SPC upper a-arm to wheel clearance

[LS1NOVA]

I have a clearance problem from the upper a-arm to wheel. Any advice? I still have 1/2" before it gets to the steering stops.

Its a 71 Nova
stock subframe
SC&C stage 2 plus (extra tall upper ball joints)
stock spindles
stock lowers
17x8 wheel with 5 1/4"bs with 5/16 spacer (so 4 15/16)
Hotchkis 2" springs

The alignment has not been set,however Ive adjusted it all over with similiar results.

[neki67]

Had the same problem and had to use std length BJ's . . . .

[shep]

I know you don't want to here this now but the screw in ball joint plate is narrower and will provide more clearance for the wheels.

[smhigh]

I ended up having my wheels narrowed for everything to fit.......

[Jasons72]

I will check mine tomorrow, i have the screw in tall bj's and i think they do have more clearance.

[Marcus SC&C]

Please, always feel free to give us a call for install and technical advice. It`s free and we`ve seen it all a hundred times before. :) The modular configuration of the SPC arms let`s us configure them to work well with almost any suspension format. The ones that you have are a standard configuration. There are several ways we can configure them for high clearance. Most applications will work well with just the NASCAR screw in ball joints and plates. The plate is smaller/shorter front to back and draws the arm in about 1/2" where the wheel might contact it. Typically the tires will hit the sway bar or frame before they`ll hit the arms. For extreme amounts of backspacing/HUGE wheels we can go further but you`ll need to trim the front A arm mounting gussets. We can swap out the bent portion of the A arms for a longer straight adj. sleeve, this will give you about 1" more clearance. In totally extreme cases we can recerse the bend in that side of the arm inward (in profile it will resemble a Speedtech hi clearance arm), this gives you about 2" more clearance! You WILL hit the sway bar AND frame before you hit the arms in this format. :smoke: There is certainly no reason at all to forfeit the huge geometry improvements of the X-tall SD upper ball joints for wheel clearance on any car. If you have any questions give a call and we`ll walk you through it. Thanks! Mark SC&C

[LS1NOVA]

Thanks Mark, I will call and get some parts.

[JRouche]

I ended up having my wheels narrowed for everything to fit.......

Well that sucks!!! Bummer. Build the car around the wheels. Wheels/tires come first then build up the suspension. Start from the ground and build up from there, thats my thinking. Thats if you have a clean slate to build from. If you are injecting parts into a built system then the measuring scale is yer best friend. JR

[JRouche]

Please, always feel free to give us a call for install and technical advice. It`s free and we`ve seen it all a hundred times before. :) The modular configuration of the SPC arms let`s us configure them to work well with almost any suspension format. The ones that you have are a standard configuration. There are several ways we can configure them for high clearance. Most applications will work well with just the NASCAR screw in ball joints and plates. The plate is smaller/shorter front to back and draws the arm in about 1/2" where the wheel might contact it. Typically the tires will hit the sway bar or frame before they`ll hit the arms. For extreme amounts of backspacing/HUGE wheels we can go further but you`ll need to trim the front A arm mounting gussets. We can swap out the bent portion of the A arms for a longer straight adj. sleeve, this will give you about 1" more clearance. In totally extreme cases we can recerse the bend in that side of the arm inward (in profile it will resemble a Speedtech hi clearance arm), this gives you about 2" more clearance! You WILL hit the sway bar AND frame before you hit the arms in this format. :smoke: There is certainly no reason at all to forfeit the huge geometry improvements of the X-tall SD upper ball joints for wheel clearance on any car. If you have any questions give a call and we`ll walk you through it. Thanks! Mark SC&C


Just to add. Anyone that is considering SPC arms really needs to go to their web site and download the PDF catalog. Get familiar with the products they have. Most of the stuff is interchangeable. Like you can spec out certain ball joint plates with certain arms. Its mostly ala carte. THEN, when you think you have a good arm build call Marcus on the phone. Let him know what you came up with and he will either agree or make a suggestion. Then, buy the arms from him. Really, you wont get a better price, been there done that, he has the best prices for SPC products.

And the best part, you get some great info from him over the phone. Yeah! Thats right, you get to actually talk to a knowledgeable dealer on the phone. Not a salesman. Like if you were to call summit or jegs. Big time difference..

Get yer ducks lined up and call MARK. And the best part is if yer ducks (thoughts) are wandering all over the place he will help to corral all of them and get you to a finale objective. JR