Rattle over bumps
 

Hey Guys,

Sorry for the onslaught of threads.

My mustang makes a hard rattle sound when I bumps in the road. I want to see it is coming from the front. I am about to change my LCA so I thought I would see if there something else I should replace while I have it apart so I dont' have to pay for another alignment.

Any suggestions of what I could inspect or do a few home tests to figure out what it is. Tighten x bolts to make sure something isn't loose, etc. My roommate replaced his struts last year and one was not seated right in the rear. It made a similar sound to his when he hit a bump, but I have not replaced mine. And they appear to be in good condition. FWIW, my mustang has 112k miles.

Thanks again.

I am chasing a similar sounding rattle in the front end on my 05 v6 have had control arms replaced A frame bushing tight shocks replaced not a brake rattle.running low on ideas, still rattles somewhere in the front end.

Check the front sway bar end inks. You'll need one wrench to hold the link the other to hold the bolt. Pretty common. Not saying for sure it's the issue but worth checking. I noticed it mostly going over speed bumps.

thats a good idea. its on the rack right now gettng the rear floor pan braces replaced. had the brackets made, dealer cost was too expensive for me. i creep over speed bumps,mine talks to me on uneven concrete slab streets

is it possible a strut may need replaced?

ive read hundreds of pages about the front end clunk on the 05-09 mustangs and the fix seems to point to the strut mounts. Im having mine replaced this Saturday with FORD RACING GT500 STYLE STRUT MOUNT , ill let you know if this works. Ive already replaced the front and rear sway bars, didnt help with the cluck,i hope this does it or its the LCA NEXT.

mIKE

i hope that fixes it please keep me in the loop. gotta be in there somewhere?

Be Blessed. Let us know. I am getting ready to replace my LCA, but that is because one is leaking fluid from the bushing. I kind of hope it is the lower control arm so I don't have to buy more parts. But then that would suck for you.

So here is the deal,, I had the GT500 Strut mounts installed this morning. It absolutely did away with front end cluck that was driving my nuts!! That being said after we got everything back together i noticed the drivers side wheel had a bit of slop to it. Turns out the LCA ball joint is on its way out. Not sure if i will order a complete set of LCA'S or just the ball joint. Its almost hibernation time for the stang.

As for the mounts, there awesome, the car feels better and much quieter up front.But dont forget the mounts fixed my issue but may not fix yours!

Mike

The ball joint went out on my LCA. I have plans to replace the whole LCA on both sides as the bushing is bad on the one with the bad ball joint too. And since the car is about 10 years old and am I am replacing one LCA, I thought I would go ahead and do both since I doubt I will get another 10 years out of the other one.

Thanks for the update.

I just got confirmation on a shipment of LCA's that im going to replace this week. Im hoping this will put an end to a loud front. I ordered the control arms from Tasca Parts,
66 Stamp Farm Rd
Cranston, Rhode Island, 02921
USA
1-800-598-1484
paid 264.00 for the set,cheapest i could find!

Don't get the oem endlinks, get moog ones with a zerk fitting, also check the upper strut nuts, they tend to come loose and make a nasty clunking sound.

Well in the past month ive changed out the LCA's, sway bars and strut mounts and the ride quality is night and day, 100% better. There is still something more then just road noise going on but i think it may be something in the rear, control arms possibly. I will change those out over the winter along with a new fuel sending unit cause i noticed my fuel gauge not reading accurately.

Mike

Front lower control arms got rid of my front end clunk that was driving me crazy. I went with the GT500 ones.

Yup, I went with the GT500 ones too. Beefy bastards.

I was going to go with the GT500 because Tusca Parts had them for close to the same price as the Moog higher end versions (ck series). I decided to go Moog because they offer a lifetime warranty, whereas the GT500 produced from Ford Performance only has 2 years, and after speaking with a rep at FordPerformanceRacingParts.com and Tusca Parts, they said they don't even cover the warranty any more.

