yep, torque wrenched it to 129. Im not sure if we had exactly ride weight on the axle tho. there was weight, support pushing up the axle to an approximate ride hide.
thats the fact that ive been told, the more stiff you make it the louder it will be. I just wanter to know if it was expected with this mod, or if I had messed up somewhere in the install and did something incorrect.
The noise doesn't bother me if it is natural of the part, but if it seems un-natural, I will be a little worried!
thats the fact that ive been told, the more stiff you make it the louder it will be. I just wanter to know if it was expected with this mod, or if I had messed up somewhere in the install and did something incorrect.
The noise doesn't bother me if it is natural of the part, but if it seems un-natural, I will be a little worried!
If everything is lubed and torqued properly then I don't think you need to worry. It's just one of those things.
Well after close to a month of driving around with the new UCA/LCA package installed, ive recently noticed something a little annoying, possibly a problem. When I hit the brakes with a decent amount of force, I can hear my back end popping a few times before I come to a complete stop. Now once I hear the popping from braking kinda hard, i hear a lot more popping/clanking kind of in a multiple pattern, like 5 or 6 clanks before its done, when i start moving again.
For a while I thought it was my cds and misc. junk in my trunk, but now I noticed that it was my new parts. the noise is very loud and sounds like something might have come loose or be hitting something else. I haven't had the time to check, but I wasn't just wondering if this is normal, or If I am experiencing a problem worth noting?
Well after close to a month of driving around with the new UCA/LCA package installed, ive recently noticed something a little annoying, possibly a problem. When I hit the brakes with a decent amount of force, I can hear my back end popping a few times before I come to a complete stop. Now once I hear the popping from braking kinda hard, i hear a lot more popping/clanking kind of in a multiple pattern, like 5 or 6 clanks before its done, when i start moving again.
For a while I thought it was my cds and misc. junk in my trunk, but now I noticed that it was my new parts. the noise is very loud and sounds like something might have come loose or be hitting something else. I haven't had the time to check, but I wasn't just wondering if this is normal, or If I am experiencing a problem worth noting?
As I mentioned in the other thread, it could be the bushings but I'll put my $$ on the bolts needing replaced.
I've been through all this ad nauseum and have now resolved all of my noises and clunks in my two S197 cars after much research, expense and annoyance.
Your clunk and slop noises while just moving the shifter around 1-2, 2-3 etc under light load between gears as you are rolling, relates to your pinion angle, which is now off as a result of the install. You are hearing your driveline slop (driveshaft, u joints, tranny gear take-up, pinion lash takeup, etc), which is now further exaggerated by the harder poly bushings, but is quite curable, even to quieter than stock.
The best fix to quiet this down and correct the issue is an ADJUSTABLE uca to correct the pinion angle, NOT a fixed-length uca. The aftermarket uca and lcas are not the exact same length as the factory ones, and this car is extremely sensitive to pinion angle changes which will be caused when the rear shifts around during the install and with the new components. The factory pinion angle is already too positive from the factory in an effort to give a smooth driveline feel. You can TRY loosening the lca bolts, shifting the rear axle assembly toward the rear of the car, and then re-torquing the lcas to 140 ft lbs, which may help slightly to rotate the pumpkin, but you really need an adjustable uca to correct the pinion angle properly. I suggest the steeda adjustable street uca because it also includes shim spacers to correct the fact that the factory uca bracket has a 16mm bolt hole but the factory bolt shaft is only 14mm (creating yet another source of clunking you will hear more with the poly bushings). With an adjustable UCA you can take the pinion angle a couple degrees more negative and the clunk and slop will go bye bye, just don't go too negative and bind your driveshaft u joints!!!!!!
Your multiple clicking/clacking/tapping under braking, decel, bumps, etc is a more interesting phenomenon. It is almost certainly coming from your metal aftermarket LCA bushing sleeves clanking on your factory lca tension bolts, which are by design a smaller diameter than the center of the lca bushing sleeves.
The stock LCAs are mounted into the car with a tension/suspension system, whereby the steel sleeve in the facory lca bushings gets pinched between the factory mounting brackets, floating the sleeves away from the lca tension bolts and letting the rubber bushings absorb nvh from the now-isolated lca arms. However, the rolled or stamped metal sleeves in the bushings of most aftermarket LCAs are a standard-cut part they buy, that is just a hair more narrow than the metal sleeves in the factory lca rubber bushings. These narrower metal sleeves in the aftermarket lcas often will not be properly "pinched" in the lca brackets at only 129 ft lbs. As such, the lca bushing sleeves are not properly clamped into place, and since they can move around, will tap and clunk against the tension bolts. The really big problem here is that you will eventually rip your poly bushings, they are being squashed around in the lca mounting brackets and can tear.
There are several cures for this. I measured all aspects of the steel sleeves in five different sets of aftermarket lcas with various gauges and calipers. I found that two of the brands had the correct-width sleeves, three did NOT. I went with one of those LCAs (also had slots to feed the parking brake cables thru), torqued them to 140 ft lbs with fresh grade 9 ss bolts, and....poof, no more clinking noises at all, no thumps or clunks, no bushing "crunch" or "squeak" noises. The other lcas were discared, sold, and in one instance returned for a refund. The Vendors shall remain nameless unless you want to pm me for a recommendation. This drove me insane for about two months until I got very hands-on and even called a few of the vendors.
actually, we fixed it.... I thought that I posted up, I was in a hurry, but the flag bolt was lose and we just needed to torque it (on the UCA). all is good and no more noise exists.
