GM A-body rear lower control arm "relocation" bracket??

[muthstryker]

Have any of you heard of these? Some one told me that since im lowering my car it would be a good idea to get these..( http://www.umiperformance.com/4012?category_id=17 ) is it necassary or not? If they would be a good idea UMI any good quality wise?

[BobB66SS]

I just removed this kind of set up from my Chevelle yesterday. Different brand but same general idea. Remember that it can have the same lowering effect on a rr sway bar if you run one that bolts to the ctr line of the lower trailing arms (like Hotchkis).
I've got the lowering brackets, Hotchkis boxed lower trailing arms, and a Hotchkis sway bar modified (by DSE) to raise it back to std sway bar height. PM me if you're interested.

[muthstryker]

Nice to know about the sway bar problem. Did it really help at all? could you tell a difference.

[BobB66SS]

That setup had been on the car since I bought it so I don't have a comparison to make with what the car handles like with the arms in the stock position. The rr coilover setup I'm installing interferes with that bracketry so I removed it and moved the trailing arms to the stock location.
The general concept is that by lowering the mounting point and thus lengthening the moment arm between the axle and the trailing arm, you give better resistance to the axle housing wanting to rotate under torque. I've seen this more with drag cars than street cars but the idea is the same.

[badbu68]

This is more usefull on stock height cars than those that are lowered.

[Norm Peterson]

LCA relo brackets change at least two rear suspension characteristics, and the extent to which either helps you depends on what you want the car to be good at. Ultimately it may involve settling for a compromise.

One is (as mentioned in the link) improved launch traction, or "antisquat". This is increased whether the car is lowered or not, but the improvement is with respect to whatever the OE LCA axle-side pivot point would give you with the car at the same ride height. IOW, don't compare the effect of relo brackets with the car lowered against the standard OE pivots at OE ride height. A lowered car needs some LCA relocating just to get back to OE levels of antisquat.

The other thing is axle steer while cornering. A little axle roll steer that gives understeer is stable and will feel comfortable to drive, a lot of this will feel numb and clumsy to drive, and roll steer that makes the vehicle oversteer can be downright scary. Relo brackets alter the amount of axle steer in the general direction of reducing vehicle understeer, but can actually become an oversteer effect if overdone. Handlingwise, it's generally a good mod for lowered cars but not always for stock ride height cars.

Both of these effects can be calculated and plotted for purposes of comparison.


About UMI - Sam Strano sells their stuff, and he has a pretty good reputation for selling quality stuff (that works).


Norm