I also found Dorman has a lifetime warranty too when I went to purchase the moog ones. They are $50 cheaper but offer a lifetime warranty too. I started a thread to see if anyone has heard of that brand.

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.

Are you against Moog and Borman or just Borman?

Not against them necessarily. But I don't hold them in the same high regard I used to.

I've just found that Moog quality has gone down hill over the decades. Used to be a time I would recommend them over OEM every time (I worked in auto parts stores and shops for about 12 years growing up). They are hit/miss these days and the whole "serviceable grease port" is a marking ploy.

Most people won't ever bother greasing them after the first time and most shops never think about it these days when they have a customer car up in the air. So, you end up with a part that fails just as fast or faster than the OEM sealed part. If a Moog (or any brand) fails because it was not properly greased, there goes your 'lifetime' warranty.

Dorman to me is also trying to hard to cover EVERYTHING under the sun, they used to be great for hard to find misc parts (like Help! brand stuff). These days I think they just contract someone that wants to produce a part for a particular car just so Dorman can have a part to sell under their Brand. If you compare an OEM part next to a Dorman, you can see the differences. Yes it fits physically but the dimensions (guage of metal, weld joint quality, seal quality) look and feel different than the OEM, and not in a good way.

So i went with the GT500 LCA , Eibach sway bars front and rear and the gt500 upper strut mounts. Im looking at doing the rear control arms.
What would be your suggestion on that?

Mike

My opinion for rear LCA, Steeda. Solid piece available in either normal or spherical bearing configuration depending on your preferred use (street/strip or road coarse respectively.)

There's another brand out there, Whiteline, that is fairly new to the S197 suspension scene. They've been getting really good reviews on their products but I don't have any experience with them to recommend or not recommend them.

OK you convinced me enough to start with the Gt500 strut mounts. Hope this fixes it,but if not have the guidelines for the next upgrade to the front end. Thanks

Just picked up my baby today,if you have any doubt about rattle or front end play put in the Gt500 mounts. Really tightened up the front end very good mod on a high mileage convertible, ready for the next trip .

Sounds like a Plan... What are the GT500 Strut mount part #s ??
Thx.

I got mine from American muscle, they just called them GT500 Strut mounts. You can see in the picture how much beefier they are compared to stock. $107.97 for the set & an hour labor to have them installed. You should have the front tire alignment checked, mine needed tow in adjustment. No more klunking & wow did it ever tighten up the front chassis to road feel. If you even think this could be an issue on your ride it is a small investment that can be a serious handling upgrade when paired with a shock tower bracket . Makes you want to drive it.......

Thanks Bud

1996 mustang help
 

So I started experiencing my*rpm*rise more than usual, as if the gas were going on its own when it's on neutral or on any gear. When I'm shifting to 3rd gear...during the transition(clutch) my*rpm*goes up to 2000-3000..but then settles as the shift is changed..it happens on every shift. I cleaned out the throttle body, and replaced my iac and I don't have a vacuum leak...but what I did notice is when I disconnect the electrical part of the iac, a turn it on, the cars'*rpm*works perfect (1000)..but as soon as I connect it, it begins to rise (1,500-2000).. please help.

Sure sounds like an electronic Accl. Pedal signal problem.

How do you check that ?

With the engine running - unplug the Accel. Pedal plug from the connecting wire harness near the pedal. see if it idles normally.
Also , it will probably throw a CEL - so be prepared to use your OB2 reader to clear the code when you hook everything back up.

[QUOTE=GT Billy;8525104]With the engine running - unplug the Accel. Pedal plug from the connecting wire harness near the pedal. see if it idles normally.
Also , it will probably throw a CEL - so be prepared to use your OB2 reader to clear the code when you hook everything ....it's try that, thanks!

[QUOTE=superbros;8525106]I'll try that*

Great 500 strut mounts & shock tower brace has really made a tremendous difference in handling especially diving into tight corners. Drove the tail of the dragon earlier this year, nice ride