G body tubular control arm setup

[blue_eyes4dss]

I am in the process of rebuilding my entire front end with Tubular upper and lower control arms from "Gbodyparts.com" . I have them installed and connected to the stock spindles. By looking at it, something does not seem right. The old stock upper control arms have a bit of drop from the ball joint to the shaft that connects up to the frame. The new tubular control arms are even with the top of the ball joint to the shaft. Does this matter?

The old upper control arms had a bump stop that came in contact with the frame when the car was lifted off the wheels. The new tubular control arms rub up against the frame near the rear of the control arms........does this seem normal? I figured the shock would prevent travel, but that does seem like a lot of load for the shock to control. Doesn't matter because the upper tubular control arm makes contact with the frame before the shock is fully extended.

Has anybody ever installed this setup with any problems/Success?
Any input would be greatly appriciated.

 

[charlief1]

Sounds like you may have reversed the control arms. Pics would be helpful.

 

[blue_eyes4dss]

I put the control arms on in the position the old ones came off. Seems simple enough. The upper control arms are installed with the ball joint positioned more to the front of the car. Meaning the shorter part of the tubular control arm is towards the front. And the longer part of the tubular control arm is more rearward of the car. I'll get some pictures, I closed up for the night. Do you know where I can find some pictures to see?

 

[Duts87ss]

Did you use lowering springs in your rebuild?

 

[blue_eyes4dss]

Stock springs. Gbodyparts lower tubular control arms and upper tubular control arms. Stock spindles. The way the upper control arm is situated is ball joint place more towards the front. I'll have to take picture when I get a chance today.

Does the shock limit lower control arm travel when jacked up, or would the bump stop on the old upper control arm have prevented it?

 

[charlief1]

The bump stop is the drop limit for the control arms not the shocks. Remember you haven't loaded the chasis yet so I'd put the tires on and see where they sit when on the ground.

 

[Boost231]

if all else fails send them to me and i will put them on my car. good luck as those uppers and lowers are awsome i just cant afford them right now

 

[WeSS]

G body parts control arms

I seen them in person and they are super nice. I want a set for my car very soon.

 

[blue_eyes4dss]

Well it's always that option when you put aftermarket "performance" parts on things will not look quite right. And you start questioning things. The old upper control arms had a bump stop that would limit control arm travel when you jack the car up on the frame. Since these new upper tubular control arms do not have a bump stop, I seem to be questioning what prevents the control arm travel. Does the shock extend out to it's limit and act as a limiter where the bump stop used to?

I had noticed geometry (that thing you loved in high school, but only really appriciated when applied it to your car) of the upper tubular control arm in cunjunction with the upper ball joint locks the assembly from traveling any further down, kinda doing what the bump stop on the old stock control arms would do. Does that make sense????

It's not a big issue but the upper control arm makes contact with the frame on the driver side, but does not seem to have any clearance issues with the passenger side.

I would attach a picture but it looks like it might be task. Need to find a place to upload to before I can attach it, but I'll work on it.

 

[Duts87ss]

My SPC adjustable uppers contact the frame when at full jounce also. This will not be a problem unless you are pulling the front tires off the ground during a launch at the track; if so, you will need to somehow attatch the lower arm and the frame together with cable or chain to prevent bending your new upper control arms.

As mentioned above, once the car has been rolled a bit, the suspension will settle. But with the ball joint being higher in relation to the stock setup, it seems that the suspension is already settled more so than stock. Maybe the spring pockets in the new arms are lower than stock.

 

[Nasty]

I did just the uppers, and I first questioned the way they looked. Once its on the ground and driven-it looks ok.

 

[blue_eyes4dss]

With your car on the ground, was the dust boot on the upper control in contact with the spindle? I'm seeing a 1/2 inch gap.