FFR tubular A-arm - Pivot bushing failure warning

[Jester]

Note regarding FFR front upper A-arms. Be sure all suspension points etc., are inspected and lubed regularly and be sure lube is reaching intended contact areas. Immediately source any squeaks / creaks and eliminate as this indicates friction that may lead to the failure of the pivot bushing/clevis mount on the upper A-arm.

I have approximately 4500 mi on my recently completed Mk4 (purchased mid 2011- completed last fall) and at aprox 4000 mi (about 2-3 weeks ago), I noticed a creaking sound coming from the passenger side in the area of the front suspension. The sound is similar to creaking door but very short duration and heard sometimes when going over bumps. When I first heard the sound I immediately inspected and lubed all suspension nipples etc., but tracking down the source took some time. Over a period of several weeks I had repeatedly raised the front of the car and selectively removed, inspected, greased and reassembled suspension components as a course of elimination to track down the source. I finally determined the sound was coming from the upper control arm - front pivot bushing/clevis mount (PS). This particular pivot bearing was always very hard to grease and as it turns out the grease was not reaching the intended contact points and the sound was metal on metal as the A-arm pivoted. While I was jacking up the car yesterday to remove and disassemble the upper A-arm the front pivot bushing/clevis mount broke off. Typically these bushings rotate freely on the inner A-arm frame member (not sure this is the proper name for the inner cross member of the upper A-arm that mounts to the frame) however this particular pivot bushing/clevis mount is very difficult to rotate and will not come off the inner A-arm frame member. I will need to apply heat to expand the bushing for removal.

I am not certain if this could be a defective pivot bushing, an installation issue or combination. The other pivot bushings are fine and receive lube properly. I guess I should have immediately removed and inspected this pivot bushing when I noticed the difficulty with greasing. No harm no foul but a good lesson learned.

Lesson learned: Immediately find the source of any suspension creaks and eliminate. If this had failed while driving the outcome may have been much different. I should have dismantled the front suspension and inspected immediately and the source would have been obvious – lucky for me it failed while I was jacking up the car – I guess I just won the lottery.

I will replace all pivot bushings/ clevis mounts as a course of preventative maintenance. I will be calling FFR to order new parts as soon as they open this week.



Photo attached. 30659

[skullandbones]

Jester,

You're a lucky man! Glad it turned out OK. I will definitely put this on my list of things to check. I have not found any fittings/bushings on mine that didn't grease properly. I've always been taught to over grease rather than applying just enough. I also have to clean up the areas a little more for doing that but it's better safe than sorry.

BTW: since you are putting new fittings in, have you checked out Gordon Levy's control arms? They are a work of art. I was told it is my job to spend more of your money. But seriously they are pretty and I'm sure they are race quality approved. Good luck and thanks for the heads up.

WEK.

[Jeff Kleiner]

This potential issue was identified several years ago but it's good to bring it up again:

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/233740-ffrs-uca-failures-copied-coupe-forum.html

The silver arms with black adjusters are the ones affected. I've not heard of any incidents with the gold UCAs on later Mk4s or the Pole Position arms that date back to Mk2s.

BTW Jester, it looks like you were running without much thread engagement on the forward link that broke. Please check out the following thread and then verify that you have sufficient engagement with your adjuster sleeves when you go back together.

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/244160-lots-caster-warning.html

Cheers.
Jeff

[Mark Dougherty]

I am very glad no bad happened to you.
I just replaced Gary bopps upper arms for the same reason.
While they are off look for stress cracks on the frame.
The newest arms from Ffr have poly bushings so this can't happen again.
The way to stop it is to yearly remove the front shock and run the front suspension through its travel.
Grease all the joints and repeat, this allows the grease to get everywhere.
If the suspension is to tight stop and find out why.

[MPTech]

The silver arms with black adjusters are the ones affected.

