Global West UCA's

[Bandit]

Anybody here running a tubular Upper Contol Arm with stock LCA? I just talked to GW tonight and the tech said alot of guys are doing this now and just upgrading to the del-a-lum bushings for their stock lowers. He also said that the LCA has no effect on geometry but the improvements are all in the GW Upper Control Arm.

I want to do this upgrade to get added caster, as well as improved looks. I am on a budget as well, so if I do just UCA's I can keep it down to about $500, which is do-able for me. Those UCA's just look bangin, it would be almost worth it to me just for that alone. My stock arms are an eyesore! :sick:

Paul

[ss dave]

I run both unfortunately for your question. The looks are a vast improvement over stock for my 69 Camaro, and of course handling.

[baz67]

You were told correct by GW on all accounts. Do not waste you cash with any replacement LCAs unless you want the looks.

[SHANE 73Z]

Bandit,

I am running the Del-a-lums in the lower control arms, with SC&C upper arms & tall ball joints. You can get teh additional caster you are looking for in a fully adjustable arm. You can pitch the alignment shims forever.

Shane

[ProTouring442]

I was going to run just the uppers, but when I was pressing the ball joints in the lowers, one of them cracked. Seemed like a good excuse to buy the cool looking lowers. Oddly, I think the GW lowers weigh more then the stock, but I think you could hit a train with them and destroy the car and the arms could be bolted to the next project. Really heavy duty looking!

Shiny Side Up!
Bill
'72 442 "Inamorata"

[wendell]

After "hitting a train" I'd rather bolt new arms to the old project than the other way around.

p.s. I like the search function because with out it, the site will never progress.

[ProTouring442]

After "hitting a train" I'd rather bolt new arms to the old project than the other way around.

:lol:

Yeah, I think I'll just avoid the train... Still, they are beefy arms. Probably not needed for anything more than looks, though the original engineers who designed the arms probably never considered the big tires and brakes we bolt on our cars.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill
'72 442 "Inamorata"

[wendell]

I routinely send a #3000, 530hp first gen out on slicks with completely stock front end pieces. The lower control arm is the least of my wories. And I'm a worier.

[Marcus SC&C]

Agreed,no real need for tubular lowers. The uppers add the + caster. GW makes nice quality stuff. A little heavy but very beefy.
Of course for the same $500 you could do what Shane did and have fully adjustable tubular upper arms AND tall precision series ball joints that actually make a profound improvement in the front end geometry rather than just adding more caster. :) Mark SC&C

[Rick Dorion]

As did I :)

I think 37ish year old fatigue may be a reason to replace LCA's.

[Bandit]

Do the alignment shop monkeys ever have problems with aligning SC & C UCA's? I really like the idea, but I don't want to deviate from stock to the point where I need an expert to adjust stuff on my car.

Paul

[SHANE 73Z]

Do the alignment shop monkeys ever have problems with aligning SC & C UCA's? I really like the idea, but I don't want to deviate from stock to the point where I need an expert to adjust stuff on my car.

Paul

I think if a person can align a car with shims they should be able to figure it out. I have a local shop that preps SCCA cars so they are familiar.

Shane

[novanutcase]

Marcus,

Would you recommend your uppers for a car that will be mostly street driven or would it not be suitable for this type of driving?

John

[David Pozzi]

Watch the stock lower control arms for cracks in line with the spring pocket. The front and rear turned down flanges of the arms, My buddy had a crack start there. Watch the balljoint area too. The stock stuff is pretty strong though.

Doing just the upper arms to get more positive caster is a good way to go.
David

[Marcus SC&C]

We`ve found that even the most knuckleheaded "alignment tech" at Sears AutoCenter or something has no problem with our adj. uppers if you tell them "They adjust just like tie rods". Since adjusting toe requires turning adj. sleeves exactly like our arms it`s pretty much a no brainer. I always tell customers if the guy can`t figure that out he`s got no business touching your car,just walk away. ;)
As for running them on a pure street car,absolutely! Why save the good stuff for a car you only drive on sunny weekends? Our test cars and many customer cars have been running them daily for years in rain,snow etc. etc. One of our cars took a pretty hard hit to the RF,wrapped the fender around the tire,toasted the whole front clip except for the LF fender. The adj. arm was totally undamaged and the alignment was still spot on when checked against the test records. We learned 2 things from that incident. 1) those arms are tough! 2) don`t let employees borrow the company car. ;)
BTW if you`re running stock LCAs it`s not a bad idea to weld the ball joint bodys into the arms with 3 or 4 short beads. In most sanctioned forms of racing that allow press in ball joints it`s actually required. Just take your time and let them cool between welds so you don`t effect the heat treat of the race inside the ball joints. You can also box either just the end or the whole bottom of the arms with .125" plate to add strength and rigidity. Mark SC&C

[Bandit]

Mark,
You pretty much have me sold--I'll be hitting you guys up on payday hopefully!
Thanks for all the good info!!

Paul