QA1 UCA and 17x8 wheels?

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Haven't done it, but I can definitely see where the QA1 design might be an issue for the higher offset 17" wheels. I have seen the QA1's in person and I think that picture kind of exaggerates how tall the lip is around the ball joint, but it can be a pretty tight fit at the top of the ball joint with wide 17's so anything would make the issue worse.

There's no reason that lip can't be taken down to the tops of the welds, so I don't know if I'd say running those wheels would be impossible. But it might require grinding down that lip flush with the tops of the welds, and I totally understand why you might not want to do that on a brand new set of UCA's. Especially if it's not guaranteed that it'll buy you enough clearance.

The other thing to consider is that the clearance there depends on a lot of things. I know on my Duster the zerk wouldn't be an issue even with 17's. These are 18x9's with about 27mm of offset. So, they should sit further inboard than a set of 17x8's with 30mm of offset (5.7" backspace vs 6.1"). These are my RPF1's, which actually have a pretty tall lip on the outside so they don't give the best clearance either. Better than 17's of course, but not as good as a lot of 18's. Anyway, you can see how the ball joint and zerk are angled back away from the rim, and where the raised section would sit would be well back from the rim.

IMG_3675.jpg


Like I said, these are 18's and a completely different set of UCA's so you can't really take that and say the QA1's would fit, but there are many different factors that control that clearance.
 
Haven't done it, but I can definitely see where the QA1 design might be an issue for the higher offset 17" wheels. I have seen the QA1's in person and I think that picture kind of exaggerates how tall the lip is around the ball joint, but it can be a pretty tight fit at the top of the ball joint with wide 17's so anything would make the issue worse.

There's no reason that lip can't be taken down to the tops of the welds, so I don't know if I'd say running those wheels would be impossible. But it might require grinding down that lip flush with the tops of the welds, and I totally understand why you might not want to do that on a brand new set of UCA's. Especially if it's not guaranteed that it'll buy you enough clearance.

The other thing to consider is that the clearance there depends on a lot of things. I know on my Duster the zerk wouldn't be an issue even with 17's. These are 18x9's with about 27mm of offset. So, they should sit further inboard than a set of 17x8's with 30mm of offset (5.7" backspace vs 6.1"). These are my RPF1's, which actually have a pretty tall lip on the outside so they don't give the best clearance either. Better than 17's of course, but not as good as a lot of 18's. Anyway, you can see how the ball joint and zerk are angled back away from the rim, and where the raised section would sit would be well back from the rim.

View attachment 1715284781

Like I said, these are 18's and a completely different set of UCA's so you can't really take that and say the QA1's would fit, but there are many different factors that control that clearance.

How do those look at full droop?

Hate to be the first one to try. I could gamble the cost of shipping and return them if need be, I guess.

One advantage I have is that my setup will include a stock rotor cut down to make a hub with a ‘98 Cobra rotor slid on, effectively giving me a spacer and reducing the backspacing by whatever the rotor thickness is at the hub.

Discovered today that the balljoint that was fighting me is cross threaded. So, while I was just looking at options in case I got too frustrated when I posted the question, now I have to decide if I want to find a replacement or just go direct to either these or the Firm Feel UCA’s.

I like that the FF arms appear to use stock bushings and as such, if I ever put enough miles on this car to need to rebuild the front end, it would all be fairly easy to procure.

:rofl:

At the same time, I have found the QA1’s for less than $300.

Started this expecting to only replace the bushing with offset ones, car doesn’t have enough miles to expect to need new UBJ’s. If I have to go aftermarket, I will be stuck with bushings, balljoints and a balljoint socket that I didn’t need, along with UCA bumpers (if I buy FF UCA’s).

Guess if life was easy, everyone would do it.
 
I'm running a 17x8 Torque Thrust 2 with the QA1 uppers. I'm pretty sure my backspacing is 4", or right around there. No clearance issues to the wheel. I don't have any pics, but if I remember I can snap one after work today.
 
I'm running a 17x8 Torque Thrust 2 with the QA1 uppers. I'm pretty sure my backspacing is 4", or right around there. No clearance issues to the wheel. I don't have any pics, but if I remember I can snap one after work today.

Appreciate it. The backspacing is about 1.5" less than my wheels, but a picture should be good info anyway.
 
Not the best pics, but there is about 3/4" of clearance between my wheel and UCA. I'm running an SSBC disc conversion up front, I dont know if that changed my WMS-WMS measurement at all. And I'm pretty sure they are 17x8 with 4" of BS.

20190213_194035.jpg


20190213_193944.jpg
 
Thanks for the pictures.

Tripped over this post with pictures of a 17x8 wheel with the same backspacing as mine. While the UCA's look like Firm Feel ones (I would reseach and verify, but can't right now), it does give a fair guess at how the QA1's would interface with my wheels.

Thanks all for the help.
 
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