The Unofficial "Ask a Stupid Question" Thread

Derphound01 said:
There's a thread on the old site about Mevotech. They've discontinued the Supreme line for our cars. Those had greaseable and serviceable joints. You can still find NOS on the shelves at Napa or O'Reilly if you are lucky but it is getting more sparse. The greaseable RF LCA is just about non-existent now.
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Ok, I actually called Mevotech and got a tech guy for a bit after like 6 attempts to talk to someone there, I got the parts desk first but they were useless except for the tech phone number. Anyway, the tech guy said as far as he can tell from his end they still have all 4 control arms. That's not to say that they're actively making loads of them but he said none were listed as discontinued. He also said they make them to OEM specs in terms of not having replaceable ball joints, you still have to buy a whole new assembly. He also said the lower control arms aren't greaseable but later I started seeing on eBay Mevotech Supreme lower control arms that are greaseable?! Same design from what I can tell and the same blue boots. They come in some weird pack of both control arms (long part number) so now I need to call them back to ask, is this a real Mevotech product that I should buy and, if so, how come these ones have grease fittings? But of course it was early evening Friday when I saw that crap so too late to call. Monday it is.
 
The ones that had the replacable upper ball joints were Raybestos professional grade and later repackaged as AC Delco pro grade, those ended production about 5 years ago. Mevotech always was OEM style, but the castings are noticably thicker
 
rampagingsloth said:
Ok, I actually called Mevotech and got a tech guy for a bit after like 6 attempts to talk to someone there, I got the parts desk first but they were useless except for the tech phone number. Anyway, the tech guy said as far as he can tell from his end they still have all 4 control arms. That's not to say that they're actively making loads of them but he said none were listed as discontinued. He also said they make them to OEM specs in terms of not having replaceable ball joints, you still have to buy a whole new assembly. He also said the lower control arms aren't greaseable but later I started seeing on eBay Mevotech Supreme lower control arms that are greaseable?! Same design from what I can tell and the same blue boots. They come in some weird pack of both control arms (long part number) so now I need to call them back to ask, is this a real Mevotech product that I should buy and, if so, how come these ones have grease fittings? But of course it was early evening Friday when I saw that crap so too late to call. Monday it is.
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See this thread: https://www.tccoa.com/threads/beware-mevotech-and-now-moog-too.193908/
 
Derphound01 said:
See this thread: https://www.tccoa.com/threads/beware-mevotech-and-now-moog-too.193908/
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Oh, ok, that's the thread I couldn't find, thanks.

So, I guess the easiest route is going to be Dorman Premium or possibly those SKP arms, at least for the lowers. The uppers seem to be a bit easier to find with metal bearings. eBay seems to show more options but who knows there, including Mevotech, but after reading that thread I'm starting to think they aren't worth it even if I could find them based on what he was saying about the cotter pins and whatnot. Goddamn, it shouldn't be this hard to find some fucking control arms!!
 
Not everyone will agree with me. For normal applications I just get the control arms from Autozone. They have the lifetime warranty. I keep a worn out set of arms on my shelf. Whenever I want to replace control arms I take the old ones in and get new ones. Are they as good as Ford. No. But they are better than worn out arms. I've gotten to a point where I can replace control arms at high speed. So whenever I don't like the looks of them. I swap them out. For free. And because I always keep an old set around. I don't even make two trips to the parts store and no money leaves my pocket.
 
New question...

Can you overtighten an oil filter by hand?

Changed my oil/filter today. I never use any kind of tool for the filter, neither to install nor to remove, though I do wear gloves.

On installation, I habitually tighten as much as I can by hand. Today I noticed that the gasket appears to be fully compressed (?); at least I cannot see the gasket from the side.

I may never have paid attention to it before; maybe it always looked like this. I would think you should see a small gap with the gasket visible.

20231112_144728.jpg
 
I only tighten the oil filter about as tight as I would screwing on a soda bottle cap, there's no reason to exert yourself tightening it, the gasket will do its job either way, but I'd rather it be easy to remove next time.
 
