shovel
Member
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2023
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I have two 4th gen Mustangs, a 94 GT and 96 V6 .
Both of 'em are due for new ball joints so I decided to buy new LCA's and use this opportunity to settle some rumors. I have not yet removed the OE arms off the cars, things might get more interesting when I do that but for now here's what the Ford Racing M-3075-D arm looks like next to a Moog RK620899 aftermarket control arm.
The annotations are things which I have read about the Ford Racing arms and which appear to be accurate on observation. I do not have suitable tools to measure these oddly shaped arms with enough precision to matter, but holding them up against each other from every angle and visually observing them with two eyes in person, and asking my wife to spot differences without prompting her - these things seem to be at least somewhat accurate. I don't have a good way of testing the firmness of the front bushing other than poking it with the tip of a pen and pretending I know what I'm doing.
What I can observe at a glance:
It appears that the spring cup for the Moog arm is deeper. This means the Moog arm would result in a lower ride height, all else equal.
It appears that the trailing edge of the Cobra arm is "scooped" at least 1/4" narrower than the Moog arm
The ball joint, at least in brand new condition, is MUCH easier to jiggle on the Cobra arm.
The rear bushings look and feel substantially similar. The front bushing is of a different design and seems slightly firmer on the Cobra arm when poked with a highly scientific pen.
This part is difficult to tell but it does look at least plausible that the ball joint is farther forward on the Cobra arm. It would almost need to be mounted on some kind of jig to measure it accurately enough to be certain.
The weight of both arms feels about similar and I don't observe a visual difference in the thickness of the stamping.
Both of 'em are due for new ball joints so I decided to buy new LCA's and use this opportunity to settle some rumors. I have not yet removed the OE arms off the cars, things might get more interesting when I do that but for now here's what the Ford Racing M-3075-D arm looks like next to a Moog RK620899 aftermarket control arm.
The annotations are things which I have read about the Ford Racing arms and which appear to be accurate on observation. I do not have suitable tools to measure these oddly shaped arms with enough precision to matter, but holding them up against each other from every angle and visually observing them with two eyes in person, and asking my wife to spot differences without prompting her - these things seem to be at least somewhat accurate. I don't have a good way of testing the firmness of the front bushing other than poking it with the tip of a pen and pretending I know what I'm doing.
What I can observe at a glance:
It appears that the spring cup for the Moog arm is deeper. This means the Moog arm would result in a lower ride height, all else equal.
It appears that the trailing edge of the Cobra arm is "scooped" at least 1/4" narrower than the Moog arm
The ball joint, at least in brand new condition, is MUCH easier to jiggle on the Cobra arm.
The rear bushings look and feel substantially similar. The front bushing is of a different design and seems slightly firmer on the Cobra arm when poked with a highly scientific pen.
This part is difficult to tell but it does look at least plausible that the ball joint is farther forward on the Cobra arm. It would almost need to be mounted on some kind of jig to measure it accurately enough to be certain.
The weight of both arms feels about similar and I don't observe a visual difference in the thickness of the stamping.
