Tubular Upper Control Arm Vendors

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clementine said:
When I was going through the forum archives, it seems that the theme was to use rubber on the LCA. No?
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Depends on your application. I have poly LCA bushings on all of my cars at the moment, I think they work great as long as they're installed correctly and used with adjustable strut rods. But they have to fit the old bushings shells well and because they aren't the same as the rubber bushings I think the adjustable strut rods are a needed item if you go poly (or delrin for that matter). I also use greasable pivot pins that are designed to be used with poly bushings (no inner shell needed on the pin).I haven't installed the set of Delrin bushings I have from Peter yet, they'll definitely have even less give than the poly bushings and I like that they don't need the old bushings shells. But I would still use them with new pins without a step for the inner shell and adjustable strut rods.

For a street car where you intend to re-use the stock components like the pins and strut rods I think the OE rubber style bushings are probably better, mostly because of the strut rods. But I'm not a fan of the stock strut rods, especially with aftermarket suspension parts. And I don't use rubber LCA bushings either.
 
72bluNblu said:
Depends on your application. I have poly LCA bushings on all of my cars at the moment, I think they work great as long as they're installed correctly and used with adjustable strut rods. But they have to fit the old bushings shells well and because they aren't the same as the rubber bushings I think the adjustable strut rods are a needed item if you go poly (or delrin for that matter). I also use greasable pivot pins that are designed to be used with poly bushings (no inner shell needed on the pin).I haven't installed the set of Delrin bushings I have from Peter yet, they'll definitely have even less give than the poly bushings and I like that they don't need the old bushings shells. But I would still use them with new pins without a step for the inner shell and adjustable strut rods.

For a street car where you intend to re-use the stock components like the pins and strut rods I think the OE rubber style bushings are probably better, mostly because of the strut rods. But I'm not a fan of the stock strut rods, especially with aftermarket suspension parts. And I don't use rubber LCA bushings either.
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My delrins require the inner shell only. Poly bushings require inner and outer. Delrin is superior to urethane and used in many high performance OE applications.
 
Thanks for the input fellas! I'm risking the rubber even though I agree that it probably is not as quality as the 70s rubber. I'll do a poly bushing on the strut as some have suggested on the past forums. I know there will be more deflection than the other materials.

Appreciate it.
 
GMachineDartGT said:
My delrins require the inner shell only. Poly bushings require inner and outer. Delrin is superior to urethane and used in many high performance OE applications.
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They make aftermarket pivot pins that don't have the step down for the inner shell to be pressed on for use with poly bushings. No inner shell needed with those, they already have the correct diameter without it. I use the greasable pivots that are also available with poly bushings, no inner shell needed and the pin is the proper diameter so everything fits as intended.

Standard (non-greasable)
mancini-racing-lower-control-arm-pivot-poly-23.gif

Mancini Racing Lower Control Arm Pivot, Poly

And greasable for use with poly bushings (so you don't have to worry about them squeaking!)
lower_control_arm_pins_chrysler.JPG

Firmfeel Mopar Suspension and Steering
 
I haven't had the best of luck with aftermarket pins. Im sure all the shaft dimensions are all over the place. Aftermarket pins a not necessary. Delrin doesn't squeek either.
 
We sell both types of pivot shafts ( OE and Greasables) The OE or none greasable are made back to factory specs and are machined here in the USA. The greasables are made with the bushing end over sized so that you do not need to use and inner sleeve. Both are types of shafts are made to OE specs for a precise fit in the k member and are one of our most popular items.

Thanks
James
 
Still looking for some adjustable upper control arms for a 67 Barracuda with the factory 4 piston disc brake set-up. I am needing adjustable brcause i have negative caster even with the offset bushings because of my higher ride height. I would like to stay away from heim joints as I will be using this for a lot of street driving. Seems that all the sites a pretty vague in the descriptions & photos.
 
NudeHemidude said:
Non-adjustable with bushed ends but extra caster is built into the design. They work well on my car.
Firmfeel Mopar Suspension and Steering
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I'm running my car about 5" taller than stock, in way out of adjustment with stock a-arms & offset bushings flipped opposite for increased caster & I'm still way negative. I have to have adjustable.

Those do look nice with gussets around the ball joint but they just won't work.
 
GRANCUDA said:
I'm running my car about 5" taller than stock, in way out of adjustment with stock a-arms & offset bushings flipped opposite for increased caster & I'm still way negative. I have to have adjustable.

Those do look nice with gussets around the ball joint but they just won't work.
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I went back and looked at your build thread to take a look at the ride height you're running. While I'm not sure you're anywhere near 5" over stock with the suspension, I see why you have issues. You have to be bottomed out on the bump stops or close to it. Honestly, I don't think you're going to have much luck finding a non-custom UCA to work for you.

Pretty much all of the UCA's on the market are designed for cars that are at stock ride height or lower. That's how they build in the geometry. On top of that, lowering these cars actually improves a lot of the geometry if you're going to an alignment for radial tires, so really the caster is the only thing you have to worry about. Raising the car like you've done definitely changes the geometry, but it's for the worse, not better. And it's not in a way that the tubular UCA's on the market are designed to fix. Just using a UCA with heims won't be a sure fix for that either. The heims are only designed for so much adjustability. You can only run that rear heim in until if bottoms out, and the front heim can only go out until you're reached the minimum number of threads left inside the UCA. I'm not sure that just buying adjustable arms will be enough to fully correct that geometry, it's not like they're infinitely adjustable. They're only designed for a certain range, and at their maximum they'll be adding a good amount of misalignment on those heims, so, you'll see faster wear.

Usually the offset bushings are good enough to get you to +3* or so of caster and a reasonable ride height. The non-adjustable tubular arms can be good for up to near +5* in most situations. And now let me tell you that I run the Hotchkis UCA's on my Challenger, and even with a fair amount of adjustment on a lowered car I'm only at +5* on that car as well. Now, that is an E-body and they are a little different, but realize that even the adjustable arms aren't designed to give you +10* caster. They're good for a couple more degrees, but thats about it.

If you're "way negative" with offset bushings, you may not do a lot better even with adjustable UCA's. That car needs to be lowered some or it will probably take custom made parts to put the right alignment on it.

35193618050_a119b85dc7_z_d-jpg.jpg
 
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