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New from Steeda - Front LCAs for 11-13

13K views 71 replies 23 participants last post by  5.0 Candy REDCS 
#1 ·
Check out our new front LCAs for the 11-13!

Steeda Street/Race Front Lower Control Arms w/ Ball Joints - 11-13



These specially modified factory O.E. arms are upgraded with high durometer urethane bushings for greatly reduced deflection and longer X11 ball joints for improved front suspension geometry.

Reduced bushing deflection will noticeably increase steering response and maintain proper alignment geometry during hard cornering. Our X11 ball joints will improve front geometry for increased cornering grip, reduced understeer, and reduced body roll.

Most importantly, these arms wont fold up and break under high stress conditions like aftermarket tubular designs. You get all the strength and durability that only the factory control arm assembly can provide!

Note: Due to the relocation from the longer ball joint, 18 inch or larger wheels are required for clearance.

Product Benefits
  • Will not fold up and break like aftermarket tubular designs
  • Increased cornering grip - reduced understeer
  • Maintains proper alignment geometry under hard braking
  • Reduced body roll
 
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#2 ·
It pains me to do this as I have great respect for Steeda and their products, but I can't recommend anyone replace their front lower control arms or bushings due to a risk of complications with the EPAS electronic steering system. People have reported sudden and sometimes violent shuddering from the steering wheel after replacing just bushings on the front lower control arms, and this has even been thoroughly documented by some respected vendors such as Vorshlag.

EPAS Terrible Shudder in Steering Wheel

This is not to say everyone would experience this on a 2011+ Mustang with EPAS, but if you daily drive your car the risk is too high in my opinion. The only remedy for the issue is to replace the entire steering rack with a modified unit from Ford Racing($999) that has certain aspects of the software removed. This software is not transferrable into an existing steering rack, as was confirmed by Vorshlag. Also this repair is not covered under warranty.
 
#3 ·
Waiting for a response back from StedaBrandon to Grimace427's post. Hate to have this happen if I had to replace with the above product,just sayin!
 
#5 ·
This looks like a good replacement for the noisy OEM control arms if you are one to have that issue. However if they do interfere with the EPAS system why would one develop them for a street application. I'm interested in what Steeda has to say.

My front control arms sounded so terrible yesterday creaking and poping I thought about driving it to a dealer and trading for something else. Absolute junk.
 
#8 ·
My front control arms sounded so terrible yesterday creaking and poping I thought about driving it to a dealer and trading for something else. Absolute junk.
Hmmm, Steeda here is offering the same "junky" control arms, but with high durometer urethane bushings, which if anything, might increase NVH.
 
#6 ·
There's a thread on here somewhere that shows Ford is offering a "Fix"
for this at your dealer.
 
#7 ·
Yeah I know they are attempting a fix they are on there third or fourth revision of control arms still can't get it right. I am waiting for mine to get really bad so there is no doubt there is an issue. I don't have the time or patience to be going back and forth with the dealer. My day is coming soon.
 
#13 ·
That is what is really strange some people with the original version have no issues and then some do and continue to have problems. Whatever the issue may be it is not consistent. Yesterday it made the worst sounds going over speed bumps and when turning into a driveway left or right you can hear it pop from inside the car. I even noticed when taking off from a dead stop it would pop. When hitting say a large dip in the road I can feel it under my feet and hear it crunch. Car only has 7500 miles on it

Grimace were you lowered right away? Wondering if reducing suspension travel may be a plus in this case or the change in geometry. Just thought.
 
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#14 ·
I had about 1,000 miles or so when I installed the lowering springs, then maybe 3,000 miles when I replaced the shocks and struts. I'm thinking the issue stems from the outsourced manufactured parts and the subframe geometries that are built by Ford themselves that once in a million don't fit up perfectly.

I've had my fair share of squeaky-bushing diagnoses and each one required it's own fix such as complete component replacement to gluing the bushing to the mounting point with a quick resin. I've only heard one '11+ Mustang with this issue and I would have only rated it a 2 or 2.5 out of 5 on a noise scale, with 5 being the bushing is broken and the control arm is hitting the frame.
 
#17 ·
It's a shame about the front LCA issue. If you don't have the problem you have no idea how terrible it is. Driving through parking lots with your new Mustang sounding like an old beater. Having people stare at you as you drive slowly through parking lots because they hear the noise. Strangers telling you when you get out of your car "hey man I don't know if you know this but there's something wrong with your car". It's embarrassing.
 
