I am in the middle of a disk brake swap and want to upgrade the UCAs to tubular with big ball joints. Firm Feel, Reilly MS, QA1 are all about the same price. Any others to consider? Any recommendations on what to buy?
1968 Barracuda Upper Control Arms
- Thread starter Haney
- Start date
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I can say that the straight tube design of QA1 is just ok. The ears on the frame rail will need to be trimmed to get adequate travel and even still the rear tube will ultimately bottom against the frame. Arms with heim joints seem to clear better. Although I dont know because I've never had any!
you're cutting the frame for clearance either way, but i'd give the nod to FF knowing that they're mopar specific and the QC is going to likely be a little tighter than everybody else.
if a tubular upper isn't fully adjustable it's not going to do much more than a factory arm with offset bushings other than lighten your wallet.
if a tubular upper isn't fully adjustable it's not going to do much more than a factory arm with offset bushings other than lighten your wallet.
Pretty much all tubular arms, bushings or heims or whatever, will require some trimming of the UCA mounts, like this
Those mounts aren’t 100% uniform, the amount of extra material varies from car to car so some cars need more trimming than others to get the same result.
Depending on the shape of the UCA you may also need to move the upper bump stop, not all of the tubular UCA’s will contact the stock bump stop in the stock location and if it doesn’t that can lead to hard parts coming together.
Heims are also not a good choice on the street IMHO, I was only getting 7-10k miles out of them when I was running Hotchkis UCA’s on my Challenger. Which just means changing them and a new alignment quite frequently if you’re logging some miles.
Not all of the tubular UCA’s have the same amount of offset built in, from some of the alignment specs I’ve seen here the QA1’s aren’t much better than offset bushings, so probably only a few degrees built in. I think Firm Feel builds in more like 4° more IIRC. Plus, they have been making quality stuff for decades.
Another option would be the adjustable SPC UCA’s, I know Peter Bergman is selling the GenI SPC’s again. They’re more expensive than the non adjustable options but the adjustability is nice to have, especially if you’re planning a more aggressive handling build or pro-touring type set up with wide front tires that will need more positive caster.
Those mounts aren’t 100% uniform, the amount of extra material varies from car to car so some cars need more trimming than others to get the same result.
Depending on the shape of the UCA you may also need to move the upper bump stop, not all of the tubular UCA’s will contact the stock bump stop in the stock location and if it doesn’t that can lead to hard parts coming together.
Heims are also not a good choice on the street IMHO, I was only getting 7-10k miles out of them when I was running Hotchkis UCA’s on my Challenger. Which just means changing them and a new alignment quite frequently if you’re logging some miles.
Not all of the tubular UCA’s have the same amount of offset built in, from some of the alignment specs I’ve seen here the QA1’s aren’t much better than offset bushings, so probably only a few degrees built in. I think Firm Feel builds in more like 4° more IIRC. Plus, they have been making quality stuff for decades.
Another option would be the adjustable SPC UCA’s, I know Peter Bergman is selling the GenI SPC’s again. They’re more expensive than the non adjustable options but the adjustability is nice to have, especially if you’re planning a more aggressive handling build or pro-touring type set up with wide front tires that will need more positive caster.
Awesome info! Thank you
cudamark
Well-Known Member
If it's just a street cruiser, get the factory '73-6 A-body arms and offset bushings. No cutting or modifying needed.
Dave999
Well-Known Member
i know two people who have these and have not a bad word to say about them
SPC Performance Mopar A/B/E Body Adjustable Upper Control Arms (Pair)
cost would be my first thought....
Dave
SPC Performance Mopar A/B/E Body Adjustable Upper Control Arms (Pair)
cost would be my first thought....
Dave
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