F-Body International
02-11-2018, 10:02 AM
Anyone on this forum have experience with alignments and set up stock 2nd gen F-Body suspension?
I know this post is loaded with questions but I hope it makes for good discussion and hopefully is able to help low-budget guys who may not be able to afford high dollar parts like myself at the moment. Since I've sold my aftermarket PTFB frame to another forum member here (Thanks again Pro-Touring forum!) and started back up at school, I'm kind of back to square-one with a stock frame, stock control arms and low budget on my '79 Trans Am. At this point, I'm interested in keeping the engine bay stock looking and yielding as best a setup as I can get with the parts I have on a low budget. Since shopping around, I've come across some parts I'm interested in such as QA1 Ultimate ball joints, AFCO steel upper/lower bushings and possibly an offset cross shaft.
An interesting thing I've found with the QA1 "Ultimate" ball joints is that they're able to be rebuilt and you can swap the ball joint studs out for different heights. Their lower ball joint can be set up with a standard stud or you can swap out it out for a +1/2" stud to raise the roll center. An immediate "cool" thought I have here is that the car can technically be lowered 1/2" without losing compression travel of the spring. What other parts of geometry does raising the lower ball joint effect? What about the steering linkage since it moves as well?
Lower QA1's...
http://www.smileysracing.com/shopping/productDetails.aspx?i=113181&c=1540
Upper QA1 ball joints are even more adjustable. The uppers have standard, +1/2" and +1" interchangeable stud lengths. Most people on the pro-touring forums I go on talk about upgrading to a +1/2" upper ball joint. What about a +1" extended ball joint? Where and when does playing with upper ball joint height come into play? Is this ideal for a stock control arm?
Upper QA1's...
http://www.smileysracing.com/shopping/productDetails.aspx?i=113163&c=0
How about the upper control arm shaft? Where/when/why is an offset upper cross shaft beneficial? Again, what about for a stock control arm application? For example, I see that Moog and Global West offer a standard and offset version of their cross shaft. I believe Dave at PTFB sells this as well but I haven't seen it listed on his website.
Offset Global West cross shaft...
http://www.globalwest.net/firebird-billet-offset-upper-a-arm-shaft-1970-1971-1972-1973-1974-1975-1976-1977-1978-1979-1980-1981.html
Offset Moog cross shaft....
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/MOG-K6146/
Anyone have experience installing or driving with solid steel upper/lower control arm bushings on stock control arms? I've been eyeing down AFCO brand steel bushings for low cost and they appear to be a bind-free design much like the aftermarket Pro-Touring F-Body control arms. When I had those, I was a big fan of the smooth bind-free movement due to that absence of a rubber/poly bushing.
AFCO upper steel bushings...
https://www.afcodynapro.com/AFCO/406350979
https://www.afcodynapro.com/AFCO/1350911769
AFCO lower steel/nylon bushings...
https://www.afcodynapro.com/AFCO/1632620822
https://www.afcodynapro.com/AFCO/2054947863
I know this post is loaded with questions but I hope it makes for good discussion and hopefully is able to help low-budget guys who may not be able to afford high dollar parts like myself at the moment. Since I've sold my aftermarket PTFB frame to another forum member here (Thanks again Pro-Touring forum!) and started back up at school, I'm kind of back to square-one with a stock frame, stock control arms and low budget on my '79 Trans Am. At this point, I'm interested in keeping the engine bay stock looking and yielding as best a setup as I can get with the parts I have on a low budget. Since shopping around, I've come across some parts I'm interested in such as QA1 Ultimate ball joints, AFCO steel upper/lower bushings and possibly an offset cross shaft.
An interesting thing I've found with the QA1 "Ultimate" ball joints is that they're able to be rebuilt and you can swap the ball joint studs out for different heights. Their lower ball joint can be set up with a standard stud or you can swap out it out for a +1/2" stud to raise the roll center. An immediate "cool" thought I have here is that the car can technically be lowered 1/2" without losing compression travel of the spring. What other parts of geometry does raising the lower ball joint effect? What about the steering linkage since it moves as well?
Lower QA1's...
http://www.smileysracing.com/shopping/productDetails.aspx?i=113181&c=1540
Upper QA1 ball joints are even more adjustable. The uppers have standard, +1/2" and +1" interchangeable stud lengths. Most people on the pro-touring forums I go on talk about upgrading to a +1/2" upper ball joint. What about a +1" extended ball joint? Where and when does playing with upper ball joint height come into play? Is this ideal for a stock control arm?
Upper QA1's...
http://www.smileysracing.com/shopping/productDetails.aspx?i=113163&c=0
How about the upper control arm shaft? Where/when/why is an offset upper cross shaft beneficial? Again, what about for a stock control arm application? For example, I see that Moog and Global West offer a standard and offset version of their cross shaft. I believe Dave at PTFB sells this as well but I haven't seen it listed on his website.
Offset Global West cross shaft...
http://www.globalwest.net/firebird-billet-offset-upper-a-arm-shaft-1970-1971-1972-1973-1974-1975-1976-1977-1978-1979-1980-1981.html
Offset Moog cross shaft....
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/MOG-K6146/
Anyone have experience installing or driving with solid steel upper/lower control arm bushings on stock control arms? I've been eyeing down AFCO brand steel bushings for low cost and they appear to be a bind-free design much like the aftermarket Pro-Touring F-Body control arms. When I had those, I was a big fan of the smooth bind-free movement due to that absence of a rubber/poly bushing.
AFCO upper steel bushings...
https://www.afcodynapro.com/AFCO/406350979
https://www.afcodynapro.com/AFCO/1350911769
AFCO lower steel/nylon bushings...
https://www.afcodynapro.com/AFCO/1632620822
https://www.afcodynapro.com/AFCO/2054947863