#34 ·
That noise DOES suck! I absolutely can't stand it and I'm hoping mine never comes back. What's funny is to some people it's nothing. For example, this buddy of mine goes why are you taking your car to the dealer? I go "listen to this when we go over this speed bump." Mind you this was when it was 100 degrees in August and the creaking was in FULL FORCE. You could feel in through the floor boards. He goes "what about it"? I go, don't you hear that!? He says "yeah I hear the suspension working". Lol he thought it was fine.

The LCA issue is not about NVH. It's about a failed part in a brand new vehicle.
Ill take some increase in road noise/road vibration etc to get rid of a failed part that Ford keeps offering more failing parts to replace it with. Shoot ill pay for it out of my own pocket despite my warranty if the new aftermarket part proves to work.
It's not a failed part. It's a terrible noise, I'll grant you that, but the part itself works just fine.

Hardly insensitive. I recently met an AFM member experiencing this issue for a test drive and directed him to the same service department that fixed my trans issue. I got a call from him a few days later saying they took care of the issue and that he appreciated the help. Time out of my day on a weekend, and I am insensitive?

And more to point, I was being very specific to the increase in noise from aftermarket components. Not a day goes buy with someone asking if XYZ component will increase noise. The answer to the question relies on the person experiencing it. There are people who hear noises and accepts them for whatever performance improvement they were going for, such as suspension or shifters. Then there are people(many like my customers) who actively listen for any noises just to complain about them. I see a difference in someone being proactive in getting their issue fixed and someone just being irritating. I want to help everyone, but not if they don't want to help themselves.
God helps those who help themselves. :evilchuck:popcorn:
 
#20 ·
Spring of this year I had AFM Front control arms and bump steer kit installed and ended up with the front end vibration during high speed hard cornering and a speed wobble at freeway speeds over rough roads. It was exactly as in the video. After removing the bump steer kit the vibration was gone.
 
#27 ·
Look, I took no offense to your post Grimace none at all. I have an issue period, right now I am just iritated. I don't really care what anyone on here really thinks, just as most don't care about my issues. This forum is here to discuss solutions, help others and yes vent from time to time. I WILL address this with the dealer and " HELP MYSELF" in the near future. I just don't have the time or patience to play the back and forth game and you know exactly what I mean. Dealers can be painful.

Thanks for all you input Grimace in all seriousness you provide a lot to the community. Whether it favorable or unfavorable at times.

HeavyD, I feel your pain man I hope you can get yours resolved. I'm in no way looking for sympathy here, not gonna find it here or any forum for that matter. I'm not brand loyal to anyone there is junk in all auto MFG's some more than others for sure. I spent 10 years building cars for Toyota and GM and have seen a lot of junk most of it from GM, they like to cut corners on quality.

Now back on topic I would still like to here some more info from Steeda.
 
#30 ·
I have had the front control bushings replaced on my Mustang in the first few hundred miles and had always wondered if it was the fronts or rears. I had also thought that due to the tubular front control arms having issues some breaking under track conditions etc that perhaps changing to better bushing on the stock arms would be the way to go.

Looks like were stuck with the stocks for now. What are the differences between the FR arms and the stock ones? If anyone knows.
 
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#33 ·
Looks like were stuck with the stocks for now. What are the differences between the FR arms and the stock ones? If anyone knows.
I haven't had a good look at the Ford Racing control arms on the Boss 302 racecars(if that is what you are referring to) but I know for a fact that the EPAS has software that does not include the 'anti-nibble' feature that some have concluded to be the cause of the steering wheel shudder issue when replacing the front LCA bushings.

Interesting Steeda has not commented:headscratch:
Likely a case of the Mondays.
 
#31 ·
Interesting Steeda has not commented:headscratch:
 
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#36 ·
It had nothing to do with the geometry or the arms themselves, but rather with stiffer bushings. In Vorshlag's testing they used Energy bushings, and tried everything under the sun including suspension, wheels/tires, even tried using the Ford Racing software in the stock EPAS rack to no avail.



Here is the reference from Vorshlag:
Page 6 with the install of the bushings:http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7806&page=6
Page 9 with their attempt at a dealer repair: http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7806&page=9
 
#37 ·
"It's not a failed part. It's a terrible noise, I'll grant you that, but the part itself works just fine."

You realize the definition of a bushing is something in place to REDUCE noise vibration and harshness. The fact that it creates all of these things makes it a fail in my book.
 
#38 ·
I think it's pretty bad that ford can't figure this out. I am actually appalled that they have 3 different control arms, all of which have the same issue.

