Rear upper control arm inner bushing

[KevinVarnes]

Doing a rear wheel bearing on the '97. With the knuckle off I noticed some play in the upper control arm inner bushing (control arm to frame). Are there any aftermarket bushings that actually work? I believe there are some that LOOK like the bushing, but don't actually articulate like they are supposed to.

I see TRW, Mevotech , and Dorman available.

 

[Grog6]

The dorman ooks right; the key thing is that the center rotates seperately, and is not one piece.

 

[Kenz]

I replaced both sides on my Tbird about 7 years ago. IIRC I found Moog branded ones that were correct. But I went through a couple of sets before I found the correct ones in the box. Not sure where to get them now, hopefully someone know what brand is making them correctly.

 

[KevinVarnes]

It looks like Moog might have walked away from that business. They don't seem to be too readily available. I'm fine putting the Dorman bushing in if it isn't a piece of junk. I don't think I've ever used Dorman anything for any suspension part because I don't have a ton of confidence in their parts.

 

[theterminator93]

I actually bought a Dorman UCA back in 2009 or so. IIRC, it's still on the car, 70000 miles later.

 

[Kenz]

Yeah mine has Dorman uppers as well. The older ones they stopped making decades ago have an oversize ball joint, and were much thicker than the OEM style. Took me a while to track a pair down.
They made/make newer ones that are just generic brands they relabel.

 

[racecougar]

In my experience, it's a crap-shoot as to what you'll actually receive in the box. Make sure wherever you purchase from has a good return policy.

 

[KevinVarnes]

Sounds good. Thanks for the replies. I guess I'll just order some and see what I get. I'll report back with my findings.

 

[GRWeldon]

Doing a rear wheel bearing on the '97. With the knuckle off I noticed some play in the upper control arm inner bushing (control arm to frame). Are there any aftermarket bushings that actually work? I believe there are some that LOOK like the bushing, but don't actually articulate like they are supposed to.

I see TRW, Mevotech , and Dorman available.

You are talking about the camber adjustment bushing? If so, when I was at the Firestone service center the other day, I had show the manager the eccentric bushing on Rockauto because he told me the rear camber wasn't adjustable, even after showing them the adjustment while the car was on the rack.

The one I looked up on Rockauto was Centric brand... They couldn't adjust mine to zero degrees, the tech said that the direction started going the wrong direction when he turned it too much so apparently I need at least one myself. I sure wish I had an alignment rack. I hate dealing with incompetence.

 

[Grog6]

If it goes the wrong way, you keep going. it will increase again. It's an eccentric cam, in a round housing, those guys have shit for brains. Don't let them work on your car.

 

[XR7-4.6]

You are talking about the camber adjustment bushing? If so, when I was at the Firestone service center the other day, I had show the manager the eccentric bushing on Rockauto because he told me the rear camber wasn't adjustable, even after showing them the adjustment while the car was on the rack.

The one I looked up on Rockauto was Centric brand... They couldn't adjust mine to zero degrees, the tech said that the direction started going the wrong direction when he turned it too much so apparently I need at least one myself. I sure wish I had an alignment rack. I hate dealing with incompetence.

"would you just let me do it?"

 

[GRWeldon]

"would you just let me do it?"

Did you mean... Ask the technician to let me do it? He was militant after I insisted that the rear camber was indeed adjustable. He was a certified technician. How could I know more about my car than he? I do all my own work because of attitudes like his. At least if I screw up doing my own work, I didn't end up paying $125 an hour to do it.

 

[XR7-4.6]

Did you mean... Ask the technician to let me do it? He was militant after I insisted that the rear camber was indeed adjustable. He was a certified technician. How could I know more about my car than he? I do all my own work because of attitudes like his. At least if I screw up doing my own work, I didn't end up paying $125 an hour to do it.

Pretty much, some guys think an ASE patch makes them NASA engineers. Alignments piss me off because it’s the one thing I don’t have access to when I need them and I’ve bit my tongue twice ready to blurt out “I built the fucking car, I know how it adjusts”.

 

[Grog6]

It's been over 10 years since I've met a competent mechanic. I do my own work. My buddy Walter was going to retire, and open his own shop. He dropped dead at lunch the next day. RIP, my brother!
Even he said they weren't adjustable, when I told him everything was adjustable, lol. It was on a lift; I showed him All the adjustment points. I was having him install a driveshaft and transmission, a new steering pump and lines, and fuel pump. $350, after I showed him the easy way to drop the ds and trans. When they popped the halfshafts out, there was bronze shim sticking out, so I had to take him a spare diff. I turned him on to web forums, in 2005 or so, and showed him how to search google. He was old school. I'd never adjusted the strut rods, but they were set too long. He set it up by the alignment specs in the article, and it was perfect!

