod end is what is making the noise(IMO). You still have the stock D/S in so the angle might not be the issue. What angle are your LCAs at? Downward angle from front to back or upward angle from front to back? If you are lowered and you just replaced the OEM LCAs with new ones and didn't install relocation brackets then you are not gonna get rid of wheel hop

olvanish

how come that noise goes away when the tranny is not engaged if it's the rod then?Why am i not supposed to use LCA's for pinion angle adjustment? sorry i'm kinda confused here. I told the guys at the shop to adjust the angle to the specs. In the BMR manual it says -2 to -3 degrees for autos. I'm gonna buy an angle finder, if i can find one tonight and measure the angle just to make sure it's properly set. Wheel hop does not really bother me. The pinion angle that's off was the primary reason why i got these LCA's.

DeStonn

I just had my pinion angle adjusted today because i was having vibrations with the 1 piece driveshaft I was told to use an adj. upper control arm for pinion angle. Even BMR says it on there website. I missed the part about tranny being engaged or disengaged...sorry.

The single upper control arm is responsible for maintaining pinion angle and preventing axle counter-rotation(straight from BMR's website)

I went the same route as you with adj. lowers and fixed upper...now I had to redo the upper so I could have my angle adjusted for vibration issues

olvanish

Update: angle is at 0 degrees. I messaged CrazyAl and he gave me a helpful link to this one website where he wrote directions on how to adjust everything. According to that mine should be at about -2.5 degrees. I'm gonna try to adjust it on most likely Saturday and see what happens. Wish me luck

mygt500

So lets get this straight... you are lowered (how much?), you have adj LCA's from BMR (did you get the relocation brackets with it?), and your pinion angle is 0 which is off but you are going to adjust that this weekend with your adj LCA's? Just trying to make sense of the thread myself. I do know you CAN use the LCA's with relocation brackets to adj the pinion angle but it makes sense to use an adj. UCA for pinion angle adjustments as well. If you can get between -2 and -3 degrees you will be in a much better situation than you are now. Just like Destonn said why get new LCA's if you are not concerned with reducing or elminating wheelhop? This is why I would buy LCA's with relocation brackets if you are lowered or plan on lowering. If you have 20 inch rims and are dropped you need an adj panhard bar to center the rear and if you are adj your pinion angle while lowered to helps to get a UCA (adj) and also the LCA's if you cannot get the pinion angle that works for you. So you should get the pinion angle right and eliminate the wheel hop if the LCA's are installed right. Time to go back to the installer and have him correct his error. Now you will get noise (not binding) if you have poly/rod ends for the LCA's and the ride will be stiffer to reduce squatting and reduce or eliminate wheel hop but at a cost of increased noise. Make sure the rod end is not connected to the body of the car...it should be furthest from the body of the car (help reduce noise transmitted from the LCA's)....JMO hope it helps and you can answer the above questions....CrazyAl is the best and I think F1Fan is a great help on suspensions as well. I miss CrazyAL and do not see him on here like last year.... must be a busy guy (with a wealth of knowledge).... J

olvanish

Couldn't wait till Saturday and made the adjustment tonight. I setthe angle at -2 degrees. Adjusting those things is so easy and if I only knew I would've known how easy it is to adjust them I would've never gone to the shop. Anyways, the result was the same noise coming from the back that was just as loud. Now that I know what my pinion angle is and after double checking everything I know that it's normal and DeStonn was right about the control arms simply conducting the noise. Thanks to everyone who helped and tried to. Special thanks to CrazyAl and DeStonn
P.S. it seems that I'm finally done with my suspension. Since I did everything step by step (shocks/springs/strut mounts, panhard bar/LCA's) I was able to realize why people recommend buying ceratin things when lowering the car. Adjustable strut mounts from Steeda helped me get rid of the negative camber.They helped me get it from -2.5 to -1.5 which is where I wanted it. -2.5 doesn't seem like much, but I know it'd speed up the front tire wear a lot. After lowering the car I drove it with the stock panhard bar for 2 days and noticed that it was pulling to the right like crazy which once again affected the tire wear and made me feel like I'm driving a salvage vehicle with a crooked frame so that was also a must. After about a month I got the adjustable LCA's to get my pinion angle right. They did the job and even though it didn't seem like pinion angle is something serious to worry about, but once again I rather get those than change other parts affected by it in a couple of years. So I guess if you're gonna lower the car make sure you do it right-- that's my conclusion