Upper control arms

Is it worth it to get tubular upper control arms or stock with good bushings

  • Benefits to aftermarket upper control arms

    Votes: 4 100.0%
  • What's the best way to go with suspension

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    4
-

Originalowner73 340duster

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2018
Messages
514
Reaction score
52
Location
New York
I'm doing work on my family owned d1973 340 duster and looking for some advice on the suspension advantage of doing tubular upper control arms or stock with better bushings..want to use it for weekend rides ..I do like to drive hard..I'm new to this forum and would appreciate any advice
 
Loaded question. THIS IS ONLY MY OPINION--- so for me the main reason for going aftermarket would be to be able to get better geometry. So the adjustable uppers is what I would look into. that said you can usually get decent caster and camber with the stock uppers and offset bushings.
 
I'm doing work on my family owned d1973 340 duster and looking for some advice on the suspension advantage of doing tubular upper control arms or stock with better bushings..want to use it for weekend rides ..I do like to drive hard..I'm new to this forum and would appreciate any advice
Depends on the condition of your uppers. Personally I'd upgrade to the tubular. Will there be a huge advantage, not on a street car but combined with other suspension upgrades, you can make it handle pretty well.
 
Definitely want to do other upgrades.which do you recommend? Should I get a kit ? Which brand is best for US made products? Thanks for info
 
Loaded question. THIS IS ONLY MY OPINION--- so for me the main reason for going aftermarket would be to be able to get better geometry. So the adjustable uppers is what I would look into. that said you can usually get decent caster and camber with the stock uppers and offset bushings.
 
Definitely want to do other upgrades.which do you recommend? Should I get a kit ? Which brand is best for US made products? Thanks for info
Depends, what's your budget ? Hotchkiss is about the best "kit" that keeps the factory Torsion bar design. But $$$ . Firm feel, PST both have reasonable priced kits that are pretty good.

Or you can completely upgrade to a coil over system but those are about 4-5 grand
 
Thanks .. looking for better handling..and asking for recommendations for which parts company will install correctly and be worth while doing
 
Budget isn't a issue. But don't want to get crazy..looked into Hotchkiss ..looks like you have to weld to do rear stabilize bar..and front looked good but said you have to cut out a piece for proper fitting..and don't want to lower already has low clearance for headers..and is the poly bushings better ?
 
Budget isn't a issue. But don't want to get crazy..looked into Hotchkiss ..looks like you have to weld to do rear stabilize bar..and front looked good but said you have to cut out a piece for proper fitting..and don't want to lower already has low clearance for headers..and is the poly bushings better ?
Get with @72bluNblu for that. He'll have some good pieces to recommend that'll bolt right in
 
IMO basic (and necessary) suspension fixes:
New tubular UCAs for the improved caster geometry, use whatever ball joints and bushings they come with. Messing with stock ones and offset bushings can be a pain and still not yield sufficient caster.
Reinforce your LCAs and use delrin bushings, or get aftermarket LCAs and use whatever bushing they come installed with (or remove said bushing and install delrin)
Inspect your K-frame to where the LCA pins screw in. Make sure the weld looks good. Those can break out.
Add a front sway bar
Make sure your shocks and torsion bars are in good shape, you may want to upgrade those also.

You can go further with things such as adjustable strut rods, rear sway bar, new/improved shocks with the correct torsion bars to accommodate them, or replace the entire K-frame itself.

One thing I will say is our selection of ball joints is crap. I'd inspect your tie rod ends and ball joints to see if they actually need to be replaced. If not, run 'em. With ball joints only replace them if need be.
 
IMO basic (and necessary) suspension fixes:
New tubular UCAs for the improved caster geometry, use whatever ball joints and bushings they come with. Messing with stock ones and offset bushings can be a pain and still not yield sufficient caster.
Reinforce your LCAs and use delrin bushings, or get aftermarket LCAs and use whatever bushing they come installed with (or remove said bushing and install delrin)
Inspect your K-frame to where the LCA pins screw in. Make sure the weld looks good. Those can break out.
Add a front sway bar
Make sure your shocks and torsion bars are in good shape, you may want to upgrade those also.