Also, I'm sure steeda tested the lca's. I don't think they would sell a part that could possibly be massively recalled.
 
#43 ·
Nice to hear from Steeda that they have not seen the EPAS issue in their testing. Hopefully in the near future someone here will give them a try and give some feedback. Looks like it could be promising solution.
 
#44 ·
I have been following Terry Fairs plight at Vorschlag carefully. If you follow his blog, it has some of the most informative research for those of us that choose to modify suspensions. I also have great respect for Grimaces insight and input, he is careful about not spreading internet nonsense. I also respect steeda as a company and am glad to hear Grimace was careful to be fair. All that being said, I track my car (2011gt) on road courses and drive hard, the front control arm bushings, in my humble opinion, are one of the cars greatest downfalls. I did a lot of research on the so called tubular A arm failures. There were many many " I have a friend, I know this guy, My sisters boyfriends uncles first cousin" who had a tubular A frame failure. Yes there are definitely a few well documented failures, but I was only able to verify, and actually speak to 3 mustang owners with failures. One of them bought the a arms used and had no idea how old they were!. I bought and installed BMR tubular a arms 2 years ago, They have 24,500 miles of very hard driving on them , track and ny street miles. I have had no epas issues ever, I run everything from 245 to 305 stickys in the front and I inspect my a arms for signs of cracks fatigue and rust often. They are perfect. I think steeda used internet paranoia to push non tubular a arms and Grimmace, did you really look into the a arm failures? maybe you know of more documented cases than I was able to uncover? I guess my point is internet paranoia has people thinking all #8 cyl will fail all 6mt trannys suck and well you get my point. Sorry for the rambling I havnt posted in awhile, maybe I had to get it out
 
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#45 ·
I have been following Terry Fairs plight at Vorschlag carefully. If you follow his blog, it has some of the most informative research for those of us that choose to modify suspensions. I also have great respect for Grimaces insight and input, he is careful about not spreading internet nonsense. I also respect steeda as a company and am glad to hear Grimace was careful to be fair. All that being said, I track my car (2011gt) on road courses and drive hard, the front control arm bushings, in my humble opinion, are one of the cars greatest downfalls. I did a lot of research on the so called tubular A arm failures. There were many many " I have a friend, I know this guy, My sisters boyfriends uncles first cousin" who had a tubular A frame failure. Yes there are definitely a few well documented failures, but I was only able to verify, and actually speak to 3 mustang owners with failures. One of them bought the a arms used and had no idea how old they were!. I bought and installed BMR tubular a arms 2 years ago, They have 24,500 miles of very hard driving on them , track and ny street miles. I have had no epas issues ever, I run everything from 245 to 305 stickys in the front and I inspect my a arms for signs of cracks fatigue and rust often. They are perfect. I think steeda used internet paranoia to push non tubular a arms and Grimace, did you really look into the a arm failures? maybe you know of more documented cases than I was able to uncover? I guess my point is internet paranoia has people thinking all #8 cyl will fail all 6mt trannys suck and well you get my point. Sorry for the rambling I haven't posted in awhile, maybe I had to get it out
+1 Personal experience is worth so much more than internet 'research' especially when paranoia starts to spread. Thanks for posting. I will continue to keep my ear to the ground and it's people like you that I try to get my information from, as well as vendors and professional shops.

Besides what I've learned from Vorshlag, what caught my attention about the control arms was a failure that got the company in question to publicly announce they were looking into the design and make the necessary changes. It was buried in a Corner Carver thread over on S197forum and I haven't been able to find that specific post yet.

It seems the core group that makes up AllFordMustangs is street drivers. Most of us won't get the full potential out of a set of tubular lower front control arms to worry about a catastrophic failure. What could happen though is the stiffer bushings causing a feedback loop in the EPAS system, and that coupled with the reputation of AFM members to be quick to *itch means vendor bashing and back-and-forth whining that has been plaguing the 2011+ sections for the last few years.

If someone were to purchase these Steeda control arms or any others, they will do so knowing full well the possibility of a steering wheel shudder(however likely or remote) and hopefully refrain from trying to blame Steeda or the respective vender. If I had the money to go carve some corners at the local racetrack(which is the very bumpy Summitt Point, and lord knows I want to!!) these Steeda parts would more than likely be what I go with. I'd bet these things could take some punishment such as curbing or the inevitable off-road excursion.

BTW Jcap, any videos of your racing?
 