Uh oh, like this? I greased them last year and had grease ooze out the ends and haven't noticed an issue. The wheel moves down when I jack the car up and up when I let it back down off the jack, is that a good sign?
How would I tell without pulling it completely part?

The original post was dated 11/09, my kit was delivered 4/11, was FFR still sending out bad parts??
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a78/MPTech/2014%20LCS/IMG_2724_zps3a5a5c4f.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a78/MPTech/2014%20LCS/IMG_2722_zpsac71087e.jpg

[Mark Dougherty]

First off
They were not bad parts.
They are race parts, and require maintenance. If your suspension moves up and down freely though you should be ok.

[Jester]

Thx for the replies - I agree, I was very lucky I was not driving.

I have the front pivot bushing / clevis mount removed - had to remove the inner A-arm frame mount, use a torch and a gear pullet to remove the pivot bushing. There may have been a defect in the bushing or the inner A-arm member mount regarding tolerances as although there is a groove in the inner A-arm frame mount for the grease, grease was not reaching the contact area properly (too tight to allow for proper greasing). Grease needs to be seen exiting both ends of the pivot bushing to be considered properly greased. I should have replaced when I originally installed but it was moving freely at the time although always very difficult to grease. I did not realize it could fail - in hind sight, what was I thinking. These small pivot bushings are critical moving parts on the front suspension that most likely have more force per volume placed on them (thin wall, light weight design) than any other part in the front suspension and if one fails it could have a less than favourable outcome. Special attention and respect needs to be given to these moving parts. I will double check the DS.

Jeff - Thx - looks like I have an older set. I need a new Inner A-arm frame member and a set of new pivot bushings. I will discuss with FFR next week.

I hope all roadster and coupe owners read this and inspects and grease accordingly to reduce the possibility of any further upper A-arm bushing failures.

[skullandbones]

First off
They were not bad parts.
They are race parts, and require maintenance. If your suspension moves up and down freely though you should be ok.

That's a very timely post for my question: since you have more experience with the racing end of these cars what would be a good periodic interval to use as a rule for checking the UCA? For race cars it's probably between every race but there are such varied uses for the average roadster, it's going to be on par with an oil change, for instance, say every 3000 to 5000 miles or three months which ever comes first. What's your estimate?

Thanks,

WEK.

[skullandbones]

Hoping Mark weighs in on the question I asked but I also noticed this morning while inspecting and lubing the bushings that there is quite a bit of mis-alignment in the forward bushing, at least the way I have mine set up with about 6+ degrees of castor. The rear bushing is almost perfectly aligned so that the forces will act perpendicular to the shaft on the mounting bracket. That isn't so with the forward component. It appears that a heavy duty spherical rod end would serve that UCA better as it would not have those limitations. If I do that modification, I would definitely install some rubber boots to cover that rod end. That's one of the worst places for catching dirt, sand, water, mud........
Thanks,

WEK.

[Jester]

Update

I just spoke with FFR and I am less than satisfied with the experience and outcome. To my surprise, FFR no longer stock replacement parts/bushings for my version of FFR upper control arms (Mk4 ready for shipping Apr 2011 – less than 1 full season of occasional driving). FFR has replaced the UCA’s with a "gold" version (newer design) vs the older "black" version. Factory Five stated that this type of failure has occurred before and is typically due to either improper installation (possibly during alignment) or lack of maintenance. I find this interesting as these parts were installed in accordance with the FFR instruction manual, alignment performed accordingly and parts received regular maintenance (inspection and grease at least every 2000mi).

Given the circumstances and from previous dealings with FFR, I naively expected FFR to immediately offer to replace the UCA’s at no charge however this is not the case. I need to purchase a new set (with a small discount from FFR) which I have reluctantly done.

Enough about that – more importantly everyone running with FFR upper control arms needs to be very careful and inspect and make sure grease is reaching intended contact area to avoid a similar failure.

[edwardb]

Replacement parts are available from the original supplier SPC Performance. Probably you could have just purchased the necessary repair parts directly from SPC. FFR offering to replace used assemblies at a reduced cost (their cost?) is a reasonable offer IMO.

