BMR Poly UCA without the mount

[GlassTop09]

Whoa. BMR told me NOT to use a poly to poly combo at each end of the uca. It will bind badly.
BMR suggested since I installed their 05-10 poly, adjustable UCA + BMR UCA mount, to use a steeda spherical at the differential end of the UCA. OR replace with another OEM ford rubber type bushing at differential end of uca. BMR read me the riot act about using a poly to poly combo.

Guilty as charged...…….I had made that mistake on my '09 Stang but fixed it by removing the BMR poly UCA diff bushing\old outer shell & installing this Ford part# DR3Z-5A638-A UCA diff bushing (for '14 GT500) to go w\ my BMR 05-10 Adj UCA + BMR UCA mount. This is the best of the Ford designed 8.8" UCA axle bushings for S197's (much harder durometer rubber than the OEM Ford part# 5R3Z-5A638-DA coupled w\ a much larger 1 1\8" OD inner sleeve vs the 7\8" OD inner sleeve of the OEM part) so it's as good as any of the aftermarket UCA diff poly insert bushings in controlling wheel hop (Ford designed to handle the 5.8L SC'd 662HP\637TQ of the '14 GT500's engine) but still will allow rear axle articulation to not bind the UCA & is very quiet in operation so still good on NVH as well.....IOW's the best of it all for street\strip action.

IMHO outside of serious track usage, this Ford part# DR3Z-5A638-A is an excellent UCA axle bushing upgrade choice for any lower mark S197 w\ 8.8" 3-link live axle.

PS--I also had to drop the gas tank 1 1\4" to get the OEM UCA mount out & the new BMR UCA mount in on my '09 GT as well.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Thanks for the part number and the amount the gas tank may have to be lowered.

The dragstrip is really the only place where you should ever run a poly/poly UCA.


Norm

 

[GlassTop09]

Thanks for the part number and the amount the gas tank may have to be lowered.

The dragstrip is really the only place where you should ever run a poly/poly UCA.


Norm

No problem. Here's what it looks like:

 

[RED09GT]

I went with the steeda spherical bearing on the axle housing after shredding the stock bushing. This combo was suggested to me by BMR as well (BMR adjustable upper with poly bushing, UMI UCA mount). The car goes straight on launch and I can't feel anything that upsets the car in a tight corner so I am happy.

Having the spherical bearing on the axle and poly on the chassis is supposed to reduce some of the NVH vs having the spherical bearing directly on the chassis. I'd say that is a fair assessment as I did not notice much for a change other than the lack of slop from replacing my damaged bushing. There may be a hint more drivetrain noise but it is so little of a difference that it is worth the trade-off to all but the most picky enthusiasts.

 

[1950StangJump$]

I used BMR poly to poly on the rear . . . haven't noticed any difference or "binding."

Not sure my mind would recognize "binding" if it was doing it. And, I've had BMR on the phone 1000 times, and they never said not to install the poly diff bushing if I had a poly UCA.

 

[Pentalab]

I used BMR poly to poly on the rear . . . haven't noticed any difference or "binding."

Not sure my mind would recognize "binding" if it was doing it. And, I've had BMR on the phone 1000 times, and they never said not to install the poly diff bushing if I had a poly UCA.

Hit bumps on high speed corner's..and it will bind...esp if bumps are on one side. BMR made several posts on S197 about not using a poly-poly combo....+ several emails I got from em.

 

[Norm Peterson]

It's not something you're likely to be able to sense directly. It's more by paying attention to side effects such as the rear axle taking one wheel bumps a little more firmly or you experiencing a little more lateral head-toss. Or finding it easier for the Traction-loc to slip the inside tire when cornering where there's a little sand on the pavement.

If all of your hard driving is in a straight line, and you hardly ever take corners very hard, you may never notice it. During any unexpected/sudden evasive maneuvers you'll have too much else on your mind to spare any attention to what a couple of stiff bushings might be adding to the mix.


Norm

 

[1950StangJump$]

If I notice anything, I'll upgrade later. Easy peezy

 

[Norm Peterson]

The other thing is that the harder you corner (and the more often that you do), the more that'll beat up on those poly bushings. Poly will crack and otherwise deteriorate from that sort of abuse.

And the arms themselves, the brackets, and car structure . . . though I would hope that the S197 has greater margins than the torque boxes on the Fox Mustangs did.


Norm

 

[rocky61201]

Wow, I've had the BMR adjustable UCA with poly bushing on my car for years. I changed out the Ford axle bushing to a BMR Poly about 2 years ago. I commute about 100 miles per day so I have tens of thousands of hard miles on this set up.

I've got the entire rear axle out of the car right now because I'm putting new gears in. I'll inspect everything again more closely and let you know. But when I took the axle out a few days ago everything looked ok as far as the stock UCA mount, the BMR UCA, and the BMR POLY axle bushing. I'm not looking at it right now, but I swear the bushings all looked brand new. I'm was planning on resetting my pinion angle again so if my adjustable UCA is tweaked in any way it should be more difficult to adjust. I'll take it off as well and inspect the mounting holes on the stock Ford UCA mount.

As far as driveability is concerned I don't have any clear answers. Going from a trashed stock Ford rubber bushing to a BMR Poly bushing is a definite improvement. Is it ideal???? Couldn't tell you.

