Suspension Rear Upper Control Arm Question

[Rdub6]

I’ve done my research, and I will be going with stock style UCA’s for the rear, as MM suggests.
My question is this..... MM list theirs being good for 79-04.

Rear Upper Control Arms, 1979-2004 Mustang

Other manufacturers, like this Moog, list that its only good for 2000-2004.

moog-rk642744 | Rear Upper Control Arm | 2000-2004 Ford Mustang | MOOG

Rear upper control arm replacement for the 2000-2004 Ford Mustang. Made by MOOG and backed by a 3 year to limited lifetime warranty. In stock and ready to ship out today! moog-rk642744

www.moog-suspension-parts.com

Is there any reason this Moog would not work on the 79-99 cars?

How can one be good for all, but what seems to be identical, only good for 5 model years?

 

[HemiRick]

MM rear upper arm has stiffer rubber in it than a stock one.

 

[Cheapskate207]

If I recall correctly the MM arms (and lmr) were basically sn95 arms. In fact, they could have just been sn95 arms entirely. Like stated above, they have stiffer rubber.

 

[Cheapskate207]

This is from MM’s website:

These Ford rear upper control arms are direct replacements for the 1979-2004 Mustang (non-IRS) control arms. They will restore performance lost to old and deteriorating rubber bushings. These control arms have the stiffest rubber bushings available, and are much stiffer than what came originally on the Fox chassis Mustangs. Although Ford Racing Performance Parts claims their bushings to be "twice as stiff" as stock, our testing has shown that while they are much stiffer than Fox chassis bushings, they are identical to the 1994-04 bushings.
While for 1994-04 cars these control arms offer no improvement in performance, as they do on Fox chassis cars, they are a great value when replacing arms with damaged or aged bushings. Because rubber deteriorates simply from age, after several years the control arms are ready for replacement.

 

[Rdub6]

Thanks! I guess I’ll be going with the MM parts. Just didn’t want to spend the extra money on identical parts, but obviously theirs are an upgraded piece!

 

[Cheapskate207]

I think you’ll find the MM parts aren’t much different than those moot for the sn95’s.

 

[Mustang5L5]

IIRC there was a change in the upper control arms around 1999 or so that moved the locstion of the bolt holes slightly. It the pinion angle slightly.

I’ll have to see where I can find the info. It’s been a while since I’ve looked into it.

my Steeda arms are stock new edge arms wgere steeda redrilled the mounting holes and tack welded a washer on.

edit2: browsing FordParts. The part number for the 94-98 upper control arm is

F4ZZ-5500-CA​

it does specifically list the arm is for vehicles up to Dec/98, but can’t find any part number listed.

 

[Rdub6]

I think I’ll just go with MM. If things go right, I’m hoping to do a set of their lower arms as well.
I’m sure they’ve done their homework and rather than guess on the Moogs, and risking having to deal with returns, I’ll spend the extra $30 on what I know will work.

 

[BoostedRed89gt]

Anybody else using the search tool I will update this old thread. I just ordered upper control arms from Maximum Motorsports and MOOG arms are what they send. If I would have known I would have just added to my rockauto order and saved seem money.

 

[Dakar09]

That's really interesting. I am looking into this right now. For now I have a new set of MOOG rubber bushings coming to put in my stock UCA. And hearing that the MM are just MOOG parts is having me lean to just replacing the rubber on mine for now.

That said, do you notice a different shape or design in the ones they sent from your stock UCAs?

 

[AeroCoupe]

You will most likely destroy the UCA trying to replace the bushing. They are stamped and don’t handle a lot of twist.

@General karthief - got any NOS laying around?

 

[gkomo]

From MM's website: These control arms are a reproduction of the no-longer-available M-5500-A Ford Racing Performance Parts (FRPP) control arms.

Not sure if thats the same design / P/N as the RockAuto MOOG or even the OEM arms.

 

[Dakar09]

You will most likely destroy the UCA trying to replace the bushing. They are stamped and don’t handle a lot of twist.

@General karthief - got any NOS laying around?

Greeeeeeeat, Were they not meant to be serviced or just a poorly made part? I don't usually try to replace rubber bushings in old trailing arms anyway, not sure why I wanted to take this on with the Crapstang

EDIT: The Moog part is $35 on Amazon...

 

[AeroCoupe]

I honestly think the UCA’s and LCA’s were meant to be replaced as a unit.

 

[BoostedRed89gt]

They are moog control arms. They have moog painted on the arms with part number.

I emailed them based on their webpage description because I could have saved $60 adding the moog arms to my rock auto order.

They responded and this is verbatim from the response email “They are available through us for ease of project orders. I'm sorry. “

Pretty lousy on their part I expected more from the premium vendor. Nothing like getting the shaft.

 

[BoostedRed89gt]

Blow the pic up you can see the moog print.

 

[BoostedRed89gt]

Here’s the packaging with moog part number, not M-5500

 

[General karthief]

You will most likely destroy the UCA trying to replace the bushing. They are stamped and don’t handle a lot of twist.

@General karthief - got any NOS laying around?

As a matter of fact I do

 

[Dakar09]

That's a pretty crap response from MM on why they charge so much. I think maybe you caught them off-guard when you asked that question (and hats off to you for asking, but no need to charge so much extra.

Looks like I'll be ordering the MOOG UCA from Amazon today.

Appreciate the follow-up on this thread, as it did come up in my search earlier this week.