Bad Rear Lateral Links


PeteK

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Apr 18, 2014
2,469
Kalama, Free part of WA State
Preparing for Rally 12, I was adjusting ride height and alignment and noted the bad grease boots on mine too. I also noted that the end of the links are protected by a heat shield to cut down on radiant heat transfer from the brake rotor to the bushing. I'll bet that heat is what makes these things crack and fail. The harder you are on the brakes, the more heat affects the boots, and the less time they last.

GT101, do you still sell the replacement boots?
 

NorthwoodGT

GT Owner
Jun 12, 2009
1,217
Michigan
I had my own custom ones made.
The TT power and track use is more than the original struts can handle.

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while the units that 1 of 101 made are incredibly strong and rigid (and beautiful), they are actually over kill for the average street driver for a couple reasons. first off I'm guessing you will get some noise being that they are a heim joint design even with the neoprene inserts. secondly the OEM units are actually designed to bend and fold up should the car spin out and hit against something laterally. the bending and folding are necessary so the suspension and frame do not sustain any damage. I've seen many GT owners have to change these out from spinning out and hitting curbs. while it destroys the part and possibly a wheel, it usually doesn't hurt anything else on the car. the new replacement bushing design does sound like a good idea though and of course I have plenty of the OEM units always in stock for the occaisional mishap.
 

nota4re

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Feb 15, 2006
4,281
the OEM units are actually designed to bend and fold up should the car spin out and hit against something laterally. the bending and folding are necessary so the suspension and frame do not sustain any damage. I've seen many GT owners have to change these out from spinning out and hitting curbs. while it destroys the part and possibly a wheel, it usually doesn't hurt anything else on the car.

We've seen this a few times - when these OEMs units are sacrificial and can actually save a GT frame. The OEM units are perfectly strong in the axis they are intended to be used in and intentionally weak if hit off axis.

Can't recommend installing them over available OEM units.
 

NorthwoodGT

GT Owner
Jun 12, 2009
1,217
Michigan
We've seen this a few times - when these OEMs units are sacrificial and can actually save a GT frame. The OEM units are perfectly strong in the axis they are intended to be used in and intentionally weak if hit off axis.

Can't recommend installing them over available OEM units.

Zactly! the Lincoln LS and late Thunderbird use the exact same design link except about 3-4" shorter than the GT. I also know Ford was testing the 05/06 rear links on the NGT. not sure if they made it into production or not but I'm guessing the same engineering theory applies.
 

PeteK

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Apr 18, 2014
2,469
Kalama, Free part of WA State
I was only looking for the replacement boots, not the whole link. If the outer joint loosens up, then I'll buy the whole link.
 

Waldo

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Sep 7, 2005
770
Fort Worth, TX
I'm not one to randomly resurrect old threads, but an update is in order.

After 8 years and a measly 3,000 miles, the grease boots on my replacement rear lateral links failed in the same manner as my original parts. While performing the annual service on my GT, I found the grease boots on both rear lateral links were torn again.

thumbnail_IMG_3658.jpg

Although I'm not thrilled at having to fix these again, the silver lining is The GT Garage LLC (aka Rich) now offers replacement inner and outer grease boots. For $100 + shipping, you can order all of the lateral link boots directly from GTG's website. The current cost for one new Ford lateral link is around $270 + shipping.

Lower rear control arm cross axis and toe link outer boot kit, 1 car set

Rear toe link inner boots 1 car set

Once I tackle the installation, I'll pass along my observations and any tips that may help the next owner.

Best Regards,


edited to add links.
 
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69b302

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Mar 13, 2021
115
Upstate NY
The boots are also available thru GT101.

 
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Waldo

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Sep 7, 2005
770
Fort Worth, TX
I finally got around to installing the new grease boots the other day. It's a fairly straightforward job, but the kit doesn't come with any instructions. I managed to caveman my way through the installation and learned a few things along the way.

The biggest lesson I learned was the lateral link boots weren't the only boots that needed to be replaced. The grease/dust boots on both rear lower control arms were completely destroyed as well. I was not expecting this and wouldn't have thought to check if new lower control arm boots had not been included in the kit I purchased from GTG. These are the original '05 billet arms with just over 16,000 miles.