 

[GRWeldon]

Pretty much, some guys think an ASE patch makes them NASA engineers. Alignments piss me off because it’s the one thing I don’t have access to when I need them and I’ve bit my tongue twice ready to blurt out “I built the fucking car, I know how it adjusts”.

You would think that after I told the technician that I just replaced the steering rack, steering pump, upper and lower control arms and tie rod ends, his brain would might have though gee...maybe this guy knows what he's talking about. No. HE is the expert, not me.

 

[Kenz]

Never have had a good experience getting mine aligned either. I had a "4 wheel" alignment done at a local repair chain in NY. After picking it up, the steering wheel was way off center.

I don't trust any of the tire or local repair shops for alignments anymore. Unless it's a half ton pickup truck, or some cookie cutter car, they don't seem to know what they are doing.
Once I need to get my Cougar a real alignment, I'm going to look for a speed/custom auto shop to do it properly.

Since it is on topic, is there an thread on Birdcats for the recommended alignment settings? I recall seeing an image that showed what everything should be set to.

 

[Rodeo Joe]

I know there was an article at the other place about aggressive settings for "canyon carving". Take a look if you haven't been banned!

Joe

 

[Rodeo Joe]

Found it, I think!

Aggressive handling four
wheel alignment settings

NOTE: Adverse tire wear is not an issue with these
settings as they are within the outer edge of the factory ranges.

These settings can be used for all the MN12 years and
models.

Front Camber -1.3* Range min -1.3............+0.3 max

Front Caster +5.5* Range min +4.8............+6.3 max

Front Toe -0.03* Range min -0.03........+0.10 max

Rear Camber -1.0* Range min -1.0.........+0.0 max

Rear Toe -0.03* Range min -0.03......+0.19 max

*Preferred settings for aggressive handling

ALIGNMENT NOTES:

Rear camber adjustment is on the upper arm (inside bolt turns eccentric
bushing)

Rear toe adjustment is on the lower arm (eccentric washer)

Front caster adjustment is on the strut rod (adjust length through
frame)

Front camber adjustment is on the lower arm (eccentric washer)

Front toe adjustment is on the tie rods (adjust length)

 

[Grog6]

The sccoa suspension boys came up with that, dlf and duffy floyd.
I have a lot of respect for Denny, he's buried at Arlington.

 

[Big Scott]

I wanted to punch the little prick in the face that told me he'd rather work on McLaren's & Lambo's then try to "figure out" how to adjust the rear of my FN10/MN12 at the so called high end Butler tire shop. They charge over 2 beans for a four wheel.

 

[Grog6]

Idiots are everywhere. My old mechanic only charged me 120. The guys they sold out to did it wrong, and left the pass lca adjustment loose. The guys I took it to after that told me they were getting a premium from fixing stuff the other shop was screwing up, lol. They only charged me 150 to do it correctly. But then they told me the lca was worn out, that I just replaced, lol. I told them RA would be disappointed they sold a worn out part, lol. (it was new. ) No-one in this area is honest.

 

[KevinVarnes]

Here are some pics of the Dorman bushing. The packaging made it seem like they were going for a more upscale look to the part for whatever that means. The inner bushing does rotate relative to the outer part. It is pretty stiff. I had to insert a tool into the center bore and held the outer part with my hand. No way I could just turn it with my finger. In the end, as long as the inner bushing rotates and isn't molded to the outer then it should do what it needs.

 

[Kenz]

Good to see Dorman is making the part correctly. A few years back it was hard to find the proper bushings.

 

[KevinVarnes]

Sad as it seems, it almost brings me to tears to know that somebody actually bothered to correctly manufacture a unique part for our cars that isn't used on another platform as well.

 

[Grog6]

Moog still makes bushings, which surprised me.

 

[GRWeldon]

Moog still makes bushings, which surprised me.

But I don't believe the Moog we all knew is the same company. They sold the brand name to a Chinese manufacturer. I don't remember where I read that but it was on the internet so it MUST be true!

 

[Grog6]

Nothing lasts as long as the originals; I'm just happy we can get them.

 

[97 30th]

But I don't believe the Moog we all knew is the same company. They sold the brand name to a Chinese manufacturer. I don't remember where I read that but it was on the internet so it MUST be true!

This is true. Happened years ago and they went to shit.

 

[theterminator93]

I still have a pair of the good design Raybestos bushings on the floor of the back seat in the bird. At some point they'll get put to use...

 

[Grog6]

I still have a complete moog set to rebuild the lca's, they're at least 20 years old. I bought 2 sets, when I did the red car 's wheel and knuckle bushings. The uca's were rebuilt at the same time on the redone, and Lazarus, the black cougar, got delrin and poly stuff in the lca when I converted it to Mark lcas and welded uca's.