Lower Control Arms

J&M

BMR all around

BMR Upper & Lower Adjustable. I usually buy directly from BMR, I also have their Adj panhard bar and rear sway bar. Good quality stuff and great installation directions online.

I like Steeda's stuff.

I have a set of Steeda adjustable LCA’s with poly bushings that I pulled off my car if anyone is interested? They were only on for about 2 months. I pulled them for a set with solid rod ends on my new setup.

Earl

xtweakerx said:

bigcat, where did you pick up your j&m control arms?

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www.hotpart.com is J&Ms website.

I got LCAs and relocation brackets from CHE...love 'em. No wheel hop, and the car just goes forward when I nail it now, instead of squatting onto the rears first.

I put BMR's LCA with a Steeda Gtrac stage 1 suspension and it's awesome. No more wheel hop even with traction control on.

steeda lca's and adj uca. i try to get all of my stuff from brenspeed.

I got Steeda.

J&M. I plan on getting their adjustable panhard rod and LCA lower brackets as well.

Ford Racing - GT 500 LCA's
#M-5538-A
They are $84
Unlike aftermarket LCA's they have the hole in them to run your E-brake cable (exception - CHE LCA's have a bracket to run the cable thru).
They are OEM on the Shelby GT 500
They weigh 6 lbs, 8.5 oz., same as the stock GT ones
Their bushings are 20% stiffer than stock
Unlike aftermarket ones, they do not need to be greased
They come with the correct Grade 8 bolts and nuts
They are gray, like the GT 500 ones.

I get all my suspension stuff from www.stangsuspension.com They're great and very helpful. I did have BMR lowers on my Black GT (non adjustable, poly bushings), but they made any gear whine 10000 times worse then with the stock ones. Made road noise horrible also! My stock lowers do me just fine with the GO Mustang, and I'll never change them.

jack1.1 said:

Ford Racing - GT 500 LCA's
#M-5538-A
They are $84
Unlike aftermarket LCA's they have the hole in them to run your E-brake cable (exception - CHE LCA's have a bracket to run the cable thru).
They are OEM on the Shelby GT 500
They weigh 6 lbs, 8.5 oz., same as the stock GT ones
Their bushings are 20% stiffer than stock
Unlike aftermarket ones, they do not need to be greased
They come with the correct Grade 8 bolts and nuts
They are gray, like the GT 500 ones.

Click to expand...

Most aftermarket ones are lighter than stock. You're acting like the same weight is an advantage. If you go with billet LCA's, you can run your ebrake cable through the middle. Otherwise, just use a zip tie. They don't have poly bushings, so they aren't much of an upgrade over stock. Again, you're acting like not having to be greased is an advantage. They have the same shape as stock, so they don't really have any more structural integrity than stock. And most GT500 owners who are modding their cars are replacing them because they aftermarket options are better. The ONLY upgrade from the stock GT LCAs is that the bushings are a bit stiffer. No weight savings, no grease fittings, no poly bushings, no increase in structural integrity, no thanks. For $20-$50 more there's plenty of better options.

*edit* Don't take this as flaming, please. But you're recommending to someone something that seems inferior to the other options out there...

DarkFireGT said:

Most aftermarket ones are lighter than stock. You're acting like the same weight is an advantage. If you go with billet LCA's, you can run your ebrake cable through the middle. Otherwise, just use a zip tie. They don't have poly bushings, so they aren't much of an upgrade over stock. Again, you're acting like not having to be greased is an advantage. They have the same shape as stock, so they don't really have any more structural integrity than stock. And most GT500 owners who are modding their cars are replacing them because they aftermarket options are better. The ONLY upgrade from the stock GT LCAs is that the bushings are a bit stiffer. No weight savings, no grease fittings, no poly bushings, no increase in structural integrity, no thanks. For $20-$50 more there's plenty of better options.

*edit* Don't take this as flaming, please. But you're recommending to someone something that seems inferior to the other options out there...

Click to expand...

Darkfire:
I'm not acting like weight savings is an advantage, I'm just pointing out something that many here fail to mention. And that is the weight. I've never seen anyone on this forum address weight of LCA's. How much is a stock one? I've weighed mine, they are 6 llbs, 8.5 oz each. So when we talk about the GT 500 ones they are the same, I've weighed 'em. How much are the J&M's? Does anyone know? How about the billet ones? Anyone? So let's say the $400 billet ones from Roush, Steeda, whoever are 4 pounds, lets see we have saved a total of 2 x 2 pounds = 4 pounds. Don't think that matters too much. What about strength? No one anywhere has test results showing bend stress on a stock LCA vs. an aftermarket. I would love to see one because I am curious. Magazines say the stock ones are weak, I know they can't "stop the hop" so we can assume they are indeed weaker than aftermarket.
You are right about the billet ones having a hole in them but I don't consider the billet ones at $350 - $450 in the same range as what the author of the thread was looking for and many folks do. I think we are in the under $150 range if you want a hole (or bracket) and the only choices I've seen are CHE, GT 500 and the stock ones. Everyone will, like you say tie wrap it over the bar.
As for the the thickness of the GT 500 vs. the stock LCA, I took a micrometer to both of them and I could not determine if one was thicker than the other, it's close, do you know for sure or are you guessing? I was told by Ford Racing and the dealer both that the bushing durometer is 20% stiffer. No one knew if the GT 500 LCA bar was any stronger. So I knew exactly what I was buying. I really am not sure if the stoutness of the bar has a lot to do with it anyway, the bushing is what is deflecting I would think, and it's end connection, not so much the bar itself but I can tell the GT 500 is "stiffer".

This leads me to my final point. My post was to indicate what was out there. I studied for many months what LCA to put on my Roush. I kind of wanted a Ford part, I didn't want billet (too expensive) and I don't want to hassle with jacking up my car to grease the fittings. I also don't like stuff jerry rigged, and in my opinion that is how the ebrake cable would have to be run (that's why my 2nd pick was CHE , but I liked the J&M bushing). All I'm trying to do is show what the options are, not to say to xtweaker to go with the GT 500's LCA. I'm just saying that's what I went with and these are some things you should consider (or maybe people don't care). Similar to other mods, I like to tell folks as much info because that's the best part of these forums, real world experience.


Jack