Picture of new final A-arm?

[bitzman]

Somewhere in the trade press there was pictured a replacement A-arm for the Ford GT to replace the squish cast one that Ford recalled. I kind of recall the new one was more robust looking, had sharper edges, squared off, where the squish cast one had arms that were more oval section. But I am not sure if the one I saw pictured is the final arm or only the forged ones made by Roush prior to being able to put new forged ones into production.
Does anybody know a website with pictures of the forged arms--the immediate fix one and the final one?
Thanks

 

[Guibo]

Not sure where I picked these up, but here you go. Props to whoever posted them up originally. (Data on the pics: KODAK DX6490, 3/17/2003)




You'll note that the revised arms are visible on the Ford GT which made the car show rounds as early as the Detroit Auto Show in January. (I'm not sure if these are the Roush units or the final ones.) These are visibly less shiny than the ones above:


My guess is that the oval ones (like this: http://media.popularmechanics.com/images/PMX0705LENO003_large.jpg) were perhaps only used for design/modelling purposes and never put on any prototypes or production GT's, but I could be wrong.

There was a fellow on the Ferrari Chat forums who claimed to work for the company supplying the new machined A-arms for the GT. He should be able to help you on this. You can search the forums there, or send me a PM and I'll see if I can find anything from him.

 

[bitzman]

The original a-arm supplierwas Citation

They thought they could do that squish-cast with no problem like Alfa,Mercedes,etc.But came a cropper.

Still when Roush got the contract to make forged replacements,Citation still gets to finish them

I don't know if there is a third round of arms or if there is, from who?I can't believe they gave Citation a second crack (no pun intended) but maybe they were offering a bargain price to keep the contract

 

[barondw]

They thought they could do that squish-cast with no problem like Alfa,Mercedes,etc.But came a cropper.

Still when Roush got the contract to make forged replacements,Citation still gets to finish them

I don't know if there is a third round of arms or if there is, from who?I can't believe they gave Citation a second crack (no pun intended) but maybe they were offering a bargain price to keep the contract

The 2006 will use a different arm from the Roush produced forged replacements. No I do not know all the details about them. Cars with the 2006 control arms have been running at various race tracks for quite a while to test them before being placed in production.

 

[05 Ford GT]

The new control arms on the 05 models post recall are billet aluminum. I was told at the plant by the engineers that if you want them to remain pretty and not oxidize, then they should be coated with clear, wd40, or just waxed to seal off the oxygen getting to them. Just a heads up for the the people like myself that can't leave well enough alone! :cheers

 

[Mullet]

Can someone post up accurate, easy to read wording and or a photo to describe the correct arms that should be on our cars?

I can't quite figure out with the pics above which are correct. Mine are definately not "shiny" and never have been.


My car is a late 05 model (last 4 of vin is 2054).

 

[fjpikul]

JB, no one knows for sure (i.e. which VIN number) got the last set of billet A arms. My car was built in May '05, VIN 1297, and I have them. MAD in NC has a later VIN and he has them. I remember a few '06 owners claiming to have them. Nobody really shows pictures of the standard, final arms. The fact that yours are not shiny only means the aluminum is oxidized. The final arms used are more squared off and have no machine marks on them like the billet arms. The pictures shown in this old post are of the billet arms.

 

[nota4re]

Can someone post up accurate, easy to read wording and or a photo to describe the correct arms that should be on our cars?

Ford had originally intended to use a newly developed casting method for the GT control arms. Just as the very first retail customers started to take delivery, Ford discovered a strength/manufacturing problem with the arms. Immediately, Ford started making beautiful, and ultra-expensive billet CNC-machined arms to replace the ones made by the new casting method. Ford dispatched engineers from Michigan to replace the "suspect" arms on cars that were delivered to customers. Throughout the remainder of 2005, Ford continued to manufacture and install the billet CNC arms as they tried to get a traditional casting process in place. As a result, most of the 2005 cars got the billet CNC arms and '06 cars all got nice - but more ordinary, cast arms.

It is very possible that the switch from the billet arms to the cast arms came on late-VIN '05 cars. (Perhaps someone here knows the VIN cut-over.)

It is pretty easy to recognize the difference. Pop open the clamshell and take a look at the rear arms. If you can see the smakll, regular pattern of a CNC cutting tool, then you have the billet arms. If the arms are smooth, you have the cast arms.

 

[Mullet]

mine are definately cast and NOT billet. Would ANY Ford dealer be able to look up and see if mine are the correct ones?

 

[B O N Y]

Every car that needed a replacement received one, the cars that required new units where all ordered not to be released by the dealers, on the cars that had been delivered Ford contacted the owners and sent out techs. No worries. Enjoy your ride.

 

[B O N Y]

Take a look how hold this thread is... time to move on...

 

[B O N Y]

closed