Upper Control Arms

These Ford rear upper control arms are direct replacements for the 1979-2004 Mustang (non-IRS) control arms. They will restore performance lost to old and deteriorating rubber bushings. These control arms have the stiffest rubber bushings available, and are much stiffer than what came originally on the Fox chassis Mustangs. Although Ford Racing Performance Parts claims their bushings to be "twice as stiff" as stock, our testing has shown that while they are much stiffer than Fox chassis bushings, they are identical to the 1994-04 bushings.

We performed extensive testing of rear upper control arm bushing materials during the development of our Panhard Bar. When retaining the original four-link suspension, the best compromise between resistance to suspension bind, best control of axle position, best ride quality, and least potential damage to the chassis, is to retain rubber bushings in the rear upper control arms. This is especially important when adding a Panhard Bar. The compliance of a rubber-bushed upper control arm is required when a Panhard bar is added to the Mustang four-link suspension.

When installed on a 1979-93 Mustang, these control arms, with their stiffer rubber bushings, help limit axle wind-up and side-to-side motion, but will not damage your Mustang's upper control arm mounting points (torque boxes) as a standard urethane-bushed upper control arm would. See our extended technical information about bushing material choices in our Rear Lower Control Arm tech section.

While for 1994-04 cars these control arms offer no improvement in performance, as they do on Fox chassis cars, they are a great value when replacing arms with damaged or aged bushings. Because rubber deteriorates simply from age, after several years the control arms are ready for replacement. High horsepower cars and those used for track events tend to damage bushings before they can degrade from age. These replacement control arms, along with the axle end bushings, are a great way to bring back or upgrade the performance of your Mustang.