[Jester]

edwardb - thx

There are bigger problems in the world

I edited my last post

Thx

[edwardb]

edwardb - thx

There are bigger problems in the world

I edited my last post

Thx

Certainly agree there. I edited my post as well, including removing your previous comments. I spent this evening on my back under the dash of my Mk3 replacing a broken Lucas switch. Still all torn apart but the new switch is in. I had some choice thoughts about Lucas quality requiring me to go through that misery. It's certainly easy to get wrapped up in these things. But I'm better now. Well a little...

[Jester]

There is a thorough discussion and must read regarding UCA failures on the “FFCARS.com” forum – Google search “FFR UCA Failures” to find the link or go to the following webpage: http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/233740-ffrs-uca-failures-copied-coupe-forum-4.html . The post reviews possible causes, impacts and opinions. I have summarized in the following:

Commonly the front bushing on the upper control arm is the culprit that fails resulting in a progressive range of outcomes depending on when the issue is discovered from scarring of the bushing (less than smooth bushing travel), partial seizing of bushing and possible failure of bushing at the clevis mount, twisting of the A-arm cross member, cracking of the frame where the A-arm cross member is mounted. Regular and frequent inspection and lubrication of the front suspension is required. Grease needs to be seen exiting both ends of the pivot bushing to be considered properly greased. If grease does not exit both ends – make a closer inspection.

Note: special attention need to be given to insure that the clevis bolts are not tight during alignment as tight clevis bolts can result in improper alignment of the pivot bushings on the A-arm cross member causing excessive friction and possibly rapid failure of the bushing. Any out of spec bushings may result in a similar failure.

There may be an inherent design flaw issue related to the fixed arm on the A-arm assembly where a lateral force placed on the A-arm would be transferred to the front pivot bushing (the one that fails). My bushing failed on the rear portion of the front bushing. It would be interesting to review the details of all of the failures documented and see bench test results from the manufacturer. Hopefully the new UCA’s have improved bushing/bearing design or this issue may be unresolved. Regardless I will be inspecting and greasing these new UCA's at least every month or 500 mi which ever comes first.

I am glad my bushing failed on the lift and not while driving.

[carlewms]

Thanks for the heads up on this matter ... I got around to checking mine today.

My kit was assembled between August and the delivery date of October 25th 2012;

My Upper A arms came pre-assembled from FFR, but I did check the torque on the mounting bolts attaching the clevis mounts;

I have the gold clevis mounts on the Upper A arms with black adjusters;

Prior to applying the grease ... I detached the adjustment arms by removing the bolt at the clevis. The PS side and DS rear clevis mounts moved freely; the DS front would move but not without a lot of force;

I then greased all four mounts ... plenty of grease out of the PS and the DS rear and, of course, they moved very easily;

I could not get any grease out of the DS front clevis mount and bushing.

When I return to the garage I am going to pull the DS front and see what is going on with that one; I am also going to check to see if perhaps I over torqued it which could ??? be part of the problem.

If it is "squeezing" the bushing too much it could be preventing the grease from spreading.

If the arms are preassembled at FFR and they or we in checking the torque on the attachment bolts are over torquing (or torquing to the extreme of the range), could this be a source of the problem?

Thoughts???

Carl

[Jester]

Carl

From what I have read, if the end nuts that hold the bushing on the A-arm cross member are too tight, grease may not reach the contact surface of the bushing properly.

I believe the torque on the clevis bolts affects the ability of the bushing to rotate on the A-arm (to be torqued after wheel alignment is completed) and the torque on the clevis bolt should not result in any additional compression / friction on the bushing. I need to review the new A-arms when they arrive to confirm.

I suspect that as more owners inspect the upper A-arm pivot bushings, there may be more issues discovered. These are designed for smooth track racing however dirt roads and pot holes may result in reduced bushing life.