Story goes something like this:
Researched upper a-arms for doing a BBP disc conversion on my '69 Dart and found tubular CroMo on eBay for not much more than what people wanted for a set of stock big ball-joint arms. Plus they claimed to improve the caster among other things. So I took the plunge and got them...although not without me trying to negotiate the best deal the vendor could stand. Their response to one of my emails:
"--- On Tue, 2/2/10, <[email protected]> wrote:
From: <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Mopar HP Upper Control Arms 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 DART
To:
Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2010, 2:26 PM
Hello,
These arms are welded by NASCAR technicians to provide positive geometry in a suspension that badly needs it, and yet they still accept the stock ball joints and bushings. If you can find anything of this quality and convenience for anywhere near that price, be sure to let us know."
(ooooo..."NASCAR techs") Ok so I got them. Now I get around to assembling and installing them... finally. While trying to figure out the totally unmarked arms as to which side they go on, I saw something and asked about it:
[FONT="]"From:[/FONT]
[FONT="]Sent: Monday, February 06, 2012 9:18 AM[/FONT]
[FONT="]To: [/FONT]
[FONT="]Subject: Re: Mopar HP Upper Control Arms 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 DART[/FONT]
Hello,
I am now getting around to installing these upper control arms in my Dart. I have noticed some mismatching between passenger and driver side arms. It looks as if the ball joint mounts are off ~1/8" - either one arm is short overall or the other is too long as measured from the bushing centerline. I know your arms improve the caster/camber, but should they not essentially be mirror images of each other?
Thanks,
Nathan"
The vendor's rather prompt response:
"RE: Mopar HP Upper Control Arms 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 DART
Monday, February 6, 2012 7:44 PM
From:
"Customer Service Ebay" <ebay@ .com>
Add sender to Contacts
To:
"'Nathan DeLauder'" <natenaboo@yahoo.com>
[FONT="]Nathan: thanks for emailing us! Glad you are getting the project moving along. You should not have any issues if one is 1/8 off from the other. That can be caused by cooling from the welding process or any number of factors. Definitely have an alignment done and that amount can be adjusted for with the cam bolts.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Thanks again! Keep us posted on how it goes."[/FONT]
Ok. Now static camber might be fixed with the cam bolts, but what about when my suspension compresses? One side will travel a different arc than the other which can give too much or too little camber gain. Or would this show only in very "spirited" cornering? I look at them again and the caster improvement doesn't quite match side to side either, although not by as much as the arm length. Either side is an improvement nonetheless. Thoughts? Is this going to be a nightmare to align with a mishmash of regular and offset bushings?
