[mfcurre]

My 2005 Convertible suffered from TSB 07-17-8: The broken torsion arm on the convertible frame rail assembly. Mine broke on the passenger side about 3 months after the warranty expired. Ford wants to replace the whole top (see TSB 07-17-8) at a cost of $4800 plus labor. Here is my $400 fix.

The problem with the arm is that the metal yields and the through hole on the top tears out so that it is no longer connected. The bottom part of the arm is still intact. I was able to unbolt the bottom part of the arm (#13 metric hex and T-30 torx drive). A local welding shop heated then bent the metal back into place and welded two bracing strips on bothe sides (approx .25X.75). I now have a like new part for $57. Now the tricky part. The top bushing that the arm attaches to is a large rivet. It needs to be drilled out and replaced with a shoulder bolt. To get to it you need to remove the portion of the headliner in this area. I did not quite trust myself on this part so I went to a local top shop (any collision guy has the know how if you can get their time). They performed the fix for me. Total repair was $341. I was so thrilled I gave them $400 and had them keep the change. This is less a heck of a lot less than the $6000 Ford wanted.

I hope too many people do not have to do this. We love our Mustang and I hate to see them get a bad rap because of this $15 part

[stlwagon]

Now that's what I call a great first post! Fantastic fix. Welcome to AFM.

[Bopper]

excellent, almost makes me want to take mine apart and fix something before it brakes.

[mfcurre]

Hopefully this part will not break on 2006 and up. It is just us early birds with the first '05 convertibles who have to deal with it.