Making my own upper control arms

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Wow. Did it take a long time to learn weld like that? Looks like a lot of welding, how long does it take to build a set?

B.
 
Wow. Did it take a long time to learn weld like that? Looks like a lot of welding, how long does it take to build a set?

B.

Welding the lower control arms take a couple of hours, because you don't want to overheat the metal. All of these are welded in a jig so they are the same and nothing moves. The bent upper control arms take quite a while mocking up, just because of all of the different angles involved.
 
Hi John, nice work on those uppers!!

I'm only around 9.5hrs from you, I may have to make a trip to visit this Summer when I get the work done on the Valiant.
 
Now I am working on making both styles of uppers with a small ball joint. These should be popular.
 

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You guys did a better job than I did.
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Here is what I have been working on. Keep in mind that this is the very first set. These have an extra 5 degrees of positive caster engineered into them and use a factory style rubber bushing that I will press in. My plan is to run an ad in Mopar Muscle within the next couple of months selling these for $200 with bushings and ball joint in bare metal and $230 powder coated. That is $100 cheaper than any other manufacturer. I actually mocked these up on my coilover setup on my Barracuda and they cleared the coilovers, who would have thought?
You do amazing work Baddart, I would recommend the rubber bushings, I don't have them on my tubular UCLs and they send a ton of road noise through the body. Unless your road racing it gets old after a while. I was planning on going back to the stock UCLs till I saw these. Now you have me thinking!
 
You do amazing work Baddart, I would recommend the rubber bushings, I don't have them on my tubular UCLs and they send a ton of road noise through the body. Unless your road racing it gets old after a while. I was planning on going back to the stock UCLs till I saw these. Now you have me thinking!

Thanks
 
Now I am working on making both styles of uppers with a small ball joint. These should be popular.

john,,,i have a set that looks just like these,,from one of the first builders of our suspension parts,,,exception is i have to run very small coil over,,,was told orignally that a normal size ciol over would work,,,,but nope,,and this was 12 years ago,,,no refund,,,at that time he was the only one out there,,,i dont think he sells much these days,,,,i may be intrested in a set of these,,,,i just dont remember what the built in caster is on mine,,
 
john,,,i have a set that looks just like these,,from one of the first builders of our suspension parts,,,exception is i have to run very small coil over,,,was told orignally that a normal size ciol over would work,,,,but nope,,and this was 12 years ago,,,no refund,,,at that time he was the only one out there,,,i dont think he sells much these days,,,,i may be intrested in a set of these,,,,i just dont remember what the built in caster is on mine,,

The straight bar uppers are for torsion bars, but the bent ones have plenty of room for a coilover. I added the positive caster so guys don't have to use an offset bushing.
 
The straight bar uppers are for torsion bars, but the bent ones have plenty of room for a coilover. I added the positive caster so guys don't have to use an offset bushing.

john your striaght arm uppers look like they will work with a coil over also,,
 
May I make a suggestion? Research whatever legalities you need to protect yourself and the consumer. I remember a hiccup a few years back where a CAP set (if memory serves, searched but couldn't find) broke where the arm connected to the bushings. Sound and appears you have plenty of skill and talent, but some type of liability insurance would be wise. If a failure causes Joe Consumer's car to wipe out another car, I am quite sure insurance companies will be looking for someone else to fit the bill.
 
May I make a suggestion? Research whatever legalities you need to protect yourself and the consumer. I remember a hiccup a few years back where a CAP set (if memory serves, searched but couldn't find) broke where the arm connected to the bushings. Sound and appears you have plenty of skill and talent, but some type of liability insurance would be wise. If a failure causes Joe Consumer's car to wipe out another car, I am quite sure insurance companies will be looking for someone else to fit the bill.

John,This is a really good idea. It may raise the cost of your product some,but at least you will be insured against stupidity,lol...
 
May I make a suggestion? Research whatever legalities you need to protect yourself and the consumer. I remember a hiccup a few years back where a CAP set (if memory serves, searched but couldn't find) broke where the arm connected to the bushings. Sound and appears you have plenty of skill and talent, but some type of liability insurance would be wise. If a failure causes Joe Consumer's car to wipe out another car, I am quite sure insurance companies will be looking for someone else to fit the bill.

C.Y.A.
Maybe do some random destructive batch testing and/or X-ray of welds to show weld integrity/penetration.
 
I hear what you guys are saying. Hmmm we have a 30 ton hydraulic press at work. I think the I will have some fun tonight on one of my arms. I will post the results. What are your thoughts?
 
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