Most say you're supposed to tighten it 360° beyond the point the gasket makes contact with the block. By hand, of course.
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
:unsure: I can't remember honestly. But chances are I tightened it a little more than that...
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You should be alright. But I agree with everyone else. No need to over do it. If you ever put one on and it leaks a bit, then you can tighten it a bit more.
 
Exactly, I don't recall ever having a oil filter weep with the level I tighten it, but if I did I'd just give it another twist. If you're worried about it being too tight now just leave it, the worst case scenario here is you have to punch a screwdriver through it at your next oil change to bust it loose. I'd also make sure when you change it next time the seal doesn't stay attached to the adapter housing, the extra tightness possibly could loosen the seal from the filter so when you go to unscrew it it doesn't come with it.
 
Nobody ever heard of the thread on the filter base being stripped by a filter overtightened by hand, right?

(This is the place for stupid questions after all, so I'm going all in.)
 
As long you just tightened it by hand it will be fine. Even if over tightened with a filter wrench, the filter would probably start deforming before the threads on the engine would get damaged.

You should try changing the FL820s on the 4.6 models. What a messy pain in the ass. :poop:
 
That's why the dealer does my oil changes. Not my mess to deal with.
 
supergordo said:
Not everyone will agree with me. For normal applications I just get the control arms from Autozone. They have the lifetime warranty. I keep a worn out set of arms on my shelf. Whenever I want to replace control arms I take the old ones in and get new ones. Are they as good as Ford. No. But they are better than worn out arms. I've gotten to a point where I can replace control arms at high speed. So whenever I don't like the looks of them. I swap them out. For free. And because I always keep an old set around. I don't even make two trips to the parts store and no money leaves my pocket.
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I do the same but from Napa with the Mevotech Supremes. I've got two sets on the shelf, one to go on the car and one for when those inevitably die.
 
supergordo said:
Not everyone will agree with me. For normal applications I just get the control arms from Autozone. They have the lifetime warranty. I keep a worn out set of arms on my shelf. Whenever I want to replace control arms I take the old ones in and get new ones. Are they as good as Ford. No. But they are better than worn out arms. I've gotten to a point where I can replace control arms at high speed. So whenever I don't like the looks of them. I swap them out. For free. And because I always keep an old set around. I don't even make two trips to the parts store and no money leaves my pocket.
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Well, I found that Dorman does make the lower control arms with grease fittings (called them to make sure, they say they have lots of them). Of course no one around here has them even though the Dorman site says Autozone should carry them (they automatically cross to Duralast arms). But Amazon has them (the Premium line) and Dorman told me that they do have a limited lifetime warranty. So I'll order them and hopefully they last a long time but if they don't, I can get them replaced. Who knows. O'Reilly lists the Precision upper control arms that someone else earlier said are actually Mevotech arms (Precision brand, blue boots, grease fittings) so those apparently are a little easier to get. Napa also has the same pictures for their uppers but the description says black boot with grease fitting so we'll see if I need those what I will actually get (no local Napa stores have them so it's a warehouse thing).

The Dorman part numbers for the lowers are CB80053PR and CB80055PR in case anyone wants to go down this path.
 
In my experience, the noiser, the shorter the remaining life. I had to pull the plug, and swap in my evo valve on the last one I bought. The one from the towncar engine didn't have a valve, or a place to put one.
 
Hmm... mines always been loud, and I've read that its oddly characteristic of birds. Keep me posted
 
Some are noiser than others. The one that I put the an line mod on, that failed so badly, screamed for mercy as it died, lol. (The fitting I put in the pump was too deep, and it rubbed the rotor. I'd have hated to be behind me at 80 when it failed. :rofl: Bad time to tailgate, lol.
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
New question:

Is there any fluid or additive that actually makes the power steering pump quieter?
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The pump Ford used in the V6 cars is known to be noisy. They are particular about making sure you get the air out of the system when they are first installed. Like Matt said some Fresh Mercon helps. I don't like to use "Power Steering Fluid" in those. When I install those style pumps I lift the front end off the ground and turn the wheel back and forth with the car off. That helps purge the air.
 
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