Making my own upper control arms

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Badart said:
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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good idea, but maybe should do a disclaimer for people who purchase these like a waiver or something. Not sure how other companies do it.
 
Here are the adjustable upper control arms.
 

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Well I ruined a perfectly good control arm to prove a point with my welds. Not one broken weld. Initially it got up to almost 15 tons, before it started folding up like it should. I thought about pressing it sideways, but it would just bend the tube. I wanted to press it where it would test all of the welds. Look how it bent that channel even with the tubes welded to the edges. You be the judge. Do they pass?
 

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Good Job, They pass! Nothing on the road/track is going to put 15 Tons of pressure on them unless you are in some type of collision. The suspension would eat alot of the hit if that happened. I bet even a Pull Test would rip the metal itself before it came loose at a weld.

Guys need to understand that Tig welding gets so dang HOT that it is almost Impossible NOT to get penetration. Super Strong is almost always in the equation.
 
Lol,yep I'll give em a pass too!! Poor upper arm looks like a pretzel..
 
Mad Dart said:
Good Job, They pass! Nothing on the road/track is going to put 15 Tons of pressure on them unless you are in some type of collision. The suspension would eat alot of the hit if that happened. I bet even a Pull Test would rip the metal itself before it came loose at a weld.

Guys need to understand that Tig welding gets so dang HOT that it is almost Impossible NOT to get penetration. Super Strong is almost always in the equation.
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I though about some kind of pull test too, but I don't have any way to put that kind of pressure on them safely. I think this test proves the point. I think that you would pull the frame rail out of the car before these would let go. :D

needsaresto said:
Lol,yep I'll give em a pass too!! Poor upper arm looks like a pretzel..
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Yeah the DOM tubing impressed me, no splitting.
 
What are the odds of an adjustable version that could use the stock style press in bushings?

That is a nice looking arm, makes me wonder what 15 tons would do to a stocker.
 
I hope you aren't sending me the one from the press... LOL

Looks good man.
 
mcnoople said:
What are the odds of an adjustable version that could use the stock style press in bushings?
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There are so many different variations that could be made, but I confuse myself if things get too complicated.

mcnoople said:
That is a nice looking arm, makes me wonder what 15 tons would do to a stocker.
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You can bend a stock set into a pretzel with a vice and a pipe wrench. Trust me. LOL

crackedback said:
I hope you aren't sending me the one from the press... LOL

Looks good man.
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Don't worry I will straighten them back out for you. This was one of the arms from the first set that I made. They didn't have enough positive caster and the ball joint angle was too steep.
 
Hey John,you know I love your product!! Please put me in line for a set of upper control arms eventually,lol..You may be surprised how soon I contact you for them. It all depends on my health improvements via my new diet blah blah..but if I can get back to work within a year I am going to reward myself with a pair of Badarts upper control arms!!

As for lower control arms well,I am a fan of torsion bars and am just re enforcing my stock lower control arms.
 
needsaresto said:
Hey John,you know I love your product!! Please put me in line for a set of upper control arms eventually,lol..You may be surprised how soon I contact you for them. It all depends on my health improvements via my new diet blah blah..but if I can get back to work within a year I am going to reward myself with a pair of Badarts upper control arms!!

As for lower control arms well,I am a fan of torsion bars and am just re enforcing my stock lower control arms.
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Sounds good Paul. I hope that you get to feeling better. Take care.
 
I thought I would post that now,as the past month has been a screaming success for me. Cant believe how much progress I've made in such a short amount of time.


Will be in touch John.
 
john, if i may ask, what is the selling price on the lowers, as i have not seen them till now, and also, how much are those supports that come off the shock tower?, and now need a price of what the uppers are going for?lol i do not even have a car close to being done, but want a complete setup for wall candy!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
i am also interested in a set, i think i want to go to coilovers soon, but not sure on the brand.

how much are we looking at for a set?
 
Hey John, if you intend to make a lot of the uppers, think about building a calibration rig for your jig. That way, you can check the jig in case it wanders out of tolerance over many uses.

By the way, I am all in for a set of uppers. I will PM you about it in a couple of weeks (just paid quarterly income taxes today and I'll be farting silently for a while).
 
I just got mine thursday and I am blown away with how nice they are. Great Job John !!!
 
FISHBREATH said:
Hey John, if you intend to make a lot of the uppers, think about building a calibration rig for your jig. That way, you can check the jig in case it wanders out of tolerance over many uses.

By the way, I am all in for a set of uppers. I will PM you about it in a couple of weeks (just paid quarterly income taxes today and I'll be farting silently for a while).
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It's funny because I have checked 3 different A bodies that I own with a set of calipers and they are all different. I mean like .100"+ so getting them where they fit all snug is not easy. I check every few on a cut up frame rail that I have in the shop. I am still working the bugs out of the non adjustable arms, but so far so good.

lucky13 said:
I just got mine thursday and I am blown away with how nice they are. Great Job John !!!
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Wow thanks
 
I compared them to a buddy's DSE upper arms for a Camaro. Let me tell you John, yours make them look bad. Even he was kind of upset!!
 
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