Ford threadlockers?

[moby4dick]

Hi Guys,

Recently tackled my first suspension mod, rear LCA Cortex monoball bushings. Ford calls out the bolts as single use, was informed only due to liability for not cleaning off old threadlocker and reapplying.

In the end I just replaced all but the ones with blue loctite. Why? One had white, the others had pink. I don’t know of a pink or a white, only red, which is supposed to be permanent and can’t just be removed with torque.

I plan on other mods in the future, so I’d like to reuse the bolts but use the correct threadlocker. Mods under consideration— Vorshlag camber plates. No plans on drag, just occasional DE’s and backroad twisties. I felt the rear to feel a bit floaty on quick S turns…anyone have suggestions that actually helped (vs just throwing random parts that are marketed as better than OE)?

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[K4fxd]

The rear needs a lot of help.

Steeda's stop the hop kit gets rid of the floaty's.

 

[NightmareMoon]

Rear is /mostly/ issues with the shocks. The rubber back there will cause some inconsistency but the major body control floatyness is the shocks, not the small parts and bushings IMHO.

The /least/ parts you can do to solve the rear would be shocks (and front struts for good measure), the toe bearing, and the big, hard to access lower rear control arm bearing.

Instead of doing the PITA LRCA bearing, you can throw additional parts at it shotgun style.

 

[moby4dick]

Hmm, so Magneride not up to the task? Don’t think Im ready to ditch them just yet. I had very good coilovers, Race Comp Engineering, on my Subaru, I would say a reasonable compromise in ride quality in service of superior handling.

Just did the lower control arm bushing, they’re spherical bearings. Too cold out now to push the car to test out, didn’t find any increased NVH driving around town.

Still waiting on any input on the thread locker….

 

[K4fxd]

Still waiting on any input on the thread locker….

I use blue on anything I cannot get heat to.

Rear is /mostly/ issues with the shocks.

When I first got my car the rear felt like it was held together by rubberbands. I mounted a go pro and was shocked by the amount of movement. The whole IRS assembly moves at least 1/4 inch.

 

[NightmareMoon]

I use blue on anything I cannot get heat to.


When I first got my car the rear felt like it was held together by rubberbands. I mounted a go pro and was shocked by the amount of movement. The whole IRS assembly moves at least 1/4 inch.

1/4”, sure, but when? The shocks move multiple inches up and down.

You can secure the subframe, but it helps to know what problem you’re solving or you just end up throwing everything at a problem and hoping something does the trick, which isnt cheap or efficient.

Floaty over high speed highway bumps isnt going to be rear subframe deflection. Fishing back and forth when overdriving the rear tires at low speed, now thats where the subframe movement really comes into play.

 

[K4fxd]

Floaty over high speed highway bumps isnt going to be rear subframe deflection. Fishing back and forth when overdriving the rear tires at low speed, now thats where the subframe movement really comes into play.

Mine moved when cornering at high speeds and loads. The soft rubber bushings deflect a lot.

OP has magna ride so I would think track mode would stiffen the shock rates.

I will admit OP has not defined float. I believe what he is describing is IRS deflection.

 

[moby4dick]

To define my impression of float: fast successive S turn transitions, the tires have plenty of grip and pull the car through, but the rear seems to float away from the direction of turn and needs to catch up. Does that make sense?

 

[NightmareMoon]

To define my impression of float: fast successive S turn transitions, the tires have plenty of grip and pull the car through, but the rear seems to float away from the direction of turn and needs to catch up. Does that make sense?

What tires? What pressures?

With a magnaride car the shocks should be fine, so we can put that aside.

Thing is, while the rear subframe is a little flawed, im my not so humble opinion, the bushings are really not holding the car back much at all. Thats coming from someone who has a won a lot at autocross and who has track experience both with stock bushings and with a modified rear end as well. The car should be very controllable with all atock rear subframe and bushings, and the 18+ cars arent as bad as the 15-17 cars in that regard due to some design changes Ford made.

Theres a huge factor here thats hard to account for with your description and thats the driver. What you described doesnt sound like subframe to me, sounds like general suspension tuning and alignment isnt to your tastes, but its hard to tell over the internet.

Feel free to subframe throw parts at it. Its not my money

I’d probably recommend looking at the alignment very closely and considering stiffer swaybars to tighten it up before adressing the small parts and bushings.

Bushing deflection can affect the toe, but if your base alignment is off, thats the root issue.

 

[K4fxd]

There is a reason Steeda, BMR, Keltrac and several others make parts to keep the IRS from moving.

The IRS braces are a good first step followed by the bushing Isolation kit. Sway bars are the last step, they are for fine tuning. I would do springs long before sways. Even in auto X.

Feel free to subframe throw parts at it. Its not my money

Some of us don't like feeling like we are driving on underinflated tires. The IRS bushings deflect a lot. And they oscillate so it feels like the rear is wiggling back and forth, or I like to say it feels like the rear is held on with rubber bands.

In an auto cross setting the turns are so quick and tight the bushings can and mostly do take a set.

 

[NightmareMoon]

There is a reason Steeda, BMR, Keltrac and several others make parts to keep the IRS from moving.

They sell them because they can make money. They also sell brake caliper covers and all sorts of useless crap. That logic doesnt check out.

In an auto cross setting the turns are so quick and tight the bushings can and mostly do take a set.

:eyeroll: Whatever man. You’re grabbing at straws. I’ve got an opinion which is different than yours, /try/ to cope with it.

I’m not saying those mods dont make a difference, just that its a *small* difference, compared to driver, tires, tire pressure, shocks, springs, alignment, and sways, they’re last. If they’re the ONLY mod you do, then of course they’re first (plus you just spent all that money so naturally it all has to be worth it)

If you have enough money, do it all. Otherwise, focus on the stuff that matters a lot more first, and work your way down to the details.

 

[K4fxd]

I’ve got an opinion which is different than yours,

I always start with a solid foundation.

 

[NightmareMoon]

OP since you’ve got the LRCA (and magnaride), the toe bearing back there is also good to do. The next thing for switchbacks would be swaybars, but dont go too stiff on the rear, a good front bar with a very mildly stiffer rear bar will get help it switch directions faster.

Still curious about your tire situation. Some of the common ones are pretty squishy.

 

[WV millwright]

To try and right this ship and get back to the question ask about threadlocker, the pink is low strength, blue is medium strength, and red is high strength. Each color has a few different variations for primered, primerless, high temp, etc. There is also a green wicking grade that can to be used after the bolt is torqued. And last there is a green retaining compound that you definitely don't want to use. It is used on loose fits or very worn spline couplings.

A good rule of thumb is blue 243, which is primerless, is a good all around threadlocker that can still be removed. Now the mentioned colors and numbers are referring to lock tite brand products.

 

[Dana Pants]

As some others suggest. Shocks are step 1 for that floating feeling.

As for threadlock. I’m very undisciplined with the stuff. Most fasteners on the car are arranged such that they just aren’t coming loose if torqued properly. From memory, the only trouble fasteners are the big axle and wheel bearing nuts. I think a lot of the threadlocker is a belt+suspenders mentality at Ford due to strange things happening in manufacturing and service.

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