[Brendan]

Well, I finally got the front suspension all tightened down and greased up after finally making my own spacers for the front coilovers (FFR never sent the missing ones after 3 phone calls)

I moved to the back to grease and tighten down the rear, and realized that the FFR Rear LCAs have the same problems as the front! They aren't even close to fitting correctly in the frame mounting flanges. It looks as I'm going to need at least 2 washers a side so that the brass sleeve will be snug without bending the hell out of the mounting flanges. Has anyone else had this problem with the Rear Tubular LCAs like the front lowers?

This is starting to really get to me the amount of time I'm losing on this build becuase of things not being close to fitting. At the rate I'm at now, Its looking very likely I'm going to miss at least the beginning of next year's spec series.

Brendan

 

[accobra66]

Brendan:

You will find that many times during the build that things do not seem to fit correctly. You will swear up and down at FFR. How could they do this?

In the end though my hunch is that you will find that the stuff was correct 98% of the time and it was probably your unfamiliarity with the part blamed for why it did not seem to fit originally. I could go on and on about this but I wont.

Now, if I understand you correctly the diameter of the cross section of your rear bushings at the end of the control arms is smaller than the space between the flanges of the lower mounting bracket. This sounds familiar to me for some reason. I think that once I bolted mine on and filled it with grease it expaneded to fit correctly. I even think there may be something in the manual saying that you should fill them with grease before you final tighten. If not, I am sure someone else will get back to you on the Forum with same problem and how they fixed it. Let us know how it comes out and good luck!

 

[accobra66]

Brendan:

Thinking about this more I seem to remember that the brackets may bend in a little when you tighten. I had mine powdercoated and it was not enough to crack the powdercoating.

 

[Brendan]

Not sure if You guys are misunderstanding me . In the bracket where the rear LCA mounts to the Frame, it looks like there would be room for 2 maybe 3 washers between the poly bushing and the side of the mounting ear if it is snugged up against the other side of the bracket. Its definately too much room for the bushing to fill or to bend the ear in. This is an identical problem to the Front LCAs where FFR even supplies the washers to take up the space.

Brendan

 

[oldguy668]

I had to add some shims to make the rears work. FFR builds the flanges to accomodate stock control arms and their tubulars (front and rear) are a bit narrower. I don't have a problem with the design, I just wish they wouldn't keep it a secret and tell us what needs to be done. Anyway, I ended up adding some fender washers because standard washers were too thick. I drilled the fender washers to fit the bolts.

 

[Ophitoxaemia]

when i had my 4 link i found the same thing needing to use some washers, both with the FFR arms and the maximum motorsports arms. in fact, it was an interesting balancing act with two jacks to get the holes to line up. however, at the time it didnt seem peculiar to me in any way... perhaps you are talking about something different?

-james

 

[rhygin]

I almost hod a cow when I did my rear end installation... nothing fit at all and was about to have a nutty. After a little pinch between my cheek and gum, cooler head prevailed. I had to do a lot of back and forth and up and down to get oit all to line up. The last one was the real pain and I had to have a friend leverage the sucker into alignment.

I was frustrated, but mine all fit and there was a little bit of deflection, but I figured a hard corner under acceleration would FAR outweigh the little bit of torque I had to put on the rear end to get it to fit right. ( I have Maximum Motorsports lowers and FF uppers and all is good on my MKII)

 

[Ophitoxaemia]

incidently, you will likely find the handling at the limit extremely eye opening with the FFR uppers. the poly bushings increase the roll and compression resistance change over the stock arms by a huge margin. (this causes a huge increase in rear roll resistance when cornering, equals severe and dangerous oversteer.)

i recommend only the stock uppers using rubber bushings at both ends. the MM lowers are fine.

of course, on the street one should be tip toeing around anyway with a car like this, but be careful!

-james

 

[Brendan]

Originally posted by Ophitoxaemia:
when i had my 4 link i found the same thing needing to use some washers, both with the FFR arms and the maximum motorsports arms. in fact, it was an interesting balancing act with two jacks to get the holes to line up. however, at the time it didnt seem peculiar to me in any way... perhaps you are talking about something different?

-james

Just so everyone knows, this is for a spec racer with the 3 link and rear tubular lowers, not the stock mustang lowers.

James, its the same thing. I'm just wish that FFR would let you know in advance when they're shipping you a part that doesn't fit without a trip to the hardware store (Which wasn't open when I found out). Its little things like this that end up adding up. And for those of us who don't have the time to work on the car all that often, it gets to be a real pain.

Oh well, I've got 2 days left to work on the car this week before the car sits until March. Hopefully, the front and rear suspensions and brake lines are done by the end of the weekend.

Brendan

[ December 29, 2002, 07:18 PM: Message edited by: Brendan Mulcahy ]

 

[David Eastman]

Brendan


I see somethings never change. When I built my car #1347 four years ago I had the same problem with the lower conrtol arms. Though your frustrated now all that frustration will go away
on your first outing

 

[fact5racer]

Till March????? I take delivery of my third spec kit onthe 18th and I will have mine done in March and onto my Coupe by then!

 

[Ophitoxaemia]

oh good point, especially if you havent driven it yet, brendan, this car has the magical power to make you instantly forgive and forget any troubles its given you. ive had plenty, but they vanish from my mind the next time i drive it. hehe.

and if you havent raced a lot... there are many days and nights of frantic frustration trying to fix something. i learned pretty quick id better leave my "type-A" self in the kitchen or i was going to set myself or the car on fire everytime i worked on it

i tell people that want to race, youd better REALLY like being a mechanic, because its about a 50 to 1 ratio of wrenching to driving. think of how you feel when some kid in a $5000 race car rams into you, and its YOU that has to fix your car.

-james

 

[Larry N. Johnson]

Brenden,
I hope you are asking about IRS LCA & UCA arms.

If that is the case, I had some challenges but decided to follow the directions in the manual exactly.

The issue is that the ears on the FFR frame have to be widened a little so that the spacers in the kit fit. I used a 5" long threaded rod, 3/8" diameter, with nuts and washers to expand the ears so that the LCA & UCA fit right in the slots.

Then I mounted the tire without the coil-over to check the suspension movement and tire clearance; no binding of any kind...with all tightened down.

Are we on the same type rear end?

Hope this helps.
lnj

 

[Brendan]

James, I really do like being a mechanic, but right now I'm really looking forward to getting it on the road! And yes, I'm fully anticipating more little problems and glitches. I was just a little steamed at the time because it as something so simple if I'd seen it coming.

Gary, yes March unfortunately, I've got every weekend plus 3 nights a week booked in January and February for Ski Coaching. Bummer. And thats in addition to my full time job!

LNJ, this is for the 3 Link with FFR Tubular lowers. Its the front of the Tubular lowers, where they bolt to the frame that I had the problem.

Brendan

 

[Richard Oben]

The front lowers require washers and of course the spacers for the shocks. They should have come with the kit. Cheers Richard.

 

[Dior55]

Is it possible that you're installing the LCAs backwards? I'm not sure if the ends are the same thickness.

It's been a few years, but I recall having to use a rubber mallet to get my FFR LCA's to slide into the bracket!

The LCA should be installed so that the little vertical metal strip with FFR logo should be "under" the axle as opposed to being under the "seat". Just a thought.

 

[Brendan]

Originally posted by Richard Oben:
The front lowers require washers and of course the spacers for the shocks. They should have come with the kit. Cheers Richard.

Richard, these are the Rear Tubular Lowers, not the Fronts. But it happens to be the exact same problem / solution.

Brendan