upper control arm question?

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Butch67

Butch67

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I have a 71 Dart.
I am going to be changing to the BBP front disk brakes from the SBP front disk brakes.
Is going with the stock (73 and newer) upper control arms the easiest/most cost effective?
Or is changing over to the tublar style the better thing to do?
It's not that cost is no object, but having better equipment is more important to me.
Also i hear that staying with mopar rotars and calipers makes getting parts easier from the corner napa store then buy Wilwood kits, any advice there too?
Thanks.
 
I think the biggest thing between tubular UCA's and the stock, stamped UCA's is the clearance the tubulars give you for wider rims (think like 9" wide). If you're planning on running stock, or only slightly larger than stock rims and tires then a set of 73+ UCA's with the Moog 7103 offset bushings will get you the alignment numbers you want. The other thing worth mentioning is that I would stay away from UCA's with heim joints on anything less than a race car. The heims just wear out too fast on the street, unless you really enjoy changing them all the time and get alignments.

As far as the brakes, again, for a street car the 73+ disks will work great. You could also go with a set of 11.75" rotors from the later B/R body cars, they fit on the 73+ spindles, use the same calipers, and just use a different set of caliper brackets (which you can get from Dr. Diff). They work awesome, I've been running them on my Challenger for years now. But they do require 15" rims. For a street car I don't think Wilwood's are necessary, especially if you're going to go with anything under a 12" diameter rotor. And if you are planning on larger brakes, the 13" rotor kits that Dr. Diff sells are great. His "cobra style" kit also uses "off the shelf" parts except for the hubs, and a pattern redrill on the rotors, but caliper parts, pads, and all that are readily available. The rotors can be sourced locally too you just need to redrill the bolt pattern. But those require at least 17" rims.
 
Butch67 said:
I have a 71 Dart.
I am going to be changing to the BBP front disk brakes from the SBP front disk brakes.
Is going with the stock (73 and newer) upper control arms the easiest/most cost effective?
Or is changing over to the tublar style the better thing to do?
It's not that cost is no object, but having better equipment is more important to me.
Also i hear that staying with mopar rotars and calipers makes getting parts easier from the corner napa store then buy Wilwood kits, any advice there too?
Thanks.
Click to expand...

I've thought about this very question and have decided to go with Firm Feels upper tubular control arms, "We build in extra positive caster for improved stability". I figure this way, I can have the bushing in the center of the rubber and get all the positive caster my "Road Racer" front end guy says I should have. I'm also going with the 76 Cordoba 11.73 drilled and slotted rotors. All this on a 67 Barracuda. I've been running the 73 up style discs since the mid 70's and have no complaints, big or small.
 
Good, high quality tubular control arms will also have the ball joint socket repositioned for additional caster. You will want to contact whichever brand's manufacturer to make sure.
 
I just installed a set of SPC fully adjustable upper control arms on my '69 Barracuda and they worked out great!! I had already swapped over to LBP 70s disc brakes. Lots of adjustment and I was able to get my car to the ride height I wanted.

Treblig
 
Treblig said:
I just installed a set of SPC fully adjustable upper control arms on my '69 Barracuda and they worked out great!! I had already swapped over to LBP 70s disc brakes. Lots of adjustment and I was able to get my car to the ride height I wanted.

Treblig
Click to expand...

the spc arms are fully adjustable, do you loose the cam adjustment too? i notice they come wit new hardware and am wondering if they just center out in the upper control arm mount and all the justifiability is in the arm itself?
 
The Moog 7103 offset bushings actually allow for a decent amount of caster if they're set up properly.

Most of the tubular arms do build in more than you can get with the offsets, but if you're just looking for a street car with decent handling manners the tubulars aren't really necessary. You should be able to set the car up pretty easily at -.5* camber, +3* caster and 1/16" toe in with stock UCA's and offset bushings. And if you have manual steering you probably won't want a ton more than +3* caster anyway. Now, if you have power you can go +5* caster or more, and for that you would need the tubular UCA's.
 
Thanks everyone.
I appreciate the info and help.
Looks like tublar is the way to go.
Now to choose which one.
Thanks again,
 
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