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Lower control arm question

Silverfro98

CEG'er
Joined
Jul 22, 2009
Messages
354
Location
Michigan
I drive a 98 E0 svt and i was wondering what control arms i need to get. 2 bolt? 4 bolt? I'm just doing some suspension mantience. Thanks
 
not a guarantee. the only way to be sure is to look under your car at the control arm mounting points. if you see 2 bolts vertically through a horizontal bushing (total of 4 bolts per arm) holding the arms to the subframe, you have 4-bolt arms. if you only see 1 bolt through vertical bushings (2 per arm) then you have the 2-bolt arms.
 
For future reference:

2-bolt arms look like this:

1141294.jpg


And 4-bolt arms look like this:

CougarRHSuspensionArm.jpg


Easy to tell apart.
 
What makes them so much better? they have twice as many bolts, so are they twice as good? :laugh: but reallytho, theyre almost twice as expensive.:help:
 
What makes them so much better? they have twice as many bolts, so are they twice as good? :laugh: but reallytho, theyre almost twice as expensive.:help:
they give better wheel control ..especially under power. All Mondeos (93- 00) have 2 bolt arms except the top of the range ST200 and some late Cougars... why do you think Ford did that ?
I swapped out the subframe and arms and have never regretted it ..G.
 
The 4-bolt arms are less-prone to bushing deflection, and they have a lot more steel in there, so they are certainly stronger. But I would wager the weight difference is pretty significant in favor of the 2-bolt units. Is that considered Unsprung weight?
 
Does anyone know if you have to cut all 4 bolts to get the left side out? Or do you just need to cut one or two bolts. I don't want to drop the subframe. :confused:


really dropping the subframe alittle isn't that bad. its 4 bolts, the roll restrictors, ball joint and the steering linkage. just drop it enough to get the bolts out.
 
The 4-bolt arms are less-prone to bushing deflection, and they have a lot more steel in there, so they are certainly stronger. But I would wager the weight difference is pretty significant in favor of the 2-bolt units. Is that considered Unsprung weight?
Hey Andy; i thought you would have done this mod !! I can't say the weight difference was even noticable .. but the reduction in wheel hop when wheel spinning is ... my advice is salvage the subframe and arms from an early car for cheap ..G.
 
really dropping the subframe alittle isn't that bad. its 4 bolts, the roll restrictors, ball joint and the steering linkage. just drop it enough to get the bolts out.

I snapped a subframe bolt on my Cougar once, I never want to do that again. :nonono:

I've cut the bolt before on my 2 bolt Cougar arms, now I have to do the Contour.
 
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