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    Results 1 to 10 of 10
    1. #1
      Join Date
      Feb 2007
      Location
      Tinley Park, IL
      Posts
      1,163
      Country Flag: United States

      New Front UCA Suggestion

      I'd like to replace my current old style SPC upper control arms with something else. I'm looking at ridetech Part # 11223699 Strong Arms, and QA1 52522 2.0 Pro-Touring arms.

      I want Derlin bushings and a tall ball joint. ridetech has the Derlin bushings, but I'm not sure what kind of ball joint. QA1 has a composite bushing (whatever that means) and a tall ball joint.

      I do plan on contacting the manufactures to confirm these details. Looking for opinions/suggestions between these two.

      https://www.ridetech.com/product/196...pper_11223699/

      https://www.qa1.net/product/sku-52522


      Rest of the front end:
      Stock spindles
      SPC LCA with tall ball joints
      UMI 1" drop spring
      QA1 shocks

      Nick ~
      1969 Cutlass

    2. #2
      Join Date
      Feb 2007
      Location
      Tinley Park, IL
      Posts
      1,163
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by pitts64 View Post
      PS Mark is supposedly in Bankruptcy court now but who knows...

      Nick, what's wrong with the SPC arms? Are yours making a snap sound when stopping?
      I used to be a customer of Mark's, not any longer.

      There is nothing "wrong" with the SPC uppers. I'm just not a fan of the design. I'm going to swap out the current coil-over kit I have in there for factory style spring, and thought it would be a good opportunity to change the upper arms while I'm in there.

      Nick ~
      1969 Cutlass

    3. #3
      Join Date
      Sep 2013
      Location
      Houston, TX
      Posts
      246
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by Mr Nick View Post
      I'd like to replace my current old style SPC upper control arms with something else.
      Nick:
      I bought my SPC uppers in 2013 and running +0.5" lower and +0.9" upper ball joints from Howe. How do I know if I have the "old style" or the "new style" SPC arms? What is the difference? Thanks.

      Rodney
      Rodney Meyers
      72 Olds 442 Rest-mod clone

    4. #4
      Join Date
      Aug 2005
      Location
      Hamilton, NJ
      Posts
      4,291
      Country Flag: United States
      I'd also consider calling UMI
      Scott from NJ.

      Vent Windows Forever! ...

      Feather-light suspension, Konis just couldn't hold
      I'm so glad I took a look inside your showroom doors

    5. #5
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
      Posts
      1,364
      Country Flag: Canada
      Quote Originally Posted by pitts64 View Post
      Yes, what is the difference..

      If I was to go another route, I would look into Detroit Speeds offering. I like the way they shift the upper back and forth keeping it in a straight line to adjust caster..
      Early SPC arms had a straight cross shaft with pivot tabs to the ball joint being centered. The next revision had a weight reduced cross shaft that looks like a bone. The pivot tabs to the ball joint were also changed to an offset. From there SPC came out with a forged ball joint holder vs the plate style with welded components.
      Matt
      72 Chevelle 370ci, 76mm single turbo, TKX, Speedtech Track Time, Millerbuilt Strange full floater 9", Brembo brakes, BC Forged 18x11s with 315s square
      Instagram: Cst_koon

    6. #6
      Join Date
      Apr 2004
      Location
      Cedar Rapids, IA
      Posts
      999
      I have the new style SPCs arms on two cars now. I worked with SPC directly since...well Mark stuff. They have a Delrine bushing option. I didn't get it. There rubber version is actually very smooth. The new arms have a drop to them so no worry about tall ball joint articulation problems.

      It seems like a great quality arm to me.
      It still has the draw backs of no bumper stops and being a PITA to have aligned but the price is right and like the adjustability and no needs for shims.
      Some times I'm fast sometimes I'm half-fast

    7. #7
      Join Date
      Feb 2007
      Location
      Tinley Park, IL
      Posts
      1,163
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by protour_chevelle View Post
      Early SPC arms had a straight cross shaft with pivot tabs to the ball joint being centered. The next revision had a weight reduced cross shaft that looks like a bone. The pivot tabs to the ball joint were also changed to an offset. From there SPC came out with a forged ball joint holder vs the plate style with welded components.
      I have the old style arms, and changed out the cross shafts to the newer style. Here is a comparison, old style on top of course.

      Name:  SPC cross shaft.jpg
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      Nick ~
      1969 Cutlass

    8. #8
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
      Posts
      1,364
      Country Flag: Canada
      Quote Originally Posted by rohrt View Post
      It still has the draw backs of no bumper stops and being a PITA to have aligned but the price is right and like the adjustability and no needs for shims.
      Funny you mention this. I have speedtech arms and they do not have droop bump stops which is insanely annoying when jacking the car up. I have 6" of suspension droop before the tires come off the ground, so I have to jack the car to pluto before I can get wheel dollys under it. I may add my own bump stops/limiters. The other part I dont like about some of the arms on the market including my current ones is the large radius to the upper arms that becomes very intrusive to a tight engine bay where the flat SPC arms are a much tighter package.

      Mr Nick


      I have the old style arms, and changed out the cross shafts to the newer style. Here is a comparison, old style on top of course.
      I had a version in between those ones haha. SPC has changed a ton!
      Matt
      72 Chevelle 370ci, 76mm single turbo, TKX, Speedtech Track Time, Millerbuilt Strange full floater 9", Brembo brakes, BC Forged 18x11s with 315s square
      Instagram: Cst_koon

    9. #9
      Join Date
      Feb 2007
      Location
      Tinley Park, IL
      Posts
      1,163
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by protour_chevelle View Post


      I had a version in between those ones haha. SPC has changed a ton!
      The tech at SPC did say my style of arm was OLD and they rarely see them any more. I got them from Mark at SC&C in 2009.

      Nick ~
      1969 Cutlass

    10. #10
      Join Date
      Sep 2013
      Location
      Houston, TX
      Posts
      246
      Country Flag: United States

      SPC Upper Arms with Bump Plate

      I bought my SPC upper arms in 2013 during a clearance sale from an on-line seller called Ultra-Rev. I guess I have the second version as the cross shafts are of the weight reduced design. I don't know what bushing these arms use, but it doesn't look like rubber and they don't have grease zerks either. My car is not on the road yet so I can't speak to any ride quality/harshness issues. It seemed to me (after I bought them) that rubber and/or greaseable bushings might be s better design for a street driven car.

      I fabricated the bump plates out of 3/16" steel plate and mounted them to the top of the ball-joint plate using longer 1/4-28 grade 8 bolts. Here's a pic.

      Rodney



      Name:  10-SPC_Suspension1 copy.jpg
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      Rodney Meyers
      72 Olds 442 Rest-mod clone






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