You can go further with things such as adjustable strut rods, rear sway bar, new/improved shocks with the correct torsion bars to accommodate them, or replace the entire K-frame itself.

One thing I will say is our selection of ball joints is crap. I'd inspect your tie rod ends and ball joints to see if they actually need to be replaced. If not, run 'em. With ball joints only replace them if need be.
Thanks alot!! It has a front stock sway bar but would like a after market and definitely want to do rear..do you have recommended place to get parts from your experience..
 
I went thru the front end on my 73 duster, and ended up doing the following, because of wore / bent old parts.

RMS tubular upper control arms, because one ball joint had been tacked in place on my oem arms.

RMS adjustable strut rods, because mine were bent.

Reinforced lower control arms, plates from Mancini welded on, with moog strut rod bushing replaced, and moog lower ball joints.

MP .920 torsion bars, to stiffen the front up.

Hellwig front sway bar, super easy to install.

I also added Mancini XHD rear springs, with a Hellwig sway bar.

Car handles decent alot of improvement over the wore out components that were under it, for not alot of money spent, I did all the work myself with basic hand tools.
 
I went thru the front end on my 73 duster, and ended up doing the following, because of wore / bent old parts.

RMS tubular upper control arms, because one ball joint had been tacked in place on my oem arms.

RMS adjustable strut rods, because mine were bent.

Reinforced lower control arms, plates from Mancini welded on, with moog strut rod bushing replaced, and moog lower ball joints.

MP .920 torsion bars, to stiffen the front up.

Hellwig front sway bar, super easy to install.

I also added Mancini XHD rear springs, with a Hellwig sway bar.

Car handles decent alot of improvement over the wore out components that were under it, for not alot of money spent, I did all the work myself with basic hand tools.
I will chk it out.. about what did you spend?? And is your car nice and tight..or would you like it to be more??
 
Yes it is nice and tight, I also replace the steering box, tie rod ends, shocks, idler arm and pitman arm.

I did this a few years ago, so what it cost me then, is kinda irrelevant because as we know everything goes up as the years go by.

But I guess it was less than $1500.00 for an entire suspension rebuild/upgrade.
 
Yes it is nice and tight, I also replace the steering box, tie rod ends, shocks, idler arm and pitman arm.

I did this a few years ago, so what it cost me then, is kinda irrelevant because as we know everything goes up as the years go by.

But I guess it was less than $1500.00 for an entire suspension rebuild/upgrade.
Wow that's great..I'm definitely going to chk out your set up..thanks so much!!
 
Just keep it simple, and stick to well known vendors, your front end will end up fine.
I used Moog components in everything, KYB shocks, and proven parts from vendors.
Steer-n-gear in Ohio is awesome to deal with for steering boxes.
 
I
Just keep it simple, and stick to well known vendors, your front end will end up fine.
I used Moog components in everything, KYB shocks, and proven parts from vendors.
Steer-n-gear in Ohio is awesome to deal with for steering boxes.
really appreciate your input..did the steering box make a difference or did you replace it because it was bad
 
Also, Mancini sells a really good set of tools to rebuild the front end of these old cars.
The tool to remove the lower control arm pivot bushing and is really slick and works great.
 
Get the PST catalog... and take advantage of the forabodiesonly discount. You are in New York so Bergman Auto Craft might be a good place to try.
 
There are couple of ways to achieve your goal. The tubular arms that we sell as well at the others have been corrected to help achieve better alignment and are strong than the stock stamped steel arm. If you really want to fine tune then go with the adjustable upper control arms. If you are price conscious I would suggest cleaning up your original control arm and installing Moogs offset problem solver bushings. This will correct your caster and camber issue on the cheap.

Thanks
James From
PST Marketing
 
There are couple of ways to achieve your goal. The tubular arms that we sell as well at the others have been corrected to help achieve better alignment and are strong than the stock stamped steel arm. If you really want to fine tune then go with the adjustable upper control arms. If you are price conscious I would suggest cleaning up your original control arm and installing Moogs offset problem solver bushings. This will correct your caster and camber issue on the cheap.

