Lower control arm/torque box issues?

fullboogie · June 25th, 2008, 07:30 PM

Pardon the ignorance, but my last Mustang was a 93 5.0 LX. Back in the day, Southside Machine Bars and other LCA''s with solid/poly/spherical rod ends were all the rage because they gave great hookup on the street/track. Fast forward a few years, and everyone discovered that these bars can literally tear the torque boxes out of the car. I had to pay a ton of money to get mine repaired.

So my question is this - do the new cars suffer from the same problem when using aftermarket LCA''s? If so, what preventative measures should be taken? Mine''s a 5 speed and I plan on visiting the track with slicks (as I do with every car) very often, so new LCA''s seem mandatory. Just want to be sure I do something about it now, before the damage occurs.

I posted this same question on the "other" forum, but nobody seems to understand anything about where or how the LCA's attach to the body.

fullboogie · June 26th, 2008, 03:03 PM

Hard to believe nobody on either forum knows what a torque box is.

07 procharger · June 26th, 2008, 03:06 PM

the chassis on the s197 are much stiffer than than the fox platform, that being said there aew after market torque box braces out there for you.

fullboogie · June 26th, 2008, 04:41 PM

Thanks 07. Ford is notorious for cheap, tack welded torque boxes. And once you take away the nice cushy rubber bushings in the LCA's, bad things happen. I wonder if it's happening to these cars and just hasn't been noticed yet.

Anyway, I'll hunt around for those braces.

06RedfireGT · June 26th, 2008, 04:51 PM

Steeda has these

3 Point Frame Rail & Torque Box Brace - '05-'08 Ford Mustang

but I have never heard of anybody running these nor have I heard of anybody having problems using control arms without those.

fullboogie · June 26th, 2008, 05:53 PM

Redfire, you are the bomb. Thanks!

Maybe the ripped torque box issue is just a thing from the past with my old Fox bodied cars. But even back then, most people didn't know about this problem. They just rode around complaining of all kinds of popping and creaking from the rear, never realizing the damage from solid bushing LCA's.

June 25th, 2008, 07:30 PM	#1
fullboogie Regular 2008 GT Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Houston Posts: 86	Lower control arm/torque box issues? Pardon the ignorance, but my last Mustang was a 93 5.0 LX. Back in the day, Southside Machine Bars and other LCA''s with solid/poly/spherical rod ends were all the rage because they gave great hookup on the street/track. Fast forward a few years, and everyone discovered that these bars can literally tear the torque boxes out of the car. I had to pay a ton of money to get mine repaired. So my question is this - do the new cars suffer from the same problem when using aftermarket LCA''s? If so, what preventative measures should be taken? Mine''s a 5 speed and I plan on visiting the track with slicks (as I do with every car) very often, so new LCA''s seem mandatory. Just want to be sure I do something about it now, before the damage occurs. I posted this same question on the "other" forum, but nobody seems to understand anything about where or how the LCA's attach to the body.

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June 26th, 2008, 03:03 PM	#2
fullboogie Regular 2008 GT Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Houston Posts: 86	Hard to believe nobody on either forum knows what a torque box is.

June 26th, 2008, 04:41 PM	#4
fullboogie Regular 2008 GT Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Houston Posts: 86	Thanks 07. Ford is notorious for cheap, tack welded torque boxes. And once you take away the nice cushy rubber bushings in the LCA's, bad things happen. I wonder if it's happening to these cars and just hasn't been noticed yet. Anyway, I'll hunt around for those braces.

June 26th, 2008, 05:53 PM	#6
fullboogie Regular 2008 GT Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Houston Posts: 86	Redfire, you are the bomb. Thanks! Maybe the ripped torque box issue is just a thing from the past with my old Fox bodied cars. But even back then, most people didn't know about this problem. They just rode around complaining of all kinds of popping and creaking from the rear, never realizing the damage from solid bushing LCA's.

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