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S550 Double Ball Joint Macpherson Strut Front Suspension [Video & Pics]

Jarstang

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We captured a video and some screen captures of the 2015 Mustang's front suspension today. This was taken from the preproduction Black GT shown in Detroit today.

Apologies for the quality. We were rushed by the floor managers and this is as far as we could reach without crawling under the car, which was prohibited.



2015 Mustang Front Suspension-2.jpg


2015 Mustang Front Suspension-3.jpg


2015 Mustang Front Suspension-4.jpg


2015 Mustang Front Suspension-5.jpg


2015 Mustang Front Suspension-7.jpg


2015 Mustang Front Suspension-8.jpg
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Whiskey11

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Thanks for the photos and the video! I guess I'm just getting sick of hearing about the new IRS without acknowledging that the front has made quite the leap as far as strut technology is concerned! :)
 

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Grimace427

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The shape of the back of the knuckle looks like where the axle would go through on a FWD/AWD car. I work on several cars that have both RWD and AWD variants and they reuse the same front knuckle to save costs. This knuck on the Mustang might be shared with another vehicle like the Fusion. Could be wrong, I'm just going off the look of the part.
 

Whiskey11

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The shape of the back of the knuckle looks like where the axle would go through on a FWD/AWD car. I work on several cars that have both RWD and AWD variants and they reuse the same front knuckle to save costs. This knuck on the Mustang might be shared with another vehicle like the Fusion. Could be wrong, I'm just going off the look of the part.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Mustang shared parts with another car to keep costs down. Good on Ford for doing exactly that so long as the part is durable enough for the stresses it will see. Knowing Ford it will be addressed knowing that the average enthusiast is going to beat the piss out of the car compared to the driver of say, a Fusion or Focus.

One thing I wish we had gotten a photo of is the K-member mounting point for the lateral link to see if Ford was kind enough to grace us with camber adjustment from the factory... my guess is probably not.

EDIT: This isn't a coincidence...

2013 Fusion Front Spindle:


Lower control arm is different, but the rest looks frighteningly similar. Strut especially, with the holes drilled in the back and the stamping on the ears. Might be a modified forging mold for the Mustang's upright and dual ball joints?
 

Grimace427

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Except that piece looks like aluminum. The Mustang's looked like painted steel. Also that knuckle has a pinch bolt for the LCA stud as opposed to a boss for the stud to go through and fasten down with a nut like the Mustang's.
 

Whiskey11

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Except that piece looks like aluminum. The Mustang's looked like painted steel. Also that knuckle has a pinch bolt for the LCA stud as opposed to a boss for the stud to go through and fasten down with a nut like the Mustang's.
And it might not be similar, although it certainly looks like the upper portion is close to the same. It is also possible that the lower half is different but the upper is the same. The only other car I could think of that it would share parts with would be the Taurus but I'm having a hell of a time finding pictures of the front suspension.
 

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Revenant

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Definitely a FWD/AWD front knuckle.
I kinda thought the opposite. There is no room for a CV boot with the lower ball joints that close to the spindle center line.

I feel like people are identifying that both have MacPherson struts and ball joints and somehow thinking that makes them similar more than a Honda front suspension would be. :crazy:

These are two completely different sets of parts manufactured by the same company. They'll look similar in components, but the knuckles themselves have no relation beyond manufacturer.

People can take off their tinfoil hats, that's not a FWD knuckle.
 

Grimace427

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Will we will see an AWD Mustang!? I doubt it, but it would be rather cool IMO.
I kinda thought the opposite. There is no room for a CV boot with the lower ball joints that close to the spindle center line.

I feel like people are identifying that both have MacPherson struts and ball joints and somehow thinking that makes them similar more than a Honda front suspension would be. :crazy:

These are two completely different sets of parts manufactured by the same company. They'll look similar in components, but the knuckles themselves have no relation beyond manufacturer.

People can take off their tinfoil hats, that's not a FWD knuckle.

Tin foil hats? I was simply commenting on the look of the knuckle and comparing it to my experience with cars that shared similar parts. I know what I am talking about and wasn't trying to claim the Mustang was getting AWD or anything like that. Would it really surprise you that the Mustang is sharing parts with other cars?
 

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Looking at these pics swiped from the rear suspension thread, I think some comment on the geometry changes in this front suspension is necessary. This pic is of a BMW, (I think) and shows how the virtual pivot point changes through the spindle's motion. This is the left front corner, and as the wheel turns to the right and this corner loads a couple of interesting things happen. The virtual pivot moves toward the rear and left of the car. This would both decrease caster, and increase camber. The increased camber would of course be very beneficial, but I am not sure that the decrease in caster would be desirable. According to theory, that would decrease steering effort and feel, and decrease camber gain, but also decrease the jacking effect fom high castor and steering axis inclination. The camber gain from the virtual pivot movement to the left looks to more then offset the loss of camber from the castor loss, and as this suspension is not loaded, we are not seeing any camber gain from compression. This would explain why BMW's have high caster settings 6-7+ degrees. With the right geometry of the tension link and lateral link, camber gain could be very respectable for a Mac-Strut suspension.

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Ryan1112

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I'm curious about where the control arms connect to the chassis. Looking at Ando's post I see that it has to twist at the mount point. It seems like a rubber bushing would wear out and flex to much for good control. I think a sphere bearing would be the best there.
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