Thanks
James From
PST Marketing
Will be looking into both options
 
So I've put this info out there a few times, the last time was a over a year ago so I'm sure some of the prices have changed (again). But the part numbers should be good. This is more for a handling type set up, it's more than you need for a weekend driver and goes well beyond your basic suspension rebuild. But if you have to rebuild the whole suspension anyway, it's not actually going to cost a ton more, and you'll handle much better. Most of the expensive stuff you're talking about already- tubular UCA's and sway bars for example. And some stuff, like the torsion bars, should be replaced even for a most basic stock rebuild (they're 45+ years old!). And since the TVS has been thrown out there as an option, I might as well list everything.

The Hotchkis TVS is a great set up for handling. The only issues I have with it is that it doesn't include everything you need (no torsion bars, no shocks, etc) and it includes a few things that you really don't need (heim jointed UCA's, steering links), and it's pretty pricey.

For the price of the TVS, you can get components that will pretty much do everything the Hotchkis set up will do and take care of the "missing" parts...

1.03 (or bigger) torsion bars ------------------------$250-$355
Tubular UCA’s (PST, FFI, etc)------------------------$350
Adjustable strut rods (PST SR 14385)---------------$279
Solid tie rod sleeves (PST SAS 440S)----------------$49
LCA boxing plate (PST LCAPLTMOP621)-------------$14.50
Greasable LCA pins (FFI w bushings)----------------$135

Helwig tubular front sway bar 1 1/8” #55905 (73+ K)--$175
Solid rear 3/4” #6907--------------------------------$237

Mopar oval track springs
Zero arch- P4529414---------------------------------------------$232
1" arch- P4529415

Energy suspension 1" shackle bushings 2-2117G----$9

Bilstein RCD shocks(RCD-70-56663)------------------$410

Grand total on that is about $2,300, that's got a little extra built in depending on where you shop and what you buy.

That's basically the entire set up that I run on my Duster. I didn't get all of those exact parts, my strut rods aren't from PST, I'm running Hotchkis Fox shocks, my UCA's are fully adjustable SPC arms from BergmanAutoCraft, I run Delrin LCA bushings from Bergman Autocraft, my torsion bars are 1.12" and from Firm Feel (FFI), etc. But it will set you up with a great handling car. Don't get me wrong, the Hotchkis set up is VERY nice. They make quality parts. Probably a little lighter, definitely a little sexier. But, you'd still need torsion bars and shocks. The other thing is that after running Hotchkis UCA's on my Challenger with heim joints, I wouldn't run heim joint UCA's again on the street. Mine wore out after 7k miles. Hotchkis replaced them at no cost and provided boots (great service!!!), but after another 7-8k miles I'm starting to notice some extra clicking coming out of the front end again. The heims would be fine on a track car or even a weekend car, but for a frequent driver you're going to be replacing the heims more often than I'd care to. Bushings work just fine and last much longer, they're a better choice at the UCA.

Some of the stuff may seem like extra, but isn't really. Adjustable strut rods, for example. If you run poly or Delrin LCA bushings, you need adjustable strut rods because those LCA bushings don't have all the flex needed for the stock non-adjustable arms, the strut rod length has to be spot on and the factory one's aren't. The Bilstein shocks- yeah, they're expensive. But if you go over 1" with your torsion bars, KYB's are atrocious. I mean, they're really, really awful. You don't need adjustable UCA's like I've got, but tubular UCA's will get your more caster than you can get with offset bushings and stock arms. That's an ok set up if you're just talking about a weekend cruiser, but if you drive hard you'll probably want more than +3 on the caster and you won't get that with just offset bushings.

The only things I'd add other than what I've got listed above are subframe connecters, torque boxes, and a good modern alignment, say -.5* up to -1* camber, +3 to +5 caster (manual to power), and about 1/16" toe in. None of that is included with the TVS either, but chassis stiffening is a very important part of improving handling on these cars.
 
-
Back
Top