Does the stock Ford UCA mount with a BMR UCA make a difference? I don't really know. Cant really say I noticed any clunking. My car is loud anyway with boom tube axle backs and my driver side window is almost always down when driving and the radio is on. Only clunks I notice are usually coming from the front anyway. With as much driving as I do something always needs to be replaced or tightened up, mostly my sway bar links.

 

[1950StangJump$]

Wow, I've had the BMR adjustable UCA with poly bushing on my car for years. I changed out the Ford axle bushing to a BMR Poly about 2 years ago. I commute about 100 miles per day so I have tens of thousands of hard miles on this set up.

I've got the entire rear axle out of the car right now because I'm putting new gears in. I'll inspect everything again more closely and let you know. But when I took the axle out a few days ago everything looked ok as far as the stock UCA mount, the BMR UCA, and the BMR POLY axle bushing. I'm not looking at it right now, but I swear the bushings all looked brand new. I'm was planning on resetting my pinion angle again so if my adjustable UCA is tweaked in any way it should be more difficult to adjust. I'll take it off as well and inspect the mounting holes on the stock Ford UCA mount.

So, I guess you have two real-world matters to report to the group: 1) Any ill effects to using the OEM UCA mount with the BMR UCA and; 2) Any ill effects to having a poly UCA combined with the poly axle bushing.

Will be curious to know your thoughts.

 

[Midlife Crises]

The only thing I noticed when I installed the poly/poly adjustable upper control arm was I could hear the rear differential a little more. Binding or not, Alaska roads will throw your ass in the ditch if your not careful.

 

[07 Boss]

When I first starting building my car I went with just the UCA. It clunked, not a lot, I was stock with some bolt-ons and and automatic. Once I started running more power I had to change the mount because the clunk was just more prevalent. I had the entire rear axle out when I changed the mount to do the diff bushing anyways so I bolted the entire assembly back onto the axle before lifting it back into place. In hindsight I would have done it all together instead of in steps. And I lowered the tank a few when I did the mount.

 

[rocky61201]

My BMR bushings on the UCA and the axle both look GTG. Still nice and red with no splitting or cracking. I loosened up the adjuster bolt/nuts on the UCA and it spins freely. The UCA looks good, welds look fine and not cracked and not bent. The metals sleeves inside the bushings all look great and the holes on the stock UCA mount look perfectly round. Dunno what to tell you, maybe I'm just lucky. Only mods are intake and tune and headers but I got nitto 295's out back so I know I'm putting stress on that stuff.

Anyway did I tell you guys how much I fucking hate crush sleeves. That's the only reason I took the axle out of the car. I got the biggest baddest plug in craftsman impact wrench you can get and I still couldn't get it crushed all the way. That impact ways about 25lbs in your hand. Almost got it, but I have about 1/64 or less left to crush. I don't have a pinion flange holder so I fabbed one out of some mild steel angle iron and still bent the shit out of it. I don't have a drill press and great drill bits to fab one out of some thicker solid steel. Gonna look on amazon now for a proper pinion flange holder or maybe just go with the solid spacer/shim set up and fuck the crush sleeve.

 

[Norm Peterson]

My BMR bushings on the UCA and the axle both look GTG. Still nice and red with no splitting or cracking. I loosened up the adjuster bolt/nuts on the UCA and it spins freely. The UCA looks good, welds look fine and not cracked and not bent. The metals sleeves inside the bushings all look great and the holes on the stock UCA mount look perfectly round. Dunno what to tell you, maybe I'm just lucky. Only mods are intake and tune and headers but I got nitto 295's out back so I know I'm putting stress on that stuff.

Hard cornering, meaning hard enough to where you're getting a noticeable amount of roll, is what's going to really beat up on a poly/poly UCA setup. A sixxer-powered Mustang at autocross could easily be as hard on these bushings as a GT500 that runs hard from most every stoplight but never gets pushed very hard through the corners.

Anyway did I tell you guys how much I fucking hate crush sleeves. That's the only reason I took the axle out of the car.

Gonna look on amazon now for a proper pinion flange holder or maybe just go with the solid spacer/shim set up and fuck the crush sleeve.

I'm sort of in a similar situation. I have a 700 ft*lb air impact that would probably work, but I really don't want to use that on a bearing installation. Let alone for any repeated shim/measure/re-shim/remeasure part of the process. So the solid spacer approach is looking better all the time here, too.

I think I'll end up "wasting" one big bearing by honing out the ID so that it just slips over the pinion shaft while the shim selection process is going on. Which means I really want to be able to torque the pinion nut without needing the flange (I'll be using an old pinion nut until final installation with the "good" big bearing).


Norm

 

[WNYGT5-0]

I did not see him use a torque wrench on either end of the control arm and that upper bracket didn’t come out did it.

Honestly I obviously saw that... I nearly referenced the video to show that there was room for hand tools up in there. Imagine one of the wrenches is a torque wrench.... smh

As it seems... some can some can’t with or without dropping the tank.

Sounds like a lot of effort vs. just going with a no-lube setup like the J&M.

Not really, just and extra cup of coffee and some planning. Fairly easy addition. I will add one under the rear seat.