G body parts upper control arms

[scojack_2001]

Good reading here. Im about to install my set I got a while back. Been meaning to look into the longer ball joint info.

 

[Rodney87GN]

Charlie that is correct you mount it under the a-arm.

Rodney the nuts on the ball joint if you bought them from us are locking nuts. Usually with plastic in them. Sorry to hear what happened.

Brian, the ball joints were Moogs that I picked up from the local parts store.

One other thing I can add on ball joint position. You were very lucky on the bolts coming out Rod. Most of these get the ball joint mounted on the bottom to help with the camber curve, not in the stock manor.

I would also like to add that although mounting the BJ on the bottom of the upper arm does help with the curve, I NEVER DO IT!!!! It is a major safety concern becuase of instinces as stated above. If you mount them on the bottom and loose your nuts "", your car is done! Or yourself and your family for that matter.

To be honest I wasn't exactly sure which side of the arm the ball joint would go so I just copied the factory mounting. I did not know the camber would be affected by mounting the BJ on top of the arm.

Looking back I guess I'm glad I mounted it "wrong". The only thing that was holding the upper arm to the spindle was the tapered part of the ball joint. It tore up the ball joint really good and made some really nice clunky noises on the way home. But at least I made it!

 

[84SFIGN]

Could someone please share a part number or correct application for the tall ball joint? I have some credit at the parts store I need to burn up.

 

[charlief1]

It's not something you can get through a normal parts store. You have to get it from a racing supplier like Speedway motors or Day motorsports. I don't know if Brian has them or not.

 

[Bweavy]

It's not something you can get through a normal parts store. You have to get it from a racing supplier like Speedway motors or Day motorsports. I don't know if Brian has them or not.

We have them on our site but not by themselves. I'll dig up a Moog part # for the taller ball joints. Here is a UMI set up with the taller ball joint just so you can see the picture.
http://www.gbodyparts.com/product_info.php?products_id=1512&osCsid=24a85b1e17aa67a3c7be8e9cc2a11c18
I just checked we are getting them from pro-forged not Moog.

 

[charlief1]

Thanks Brian. I wasn't sure if you had them or not, and the pro-forged are good units.

 

[scojack_2001]

Gonna order them sometime this week hopefully.

Brian, do you stock them? Need to pick up a few other things as well.

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

More questions. I'm seeing a thread where someone mounted these and they didn't line up correctly. Are these built to the exact same geometry as our factory control arms? And why are the ball joints mounted under instead of the more traditional way on these? And what would happen if I mounted them normally? Do these give me more clearance for the down pipe?

 

[VtheGNMan]

Search for Speedway arms on here. This will have all the needed info along with part numbers.
Been running Speedways myself for a couple years. Great arms.

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

Holy shit there's a lot of crap that people are doing to get these "drop in" arms to actually work. Wow.

 

[VtheGNMan]

I bolted mine right on. ( Speedways)
Put the ball joints on the correct sides and everything. Cars lowered too. No big thang.

 

[mommasGN]

Just installed mine this morning along with blazer brakes. Very nice looking pieces and bolted right on.

 

[ttypewhite]

Nothing but good things to say about Brian and these upper and lower control arms. Very nice fit and finish, easy to install and works well.

 

[Ttype6]

These control arms are meant to be used with taller spindles or taller ball joints. They also require a shock that can be used as a travel limiter/bump stop. If after assembly,you jack the front of the car up off of the jack stands the control arms will rotate downward. If these arms are allowed to rotate downward with no travel limiters,the upper ball joints will rotate to their maximum degrees of articulation and bind. It will be this bind that stops any more upward travel of the front end and the force that this puts on the ball joints will try to pry the balls out of their sockets. This is a very bad thing.

Mounting the upper ball joints to the bottoms of the upper control arms does nothing to move the camber curve toward a more negative curve and,for obvious reasons,is extremely dangerous.
It is the imaginary line between the centers of the control arm shafts and the centers of the balls of the ball joints that determines the camber curve. To change the camber curve,you must move the shafts downward and or move the ball joints upward with taller spindles or taller ball joints. When you mount the joints to the bottoms of the control arms,you haven't moved the ball joints up or down. You've moved the control arms upward. The angle of the imaginary line from the centers of the balls of the ball joints to the centers of the shafts is unchanged by this mounting style.

