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Project Black Mamba: Control Arms

Thursday, December 6, 2012 15:31

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(Before It's News)

For all of us true motor heads, cars aren’t just transportation: they’re a labor of love. Whether it’s your first car or the first one you just couldn’t sell, holding onto a favorite car can be a great experience. However, as the years go on it can become time to upgrade key components. Here at Motorz we’re currently doing exactly that with our newest project car: a 1987 Mustang GT that we’re calling Project Black Mamba.

To start off with, we’re going to install a new electric fan, radiator kit, rear suspenion components and sway bars. For this update we’re going to focus on installing new rear suspenion components.

When it comes to your ride, you know nothing but the best belongs bolted in. We feel the same way here at Motorz, which is why we went with several components from BMR Suspension. When it comes to tools you’ll need a right angle grinder, zip ties, electrical tape, wire strippers, wrenches, screwdrivers and much more. For a job of this size you’ll need professional grade tools. Not sure where to go? Head to Craftsman, they have the wide selection you need with prices that keep project costs from getting too high.

First off, we put in replacement upper and lower control arms. The upper control arms are adjustable, with both upper and lower arms offering spherical rod ends instead of rubber bushings. This means that you can eliminate flex that rubber bushings usually have while still ensuring normal suspension travel.

Before installation, take some time to go through a few safety procedures. Be sure to chock your tires before jacking up the vehicle. We recommend going with two chocks per tire to make sure your car stays firmly in place. With your tires chocked, you’re going to need four jack stands: two under the frame and two to support the rear axle. Once everything is jacked up, remove the rear tire. Using that removed tire, put it under the frame. This ensures that even if the worst case scienerio takes place, the car will only fall on the tire.

Considering you’ll need to remove the shocks, upper and lower control arms, springs and mufflers, this is a good job to have a buddy help you out.

Once you’ve removed the stock control arms you’re going to notice a massive difference between the factory and BMR components. The most obvious difference is smaller size (which results in less weight) and adjustability. The bushings on the BMR arms are also far more rigid than stock.

When we installed our control arms, our repair manual provided a torque range for all of the bolts. It’s a good idea to go with the middle setting of that range. It’s also a good idea to avoid putting too much stress on the brake line. Added benefits: thanks to our now much more rigid suspension, there was no need to reinstall our factory quad shocks.