#47 ·
Well, I've been doing all the footwork for the Vorshlag solution and Ford has been either no help, or damaging in trying to find an EPAS solution. There is no fix that Ford is willing to do once the front bushings are changed out, so don't think that there is a cheap fix once you've installed bushings and have the EPAS issue.
 
#49 ·
We actually haven't started a new thread on the 2013 yet, despite already starting development on it.

Honestly, the 2013 Mustang GT SCCA ESP project won't be quite as open as the 2011 red GT was. It should still be interesting, but it won't have as complete coverage as the 2011 GT had.

The 2011 is a test mule for autocross, time trial and street driven parts and we had a lot of compromises on the competition side to make it a three-purpose car that was still daily drivable. Knowing it wasn't a built-to-win car allowed us to share more of it's details.

The 2013 is being built to contest the SCCA Solo E-Street Prepared class and all of it's development is for that single purpose. I expect we will still be sharing a lot, but there are a few things that we won't be able to publish without giving away a competitive advantage.
 
#51 ·
It's been a few months since your install...still no shudder of death?
 
#52 ·
I haven't heard much about this but let me try and summarize and see if I am understanding this thread correctly.

Some Mustangs are exhibiting a shudder or vibration in the steering wheel that are stock. Some have tried to fix it by replacing the front control arm bushings but the actual problem lies with the electronic steering software?

The reason I am interested is that my '11 will have a shuddering or wiggling (in the steering wheel) at highway speeds that sometimes is there...sometimes is not there. I notice it has a higher possibility of happening when I have the car in 'sport' mode. I am wondering if the problem discussed here is the same problem I am experiencing.
 
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#53 ·
I haven't heard much about this but let me try and summarize and see if I am understanding this thread correctly.

Some Mustangs are exhibiting a shudder or vibration in the steering wheel that are stock. Some have tried to fix it by replacing the front control arm bushings but the actual problem lies with the electronic steering software?

The reason I am interested is that my '11 will have a shuddering or wiggling (in the steering wheel) at highway speeds that sometimes is there...sometimes is not there. I notice it has a higher possibility of happening when I have the car in 'sport' mode. I am wondering if the problem discussed here is the same problem I am experiencing.

Not quite the information you are looking for. There are a few guys with completely stock cars with vibration issues and there are multiple causes that can happen(tire out of balance, driveshaft, clips on the brake rotors, so on).

Then there are guys who installed stiffer front lower control arm bushings for performance/racing purposes who then started experiencing feedback from the steering wheel(heavy shuddering) when going around light corners. This thread is about the latter. It seems there is an incompatibility between stiffer performance bushings up front and the EPAS steering system, at least for some people.


Is your car completely stock? Aftermarket wheels or anything else? What has been done to diagnose your issue?
 
#54 ·
#55 ·
i was in another thread reading up on EPAS and another member redirected me here.

i have these control arms. i put them in because my stock arms had the noisy bushings and i also managed to break the steeda extended ball joints i had pressed into the original arms. soon after having them installed the front end shake started and has progressively gotten worse as the weather gets warmer... not sure why. usually a bump on the road and some sort of steering angle will set it off. highway on/off ramps are a little scary as the steering wheel will shake so much i can lose my grip on it, but if i let the wheel go, the wheel does not center by itself and will hold the turn until it stops on its own. my "service advancetrac" warning display is coming on as well but i am not sure if it is related. furthermore it only happens at highway speeds. driving around town does not do anything.

i don't track the car, and it is my daily driver.

i'm going to the dealer this afternoon for them to diagnose. i'm pretty sure they will come to the same conclusion as what was posted here.

so i'm subscribing to this thread in hopes there is a solution other than pulling the arms out or shelling out $$$ for the 302S rack. i'm really happy with the new arms because nothing sounds like something wants to fall out from under the car anymore but the shaking makes it hard to drive at highway speeds.
 
#56 ·
I've been following this thread in hopes of hearing from someone who took the plunge with these Steeda arms with a 2013 and who also originally had the noise issues with their OEM units. Looks like the day has arrived thanks to DC2R.

I own a 2013 GT with just over 3500 miles on the ODO and started having the clunking FCA issues with my car also. The clunk does seem to be Temp/Weather related in that as it warms up the noise rears its ugly head.

I'm a bit discouraged to hear that the Steeda arms fixed the clunk but brought on the dreaded shudder being discussed; at least on this one example related to DC2R's vehicle.

