A Slow Build: College Kid's 1994 Mustang

BrettNorton · Jul 24, 2015

I got a bunch of Prothane bushings in today. First, let me be one to say that these things feel like plastic. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, it's just something I didn't expect. Anyway, here is all of what I got:

Sway bar end links
Front control arm bushings
Upper strut bushings
Non-offset steering rack bushings
27 mm sway bar bushings
Front and rear spring isolators

The deal with the Capri is still being processed and more suspension parts are on the way...

BrettNorton · Aug 12, 2015

Got a set of SVE springs and a set of those new SVE caster camber plates, both from Late Model Restoration.

BrettNorton · Aug 12, 2015

The decision of what kind of rear control arms to buy for my Mustang was a pretty long research process. Originally, I was just planning on buying a cheap set of SVE upper / lower control arms w/ hardware, and a some Prothane upper axle bushings. I would just slap all that stuff together and call the rear suspension good. HOWEVER, the Mustang community has swayed me to do otherwise. My 94 Mustang will be a street car, and having those SVE control arms installed would present me with a few problems.

Buying the SVE rear control arms for my car would be fine if I were to regularly drag race it, baby it though the corners, and always drive it on flat roads. Being a street car though, my car will see quite a few fast corners, and it will see angled driveways. With the SVE rear control arms and Prothane bushings underneath my car, the rear suspension would severely bind up in fast corners and angled driveways. And when the rear suspension of my car binds, the rear control arm bushings will get torn up, the torque boxes will be destroyed (even with the reinforcement plates), and I'll probably lose control of my car and wreck it due to sudden snap-oversteer thanks to too stiff of a rear suspension. Damn! That meant that I had to find a new plan for what rear control arms I should buy for my Mustang.

Being that I'm in college and on a budget, something like a 3-Link rear suspension is out the window for me. I can't afford it, nor do I have the time or tools to install it. What I need is a factory-style 4-link rear suspension setup that will provide good street manners, yet not be something that makes my car have to be nurtured through the corners.

The first thing that I found out was that I need to use factory replacement upper control arms and new rubber upper control arm bushings. The UCA's need some degree of flexibility in order to allow the rear suspension to properly articulate, not bind up, and not destroy bushings / torque boxes. I looked and looked for a set of factory replacement UCA's online, and the only company that sells them is Maximum Motorsports... at $240 a set. ...Ouch... I think I'll just get a set of used factory control arms from my local junkyard for like $50 or so, clean them up, and replace the old rubber bushings with new ones.

As for the lower control arms, the factory LCA's and rubber bushings allow for too much flex in the rear suspension, which causes wheel hop during hard acceleration. The SVE LCA's with the tough 1-piece urethane bushings on both ends are too stiff, so I had to keep looking. What I eventually decided on was a set of J&M Street / Race LCA's from American Muscle. I've heard good things about them and they seem to be pretty sturdy and affordable. The J&M Street / Race LCA's are made of strong tubular steel and have 3-piece urethane bushings on the chassis side and solid spherical bushings on the axle side. This design allows the LCA's to articulate and move through their whole range of motion without flexing or binding up. These should work perfectly for me.

So, my rear control arm setup. J&M Street / Race LCA's with 3-piece urethane bushings on the chassis side and solid spherical bushings on the axle side. Factory (used) UCA's with ACDelco rubber UCA bushings, both on the chassis side and axle side.

BrettNorton · Aug 12, 2015

Came home today with a complete 8.8" rear end out of a 98 Mustang GT. I bought it from a junkyard local to me called Midwest Mustang. I can admit that the price was a tad expensive (damn, $500 for an 8.8" rear end?), however, Midwest Mustang is the only junkyard I could find that has 94-98 Mustang GT parts in inventory. All of the other U-Pull-It yards in my area are only parting out V6 Mustangs.

The rear end itself has 3.27 gears, traction-lok diff, and 5-lug disc brakes. It's pretty old and dirty, but I'll be getting all the rust, dust, dirt, and grime cleaned off of it before I bolt it into the car.

I got a cheap set of factory upper control arms from Midwest Mustang as well.

Luckily, with a little ball joint pressing tool, I was able to get the old bushings pressed out of the UCA's. They came out almost too easily.

The old upper axle bushings though, didn't give in to the ball joint pressing tool at all. They're still stuck in the axle pretty good. I'll try and get those old axle bushings out when I'm back up at my grandparent's house where all of my tools are at.