Tubular lower control arm - rear

[bunkie21]

Hello,
I'm looking to upgrade the suspension in my 1985 El Camino and am on a budget. I am looking at the UMI Tubular, not the boxed but I havent been able to find any info on them. Are they better than stock? They will be going on a street car but one with other minor mods. Eibach 1" springs, Edelbrock shocks, 36mm front bar and a stock rear sway bar. Any comments welcome.

Dustin

[TPI Monte SS]

I have the BMR tubular lowers in my '88 Monte SS. They work great, and were reasonably priced as well. Check out www.bmrfabrication.com and see how their prices compare to the UMI stuff - I dunno offhand, never looked into UMI before. By the way, welcome to the site; nice to see another G-body owner!

[Tony_SS]

I'm running the UMI tubular uppers and lowers in the rear. They are VERY nice pieces and priced right. You can run your stock sway bar with them, but I went to the ST rear sway and it made the difference. I had to move the mount brackets in a 1/4" for them to fit on the tubular lowers.

[Marcus SC&C]

Pretty much all of the solid tubular arms with hard bushings work the same. But do a search here before you buy. GM converging 4 link rear suspension is a touchy thing full of compromises and it has a number of requirements that if unfulfilled can do more harm than good. Elimination of binding in the arms and bushings is one of your main objectives. The upper arms are particularly sensitive and should be free to move in torsion (twist) to prevent snap oversteer. Heims will work but will eventually buzz and rattle and drive you nuts. Greasable urethane race spherical joints are preferable. Several makers are coming out with such arms but the best we`ve used so far are Currie Currectracs. Mark SC&C

[gto406]

Mark, with respect to the Currectrac Adj. Uppers, I notice there is an open end on the rear-end side. Would you recommend people purchasing the uppers to install a normal rubber (or urethane) bushing in the ears of the rear-end OR assuming they have no-hop bars, can the rear-end side of the Curretracs be successfully bolted to the no-hops and eliminate the binding and snap oversteer you refer to?

Thanks,
Brian
'72 GTO (A-body GM)