Installing hotchkis tvs

[JohnnyE]

I finally got some time off and started ripping out the old to put in the new. I got all the old springs and shocks and sway bar out of the front. I took my UCA's out and found that 1 of the bolts doesn't lock in to the frame anymore so I will have to get the welder out and tack it in. I bought new hotchkis UCA's #1106 and was planning on resusing my LCA's but when I started cleaning my my old LCA's I am thinking to myself "These sure are ugly, Should I rebuild them, leave them alone or get the tubular lowers to match. Now is the time to decide".

[Fastrun72]

if you got the extra $$$ then i say get the matching ones.... other wise clean em up and put in some delrin type bushings and spend the extra money (if any) on other upgrades....but tubular's sure are pretty!

[Vicinity]

The way I understand it, Tubular LCA's add no real benefit, aside from adding more of a drop for a car. If money's tight, spend it on something else.

[Nessumsar]

The way I understand it, Tubular LCA's add no real benefit, aside from adding more of a drop for a car. If money's tight, spend it on something else.

Not entirely true... Some aftermarket LCAs have different geometry that places the LBJ forward in the wheelwell, which can help center the wheel/tire in the wheel well when running a lot of caster.

[jknight16]

Not entirely true... Some aftermarket LCAs have different geometry that places the LBJ forward in the wheelwell, which can help center the wheel/tire in the wheel well when running a lot of caster.

True, plus others have adjustable steering stops built in and/or have provisions for coil-overs that make them highly superior to stock LCAs when going the coil-over route. You may be using conventional springs/shocks now, but if you upgrade to coilovers in the future, then it's one less thing...

I re-used my stock LCA with new rubber bushings due to budget constraints. Wish I had done the delrin bushings at least but didn't know about them at the time. Oh well, something to tinker with in the future.

[JohnnyE]

I will look into getting some Global West #1020 Delrin bushings tomorrow and replace the ball joints with Moog parts. Thanks for the tips.

[zbugger]

Ok, so I looked up the #1106 control arms and see that it's for a 2nd gen F-body. In this case, you'll be better off going with the Hotchkis lowers. The 2nd gen F-body has a bad habit of having the tire kiss the rear of the wheel well when turning when you have a bunch of caster put in. The Hotchkis lowers move the ball joint forward allowing the wheel to better clear the rear of the wheel well, and it adds 2* of caster while doing so. It'll benefit you.

[JohnnyE]

so If I did buy the hotchkis 1108 lowers would I have to worry about the ride height and use the supplied spacers for the spring. My worry is I don't want the car to drop to much in the front. It would be a pain to put it together and the find out its to low and that I should have used the spacers.

[Hotchkis]

I finally got some time off and started ripping out the old to put in the new. I got all the old springs and shocks and sway bar out of the front. I took my UCA's out and found that 1 of the bolts doesn't lock in to the frame anymore so I will have to get the welder out and tack it in. I bought new hotchkis UCA's #1106 and was planning on resusing my LCA's but when I started cleaning my my old LCA's I am thinking to myself "These sure are ugly, Should I rebuild them, leave them alone or get the tubular lowers to match. Now is the time to decide".

JohnnyE

There are a lot of reasons to replace old original stamped steel control arms. We’ve seen lower control arms with all sorts of problems including ball joint holes so big that people have welded the ball joint casing to the control arm. Both uppers and lowers get bent and or fractured from more than 40 years of harsh road abuse and accidents. If you choose not to replace your original arms, we suggest thoroughly inspecting the originals before bolting them back on.

[JohnnyE]

Thanks for your response Hotchkis! Is there anything you can tell me about the ride height when using the full system. Do the lowers keep the factory ride height or should I use the spacers?