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After removing the old grease and remnants of the grease boots.

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The GTG kits comes with four lower control arm boots. They are larger then the four provided for the end links. They are secured in place by rubber O-rings.

thumbnail_IMG_3652.jpgthumbnail_IMG_3661.jpg

I only replaced the outer boots on my rear lateral links. The inner boots were still intact, and I'll just inspect them at every oil change. The GTG kits provides four of the outer boots (in the kit with the lower control arm boots) and two of the inner boots (in a separate kit). The outer boots are the smallest boots and are secured with metal spring clips. Once you remove the remains of the old boots and grease and add fresh grease, you work them into place. I found a small, thin screwdriver was sufficient to install them.

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I used the large spring clips that were provided in the kit but re-used the original small spring clips. The OEM small clips were just a hair larger then those in the kit and were easier to install. I used two zip ties to stretch the spring clips while I worked them in to place.

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One other tip I would recommend for both the control arm and end link boots: Install the large O-ring or spring clip on the bottom of the respective grease boot before you seat the top of the boot. Once you seat the top of the boot, it will be harder to fit the large O-ring or spring clip over the body of the boot. It will make more sense once you see it in person.

Overall the kit is 5-stars, and I would recommend it to all of my GT friends. This is especially important if you want to preserve your irreplaceable billet lower control arms.
 

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PeteK

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Apr 18, 2014
2,469
Kalama, Free part of WA State
Waldo, thanks for the (second) write-up. This is something I've been meaning to get around to on my car with 85,000 miles. These don't seem to be "wear" items, but "time" items. Crappy quality material, that just self-destructs. I have a set of seals from GT101, just haven't installed them yet. Do you know if those are good quality, or should I just order the GT Guy kit now?
 

Waldo

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Sep 7, 2005
770
Fort Worth, TX
...I have a set of seals from GT101, just haven't installed them yet. Do you know if those are good quality, or should I just order the GT Guy kit now?
Pete, after comparing pictures from both GT101's and GTG's websites, I believe they are the same boots. I could be wrong, but they look very similar. I would feel comfortable using the boots from either vender.

That being said, I didn't see the inner boots for the rear end links listed on GT101's website. If you needed to replace those as well, GTG has those listed on his site for $20.

Our GTs weren't the only car in Ford's lineup that suffered with self-destructing suspension grease/dust boots. Two years ago, I replaced all 10 suspension control arms and both rear lateral links on my 60K mile 2008 Jaguar XKR because of similar disintegrating components. Here's a picture of one of the rear lower control arms from that XKR. Does anything look familiar?

0DU7Qc0.jpg

When all is said and done, it's not that big of a deal. It's a minor maintenance issue that thankfully can be corrected without having to replace an entire suspension component. Many thanks to GTG and GT101 for bringing these parts to the market for us.
 

GT@50

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Dec 14, 2019
941
Issaquah
Get on this Pete. Because you actually drive your car it is important. The boots keep grease in and dirt out. A 4k mile car won't see a lot of dirt but 80k will. If the joint goes bad, it may be hard to find a replacement.
 

WhippleGT

GT Owner
May 23, 2022
30
Waldo, thanks for the (second) write-up. This is something I've been meaning to get around to on my car with 85,000 miles. These don't seem to be "wear" items, but "time" items. Crappy quality material, that just self-destructs. I have a set of seals from GT101, just haven't installed them yet. Do you know if those are good quality, or should I just order the GT Guy kit now?
Hello Pete,
I´ve done the job on my GT last year (lateral links and rear lower control arms) with the kit of GT 101. The kit has also a very good quality. Boots fitted perfect.
Regards
 

PeteK

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Apr 18, 2014
2,469
Kalama, Free part of WA State
Yeah, I know I need to do it--if I haven't caused damage already. Just too many other projects.

HOWEVER, I now have one fewer project to deal with. I sold my 1953 Hudson Hornet on BaT yesterday! It was a neat car, but I didn't drive it enough. The link, in case you're interested:

 

Art138

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jan 4, 2011
631
Weston,FL
I changed mine years ago with the GT101 kit. Still holding well.
 

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PeteK

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Apr 18, 2014
2,469
Kalama, Free part of WA State
Art138: thanks for that feedback
 
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