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Anyone using steeda non adjustable LCA's?

3K views 55 replies 8 participants last post by  145566 
#1 ·
#2 ·
I have spherical bearings on the axle side of both my uppers and lowers and It's not rough at all. I can hear them sometimes but it's fine. My springs/shocks/struts have made my car ride rougher than anything.

Buy them right the first time...get the MMs. I have J&Ms and I like them a lot.

I have heard great things about the Steeda's though.
 
#3 ·
I've always been afraid to use spherical bushings on a street car because I'm worried about keeping the bushing clean. I don't see a dust boot, so I imagine that dust and dirt would get in there and start grinding away over time. I might consider using them on a track-only car, though...

Anyway, I've had the Steeda 3-piece bushing CAs on my '95 for about a year. I'm pleased with them.
 
#5 ·
I DD my car..and by DD I mean DD...day in, day out, ice snow rain dirt, pavement, race track, etc...as Socal said, i haven't noticed any deterioration in the spherical bearings. My aluminum bearings on the upper axle side have been on for several years and are perfectly fine.
 
#4 ·
I am sure that like all other things Steeda produces that their LCA's are a quality part. Can't speak to them beyond that though.

The MM "HD" LCA's that you have linked (spherical @ axle, 3 piece poly @ chassis vs the "XD" which are spherical on both ends) are what I do have on my car. Been extremely happy with them since they went on in 2007 (almost 50K miles ago). Even if you do nothing else to the rearend they really do make an awesome difference even under normal driving situations and in my experience they contribute very minimally to NVH. As Jon mentioned, any increase there can be attributed to the springs primarily.

Regarding your concerns about dust, I live in the desert about 3/4 mile off pavement and my car occasionally sees dirt roads other than my own. I've done absolutely zero maintenance on them and have no issues with squeaking or evidence of deterioration/wear. Highly recommend these LCA's, although if I had it do do again I would have gone with the XD's just to have something a little more bulletproof - keeping in mind that my car sees no track time nor do I even daydream of building a 600 rwhp monster I still like to overbuild things especially like suspension and brakes a little bit.
 
#6 ·
Myself I prefer spherical on both ends, like the feel and handling, But that's me. Wheel and driveshaft balance is a little more pronounced. AND, GREASE is your best friend with the spherical style.


Don't go double poly, waist of money. Long time ago SoCal pointed me in the right direction, spherical.


MM ED, and soon to be Team Z Upper Strip Series here.
 
#7 ·
HOLY SH*T It's Willy!!! Welcome back
 
#15 ·
I've actually seen it recommended more than once to do exactly what you're asking about - replace the worn rubber UCA bushings with new rubber bushings. Doing that along with new LCA's I think will make a huge improvement.

The lowers do still have a lot to do with side to side control, as the linked article states they are the "heart" of the rear suspension. I replaced my lowers at about 65K miles when I was also having the springs and related stuff done. The bushings were still in good condition and only about 6 years old at the time. I saw an instant improvement in rearend behavior with the MM arms - significantly less rearend "steering" over uneven pavement, much straighter launching with less correction via steering, and the rearend overall is just more controllable and "confident".

Replacing the upper bushings I have heard is very much a sh!t job, but if yours are trashed then to some extent it leaves you with little choice.
 
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#17 ·
I run these on my 02 vert Steeda 1999-04 Mustang Rear Lower Control Arms - Made in USA 555-4421 | Free Shipping!
I think that they are the exact same only varying for the year. I love em, they did exactly what they were supposed and the ride does not feel any different then when it was stock (added them with B-springs). ride quality was important to me, because the car is a Sunday cruiser with family.
I could definitely feel an improvement, the rear doesn't feel as sloppy coming out of a hard corner and I used to feel more hopping action happening when I would slam it from a dead stop. I don't put a lot of miles on mine per year, nor does it see inclement weather, so I am probably not the best source for longevity on their 3 piece bushing design. But I think it was a great upgrade for the money.
 
#21 ·
I thought I had it all figured out. I was going to get the steeda upper and lower package deal for $250. But I dunno now, this is kind of a bummer of a review. 1994-1998 Mustang Parts for GT & V6 - Steeda Autosports | Free Shipping!


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Looks like the reviewer found out the hard way about poly bushings in the UCA's.