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

See why I don't want any funny stuff that varies too far from factory? Too much weird shit. Just looking for tubular arms that replicate the exact geometry of the factory stuff.

 

[Ttype6]

See why I don't want any funny stuff that varies too far from factory? Too much weird shit. Just looking for tubular arms that replicate the exact geometry of the factory stuff.

The factory geometry is horrible and is not worth duplicating. Every G body can benefit from taller upper and lower ball joints. Proforged upper and lower joints get the job done. Using a 1/2" taller lower joint raises the upper ball join 1/2",gets rid of most of the bump steer,and lowers the car 1/2". Adding 1/2" longer upper joints raises the upper ball joints another 1/2" for a total upward movement of 1". This makes a big improvement toward a negative camber curve and that is a good thing. Then you could use the upper control arms with bump stops that G Body sells or you could use these.

http://www.spohn.net/shop/1978-1987...y-Tubular-Upper-A-Arms-Tall-Spindle-Swap.html

 

[mommasGN]

So they do require taller upper ball joints? I saw nothing on the website about this when I ordered and there was no paperwork that came with them. I just installed them on Tuesday. I noticed they were at full bind and I had to put a jack under the lower arm to get even close to getting the nut started.

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

The factory geometry is horrible and is not worth duplicating. Every G body can benefit from taller upper and lower ball joints. Proforged upper and lower joints get the job done. Using a 1/2" taller lower joint raises the upper ball join 1/2",gets rid of most of the bump steer,and lowers the car 1/2". Adding 1/2" longer upper joints raises the upper ball joints another 1/2" for a total upward movement of 1". This makes a big improvement toward a negative camber curve and that is a good thing. Then you could use the upper control arms with bump stops that G Body sells or you could use these.

http://www.spohn.net/shop/1978-1987...y-Tubular-Upper-A-Arms-Tall-Spindle-Swap.html

Factory stuff sometimes doesn't even fit lol. When you start changing stuff around like this all sorts of other stuff starts getting affected. Maybe factory geometry isn't worth duplicating but as of now, I KNOW it fits, and I know it works. My car doesn't bumpsteer anyhow. I don't autocross the car. The only reason I was looking at some tubulars is that they offer a bit more clearance by the downpipe Nothing else really needs to change on my car. It works ok as it is.

 

[Ttype6]

So they do require taller upper ball joints?

To use them the way they were meant to be used,they need taller upper and lower joints or taller uppers or taller spindles. If you use just a 1" taller upper,because you don't want your car to sit lower,you'll move the camber curve toward negative but won't help bump steer. There is another way to fix bump steer.

I just installed them on Tuesday. I noticed they were at full bind and I had to put a jack under the lower arm to get even close to getting the nut started.

If you drag race this car and leave hard enough to put the ball joints in the situation I described earlier,what will happen?
If you go fast enough over a hill on the road/what will happen?

 

[Ttype6]

Factory stuff sometimes doesn't even fit lol. When you start changing stuff around like this all sorts of other stuff starts getting affected.

Whenever you negotiate any turn with your car,because of the geometry of the front suspension on G bodies,your suspension moves the tires into a position that hinders the turn you are trying to make. If you do the modification I've described,your suspension will move the tires into a position that helps the car turn. This means you can get away with less spring and less sway bar and still have a car that can level out a corner pretty well. When your suspension fights the turn you are trying to make,it does it when the control arms move during the turn. To stop the crappy suspension geometry from hindering your turn,you need to hinder the apward and downward movement of the control arms. This is typically accomplished buy using stronger springs and sway bar. This leads to a more harsh ride. If you like the ride comfort of your car currently, it will still ride the same after the modifications I've described but will turn better with less steering input.

My car doesn't bumpsteer anyhow.

If you have the factory style outer tie rods and the factory spindles,you have bump steer.

It works ok as it is.

The suspension is designed in a fashion that purposely hinders any turn you try to make so that you are less likely to cause the car to spin out. The engineers purposely put the suspension geometry into a position that moves it away from working OK.