....bushings, ploy vs regular rubber..

[svofan1]

I am finally going to attempt, yes attempt because I am mechanically challenged (my son will help with the work), to replace all the suspension bushings on my all original 85.
One very knowledgeable friend has recommended to saty away from polyurethane because of a hard ride, others say no way!..
The problem is that poly is the only available bushings around..
Can anyone give their opinion based on expiriences?...
Thank you all and happy holidays...

Ralph L (NJ)

[CP86SVO]

Given a choice, I would use polyurethane bushings over stock rubber ones, but since most of the rubber bushings are obsolete, not made or unavailable, so polyurethane it is...

In the front, you could use polyurethane without much trouble at all;ride and NVH should be ok, and the handling will be much improved. An alternative bushing in the Del-alum mushing from Global West. You can check it out at www.globalwest.net . I've used them before on my SVO, and IMO are much better than the polyurethane bushings in every way.

For the rear, I would suggest only the lower arms have polyurethane, and get new upper rear control arms from Ford Racing, pn M-5500A . The reason for using rubber rear upper control arm bushings is to minimize rear suspension binding. Do a search on www.corner-carvers.com for more info. And remember to tighten the rear upper control arms bolts (if using the Ford Racing M5500A) when the car is at ride height, so that the rubber bushing won't be in a twisting orientation...

HTH WS

[svofan1]

...bushings

Thank you very much for the help...I will follow it except that in the back I will remain all stock (upper and lowers) since the car is driven only to shows..(66,000 miles, second owner).
Any suggestions or warnings when tightening the bolts, like piunds/torque?....any suggestions on how to remove the springs without killing myself in the process?

Thanks again

Ralph L (NJ)

[CP86SVO]

There was a thread earlier on front coil spring removal; search "removal spring" on the SVOCA search engine to find it.
I myself would disconnect and tie away the brake caliper, tie rod end, sway bar links and remove the strut, wrap and bolt a huge chain through the spring and the control arm and pry out the spring, but I've done it tons of times on my SVO and my 5.0L, and many others. If you haven't done it before, use the proper spring compressors and jacks as per the thread on front spring removal.

As for torque, I use 180 lb.ft. on the spindle to strut nuts/bolts, with the bolts cleaned and dried beforehand and blue Loctite on the threads. On the tie rod end, I use 40 lb.ft. on the nut with a new cotter pin. Sway bar end link I don't torque; I just tighten until the bushings just slightly bulge, and equal bulges on both sides of the car. Caliper bolts I torque to 40 lb.ft. with the bolt threads cleaned and blue Loctite. I also lubricate the caliper bolt where it enters the caliper sleeve and where the outer brake pad slides on the caliper pin with brake lubricant. Also remember to get the front alignment checked afterward.

HTH WS

ps it's also a great time to check out the condition on the ball joint and its seal, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings, brake lines, etc. since everything would be coming apart anyway...

[svofan1]

..bushings...

Hey thanks alot for all your good info and extra help..I really appreciated...I will follow your instructions and hope I don't have to bother again with more assistance. i will post for you how well (or bad) I did.
Thanks again.

Ralph L (NJ)

[svofan1]

....suspension and KONIs

Well CP86, all is going well, springs came out after we lower the control arms with no problem....now I found that one of the struts (driver side) can be plunged all the way down but do not bounce back. The passenger side does bounce up...could it be that the one that is not bouncing has to be tighten?....what about replacement for both?..KONI has not responded to my emails, besides they indicated in their website that it 4-7 weeks to rebuild old one...which way should I go?...any suggestions?...I wwant to keep the car all original since it is a show car...
Thanks for any help...appreciated...Happy Nrw Year 2004 to all..

Ralph L(NJ)

[Mr. Pink]

Re: ....suspension and KONIs

Originally posted by svofan1
KONI has not responded to my emails, besides they indicated in their website that it 4-7 weeks to rebuild old one...which way should I go?...any suggestions?...I wwant to keep the car all original since it is a show car...

I would suggest just replacing the Koni if you're leaning that way. I believe that the free re-build of the struts only applies if you're the original owner. It should be easy to find replacment Koni struts from an authorized retailer. Good Luck!

[sawedoff]

Let me get this straight. Global West has the Del- alum bushings for an SVO? What are the part numbers? I've been toying with machining some bushings out of delrin, because I'm not real crazy about polyurethane. Even Grassroots Motorsport Magazine recommends against polyurethane.

[Eyelawdoc]

Global West part number fro the front arms is #1047. Look here for more info:

http://www.globalwest.net/mustang%2079-98.htm

[svofan1]

...poly bushings...

..well after many inquiries about plain rubber bushings and after the many recommendations to go with poly, I found that is extremely difficult, if not rare, to find anything but poly bushings..so i follow the recommendations and got bushings all around (poly) from Motion Dynamics...good people and very easy to deal with...
On the strut, I might byte the bullet and buy from them original KONI's since I do want the (or need) the car to be all stock and NOS rplacements...
Thank you all

[CP86SVO]

Usually, if one strut/shock is blown up, the other is sure to follow, so replace both at the end that need replacing. The early 1985 front struts may be valved at bit stiffer, I believe, so make sure that you give the part number thats engraved on the top of the struts to get the correct one.

Koni only warranties the struts for the original owner, so if you brought the car used, you're SOL. One advantage of getting your front struts rebuilt is that you can get the strut revalved to whatever you like, but you'll see a set screw in the strut body (that's where they recharge the strut with nitrogen). I also believe that other Koni centers can do Koni warranties as well; I had a set of SVO struts revalved to Koni Yellow specs by Truechoice www.truechoice.com

I still wouldn't use polyurethane bushings on the upper rear control arm or on the diff where the upper arm mounts; use M5500A upper arms and new diff bushings.

Remember to conserve your bushing shells when you remove the old rubber bushings, if the new poly bushing set does not include new shells. A neat trick to remove old rubber bushings is to get a small drill bit (about 1/8") and a drill, drill between the rubber and the bushing shell, and "walk" out the bushing (the drill will go around and around the bushing shell as the rubber comes out). This sure beats the traditional roast-out-with-a-torch method.

Good luck on your install!

HTH WS

[svofan1]

...rear bushings

..CP, why not oly in the rear?...like I said before i could not find any rubber bushings SVO specific...Motion Dynamics know what the needs are for the SVO and I am afraid to go somewhere else and find that they are not for the SVO...I am not plannig to change the arms at all....I am buying 2 new struts, you are correct about one going shortle after another...

Thanks again

Ralph L (NJ)

[CP86SVO]

The biggest reason for not changing the upper arms on the rear is because of suspension binding. The uppers need a little bit of compliance (i.e. need to lengthen at bit) as the suspension goes into bump. Polyurethane in the upper arms pretty well prevents the upper arm from lengthening a bit, which leads to suspension bind, which leads to snap oversteer, a dreaded Mustang problem...I have no problems with using the polyurethane in the lower arms, though.

Whenever corner carvers web site goes back up again, check it up there www.corner-carvers.com Look up rear suspension bind in the search engine.

HTH WS

[svofan1]

...bushings....

Thanks CP I will follow your advice, it makes sense I have heard of this happening..

[NY eric]

Originally posted by CP86SVO
I still wouldn't use polyurethane bushings on the upper rear control arm or on the diff where the upper arm mounts; use M5500A upper arms and new diff bushings.

HTH WS

Please correct me and I am not trying to be a smart a$$. The description of these arms is that the bushings are twice as stiff as factory. That leads me to believe they are poly not rubber. But in every add they dont specify poly or rubber. I mean for 68 bucks they almost cant be poly.