As discussed earlier, I think given your budget and goals the best choice would be to go with aftermarket lowers and new rubber bushings in the uppers. There may be others, but Maximum Motorsports sells a bushing removal tool that is supposed to decrease your use of the f word while trying to remove the upper bushings from the axle.
 
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#27 ·
Ok so I think I found my set up maybe. I think I'm gong to go with j&m lowers. http://www.americanmuscle.com/rear-lower-controlarms-7998.html

I'm not sure if I should still go with the MM uppers with the rubber bushings http://www.maximummotorsports.com/Rear-Upper-Control-Arms-1979-2004-Mustang-P544.aspx
Or if I should go with the j&m uppers since I'm using their lowers. Their uppers are not supposed to bind but I dunno. http://www.americanmuscle.com/reupcoar7.html

So do I mix and match or buy all the same brand?


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#28 ·
Stick with stock type uppers with rubber on both ends.

I like my J&Ms by the way. Good choice!
 
#29 ·
Ok cool. I wasn't really sure about the J&M's. I haven't seen any negative reviews really but when you google j&m control arms the first search result is american muscle's website and the rest are forum threads asking if they're any good or not. There's no J&M website, but supposedly the guys at hotpart.com make them in there shop in CA. I dunno if I buy all that, but if they don't break like granatelli and the likes then I'll use them. How long have you been using them?
https://hotpart.com/contact-us/
Do yall think all of the control arms are really made in this little shop or are they rebranded imports like SVE, SR performance, granatelli, etc? https://www.google.com/maps/place/J...1s0x80ecf12ab589a37f:0xb24b07d63219c5ed?hl=en


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#35 ·
Well, I just ordered these beauties, now I'm "off" to search for the axle side bushings.
MaxMotor was selling them for $15 and some odd each and rockauto had a set of valuecraft some something for $7 and something each. I like Moog stuff, I wonder if they make bushings? On MM's site there's a note that says some of the axel bushings are ford brand and some are X brand. They are bought in bulk all mixed in one bag and they don't know which ones you'll get but they say the x brand is up to ford brand standard.
It might be a minute before a get them on but at least I'll have them tucked away incase they get discontinued. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the J&M street/strip lowers. After that I'm pretty much gonna call the suspension and chassis a done deal.
http://www.maximummotorsports.com/Rear-Upper-Control-Arms-1979-2004-Mustang-P544.aspx


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#36 ·
Alright well the uppers came today. They look nice and they're lighter than I thought they'd be. Bolts not included but I talked the fastenal girl today at work and and I'm going to get them through her. Next step I guess is to buy some lower arms. The J&M 's that I was looking at were $160 from AM but now they're back up to $180. I'm in no big hurry so maybe l'll wait and see what's going on on Black Friday.

Oh and axel bushings. RockAuto $7.56 each.

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#37 ·
Keep in mind your 6% forum discount is gonna knock about half of the recent $20 price increase back off. No need to wait two months over $10.
 
#38 ·
It's not the $10 that's holding me up so much, it's mainly the other $160. That and having the time to do it or the money to have it done.
Are the chassis side and axel side upper arm bolts the same length?


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#42 ·
^ good point. My uppers were fine also...my lowers were seized in the bushing sleeves!
 
#44 ·
i reused the original uppers since they were 10.9s and the ones that came with the arms were 4.8s and i had to get my own swaybar bolts since they got destroyed when i pulled them out make sure you pick up a can of wd-40 silcon spray and that rust penetrate spray with the blu torch soak those bolts it makes it so much easier and the silcon helps get the arms into place hope i could help
 
#48 ·
same as jon I used some old metric bolts with locknuts
 
#49 ·
Well I talked with the wife. She said no new car parts until next month.. [emoji19] So I suppose I'll be ordering the lowers then. So y'all think I should have some spare sway bar bolts on hand just in case?


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#50 ·
yes the weight of the swaybar completely compromised my bolts when they came out and I did it by hand
 
#52 ·
yep I wish you good luck on the build I like my poly uppers but they will be coming out as soon as I can get some ones with spherical ends but they really stiffen the rear up I'm interested on how the j&m lowers work for you tho so give me a heads up when you get them and have them installed good luck
 
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