UCA is one job that's better on a maintenance lift.
Agree, I spent way too much time messing with mine from the garage floor.
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2006 Redfire GT Vert Auto, every factory option, 490rwhp JDM Saleen SC, One piece driveshaft, Steeda ultralight springs - rear adjustable UCA and LCAs, CHE relo brackets, Granelli front cross-member, Intrax sway bars, Tokico dampers, Hawk brake pads, Shelby Redline wheels and Nitto tires, GT500 exhaust, FRPP 3.73's, Pioneer AVIC-D3 navigation head unit, and Saleen HID headlights. See profile for appearance mods
I have been thinking about replacing the UCA on my 07 GT, but how are you able to torque the bolt that attaches the UCA to the bracket to 129 ft lbs while loading the suspension? You have little room there to start, and you can't even get a regular socket on the bolt, much less socket/torque wrench. Do you use a crow's foot on the torque wrench? What am I missing here?
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2007 GT , Redfire, Roush Rear Springs, 5 sp manual, Hurst Competition Plus Short Throw Shifter, K&N Aircharger CAI, XCal 2 with assorted tunes, Steeda UDP's, SHR 1/4 Window Louvers, Lakewood Adjustable Panhard Bar and Brace, FRPP GT500 LCA's and M 5230 GTA Axle Backs
well we used some jack stands to hold up the axle to simulate load, and it took a lot of maneuvering to get it on right. the bracket actually has to be unbolted in order to turn slightly to give you just enough room to get a ratchet in there. it takes some time and 2 people makes this install a hell of a lot easier!
well we used some jack stands to hold up the axle to simulate load, and it took a lot of maneuvering to get it on right. the bracket actually has to be unbolted in order to turn slightly to give you just enough room to get a ratchet in there. it takes some time and 2 people makes this install a hell of a lot easier!
I've seen numerous posts on other forums that have mentioned pulling the rear seat to loosen the bracket bolt in order to drop it down a little to get clearance.
When bolting in the new one, did you torque it before tightening the bracket or do you tighten the bracket, then torque the UCA bolt? I thought you had to put the suspension under load before torquing, but there's no room to get a torque wrench in there.
I know about using jack stands under the axle to load the suspension, as I had to do that when installing my springs and panhard bar.
It almost looks like you can pull the entire assembly (UCA and bracket) as one, replace the UCA, then bolt it back in place. Of course you will need someone in the car to start the bracket bolt while you hold the assembly in place. The problem with this method is torquing the bolt without a suspension load, but I don't see any other way of doing it.
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2007 GT , Redfire, Roush Rear Springs, 5 sp manual, Hurst Competition Plus Short Throw Shifter, K&N Aircharger CAI, XCal 2 with assorted tunes, Steeda UDP's, SHR 1/4 Window Louvers, Lakewood Adjustable Panhard Bar and Brace, FRPP GT500 LCA's and M 5230 GTA Axle Backs
For those of you who have installed a new UCA mounting bracket, how did you lower the gas tank? How long are those bolts holding the straps to the body?
Currently my car is sitting the the auto craft shop without a UCA and rear sway bar because we ran out of time this weekend. I have an adjustable steeda piece with the new mounting bracket, but I assume everyone installing a new UCA mount runs into similar problems regardless of the brand.
Anyway some guidance on lowering and supporting the gas tank would be appreciated
For those of you who have installed a new UCA mounting bracket, how did you lower the gas tank? How long are those bolts holding the straps to the body?
They're about 2 inches or so. I was working on my CHE UCA & UCA mount install today as well. I can tell you if you're going to be messing around with the gas tank strap bolts, make sure you have a torx plus bit. My father (who I swear has most any tool you'd ever need) thought he had the right bit, so I used what he said to use (a standard t-50 torx bit) and all was well until trying to tighten the bolt back up when one of them just sort of went "poof" and turned to dust. There's still a bit left of the internals that it might be salvagable when the torx plus bit I ordered shows up later this week, but I wont be stripping anymore of it out.
As far as lowering the gas tank is concerned, I put my pony up on 4 jack stands after running it down to less than 1/4 a tank of fuel. I then used blocks of wood and placed under each ballast on either side of the drive shaft. Then undid the torx bolts and pulled the tank down onto the wood. The top couple of sheets were strips of plywood (see image). I wasn't sure how heavy the tank would be so I lowered it onto them, and then pulled em out one by one until the back of the tank was such that I could get the UCA and mount out. Going back together, I wedged the plywood back in a bit at time until the bolts would just catch in the holes. Tank was light enough that I could push up while screwing in the bolts to make it easier. All well and good until trying to tighten them down.
Now all I need to do is figure out how to torque down the bolt that holds the UCA to the bracket on the axle to 129 ft lbs when there's not enough room to do it.
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Mineralite on a mission. Ponies To The People.
2005 Mineral Grey GT Prem (Kaylee), mostly stock.