All these issues bring up a few questions in my mind that hopefully someone can chime in on:

I've heard the rumors that the 302S Steering rack may fix the problem because it doesn't use the same technology found in the EPAS. BUT, the thing I'm wondering is wouldn't the software that controls the EPAS system live inside the ECU and not inside the steering rack? Assuming this is the case, is the reason the 302S rack offers a potential fix because it lacks the sensor that ties into the ECU and when the ECU doesn't "See" that sensor it simply just shuts that feature off within the code and goes on its Mary way?

The whole FCA clunk issue sounds like a big Lemon Law issue just waiting to blow up in Fords face given the reports of some folks needing to take their cars in multiple times and still have not had the issue resolved. If I'm not mistaken, its 3 Strikes and your out for the motor companies when a vehicle is not fixed after 3 attempts of the same problem.

I guess the point being it would behoove Ford to get their A$$ in gear and fix this problem. Another alternative maybe to hold Fords feet to the flames and tell them you want them to cover the cost of the 302S steering rack so you can fix the issue yourself via a product like the Steeda Arms discussed in this post as it would certainly be a cheaper alternative for them verses someone crying "Lemon" and forcing Ford to eat the cost of the buy back.

One final thing I forgot to mention and this is directed at Steeda. You guys could have a potential gold mine just waiting to be claimed if you can come up with a workaround or incorporate a "Fix" for this issue into these arms you are selling. Just saying! ...:wavey
 
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#59 ·
I've heard the rumors that the 302S Steering rack may fix the problem because it doesn't use the same technology found in the EPAS. BUT, the thing I'm wondering is wouldn't the software that controls the EPAS system live inside the ECU and not inside the steering rack? Assuming this is the case, is the reason the 302S rack offers a potential fix because it lacks the sensor that ties into the ECU and when the ECU doesn't "See" that sensor it simply just shuts that feature off within the code and goes on its Mary way?

It's no rumor that the 302S/R EPAS rack will fix the issue, it is well documented by race shops like Vorshlag. The software is inside the rack itself, the ECU is for the engine(auto trans get a different setup which I am not 100% familiar with). I've been asking around about a software flash for the EPAS rack to erase the "anti-nibble control" software so we don't have to replace the entire rack at $1,000 a pop, no word yet if that is possible.

The front lower control arm noise is a separate issue and I agree Ford needs to get on their suppliers to fix that. My '11 has been going strong with the only noises coming from the poly/spherical bushings in my rear control arms. As for the EPAS issue, those who are still stock have been getting warranty replacements for their racks at least. I don't think that will extend to those with aftermarket control arms up front.
 
#57 ·
i just came back from the dealer. even though it was closing time a service tech came out on a test drive with me (thanks marcus). first off ramp i took and it started shaking away... even with the both of us holding the wheel we couldn't stop it from shaking.

he asked about my wheels and tires which are non-staggered. i have stock pirellis on rtr wheels. i tried rotating them front to rear and it made no difference. i have snows on my stock 19" wheels and putting those on made it worse.

he knows about my steeda bumpsteer kit. he may take them off and put my original tie rod ends back on and see if a change in steering geometry would make a difference. i think someone here already tried that and worked.

i told him about the gt500 tsb. he knows about it, but has never had to do one before, and it's not for the GT like mine.

i'm not confident that ford will warranty the rack if it does turn out to be the culprit. the reason i have the steeda arms was because i was told by another dealer because of all the suspension mods in the car, ford said no to warranty on the arms which were squeaking like hell on me at the time. after that i broke the ball joints (different story), so i made the decision to go with the steeda arms.

so in the meantime i'm driving a focus loaner (CVT... meh) and my GT is at the shop for it's scheduled maintenance and they are going to go through the diagnosis procedure and see what comes up. the tech said he's never had something like this come in before, and they get a lot of modded mustangs. he did mention that they have a customer 302s in the back of the shop and if he has time he was going to take a look at it and see if there is anything that jumps out that is different..

anyone have a good 302s rack for sale?
 
#58 ·
i am also baffled as to what does outside temp have anything to do with this? i am from canada, so when the temp gauge goes over 20'c, it starts it's shaking. anything below that, nothing happens.

also lost on the speed issue. i go over 60km/h and it's like a switch goes on and it shakes. if i let it decelerate while in gear and still in the turn until it falls under 60km/h, it's like the switch is turned off and it immediately stops shaking.

i hate this :(
 
#60 ·
i love my steeda control arms. words cannot describe not having to have groaning/popping sounds coming from your front lca's in parking lots going over speed bumps with pedestrians looking around wondering what animal died while i stumble off with my tail between my mufflers...

is there somewhere online where i can read up on this fabled 302S/R rack and what makes it and EPAS tick?
 
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