S197 rear axle lower control arm brackets bent?

TheCrowdPlow

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Are the factory brackets that hold the rear lower control arms to each axle tube supposed to be straight and perpendicular to the axle tube? or are they supposed to be angled and not straight plate steal?

I had a little mishap about a year ago where I was doing a rolling burnout in the rain and crossed a decent size sunken culvert and I felt a big clunk and immediately my steering wheel was not centered anymore. I found out I bent my rear lower control arm relocation brackets, (I realized later that I forgot to install the 3rd smaller bolt that runs parallel to the axle). So I just removed the brackets for the year. Now that Ive swapped in my manual I know Im gonna need them again to prevent wheel hop. I can see the factory bracket that is welded to the axle tube that the relocation bracket bolts up to is tweaked, drivers side worse than passenger. If they are supposed to be nice and straight and perpendicular to the axle tube, anyone have any ideas how I supposed to straighten them out? Ill probably just cough up the money and buy new relocation brackets, but the brackets that are welded to the axle tubes I obviously can not, I need to straighten them somehow.

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Macman45

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Yes, they are supposed to be straight. Looks like you bent the relocation bracket which in turn bent the factory LCA mounts. It will never be right, I'd honestly source an 8.8" take out Diff from one of the mustang dismantlers like Midway or Parts farm. Find a low mileage one with the gearing you want (3.55s are common, 3.73 from a Bullitt etc etc). Do it right
 

TheCrowdPlow

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Yes, they are supposed to be straight. Looks like you bent the relocation bracket which in turn bent the factory LCA mounts. It will never be right, I'd honestly source an 8.8" take out Diff from one of the mustang dismantlers like Midway or Parts farm. Find a low mileage one with the gearing you want (3.55s are common, 3.73 from a Bullitt etc etc). Do it right
Ya Im definitely not swapping the rear axle, Im gonna straight those brackets as best as possible. It doesnt need to be perfect, since I've got adjustable control arms I can measure and adjust to get my rear axle squared under the car.
 

TheCrowdPlow

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Your call. You asked.
Ya, Im not really in the market for finding a new rear axle, Im in the middle of nowhere Canada, my best option is trying my best to straighten them. Just asking to see maybe if someone else managed to to the same thing as me and what they did.
 

Midlife Crises

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You might try “carefully” beating the mounts back into shape. Some heat could be helpful. The brackets are not fully welded to the tubes so keep an eye out for cracks when bending them back in place. I would replace the relocation brackets with new ones that are not gimped and remember to install all the fasteners this time.
 

DieHarder

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I'd try using the longest adjustable wrench you can find and if needed put a cheater tube over the end and torque the brackets on the tubes back into place a little at a time. Torque a bit; measure/compare progress and repeat until satisfied. Hard to tell but appears the left side bracket is bent more than the right. Would be better if you can take some measurements off of a mustang that's undamaged unless you can find exact measurements for the rear brackets somewhere. When completed take it to an alignment shop and have them check the rear alignment. Rear LCA's will likely need tweaking some as well. Good luck.
 

TheCrowdPlow

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Ya I was thinking too of bolting the bent brackets on and using them to tweak the factory brackets. I think that may be my best bet.
Idk if anyone else has pictures of some non-tweaked brackets, cause I sure as hell don't.
 

TheCrowdPlow

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Update, using a Cresent wrench with a 3 foot pipe is working to bend the brackets back straight enough. I need to find another Cresent wrench though, already broke one of my bigger ones, but 1 mount is straight.
 

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