Rear Lower Control Arms, best choice?

[Buffalobillpatrick]

I'm trying to decide on which Rear Lower Control Arms?

Usage: Spirited Street & a little Strip.


I already have the Edelbrock adjustable rear upper arms with front spherical ball ends.

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...0&autoview=sku

"These heavy-duty Edelbrock adjustable rear upper trailing arms allow you to adjust your vehicle's pinion angle for optimum handling and traction. They can be adjusted without having to remove them from the vehicle, and their special spherical ball ends allow the suspension to move more freely without bushing bind."


These 3 look good so far: Global West, Currectrac, & BMR


http://www.globalwest.net/1964-72_Ch...nd_braces..htm

$397.12 + S&H

"Part # TBC-4 --- Best for overall applications and performance.
TBC-4 has overall the best performance characteristics for combining drag, street, and road racing without developing undesirable side affects. The arm design uses Del-a-lum bushings on the rear end side and a spherical bearing on the frame side The Del-a-lum bushing controls lateral movement of the differential while the bearing allows for the rear suspension to travel through it's intended arc without bind. The result contributes to a smooth street ride and amazing rear end stability through corners. As for drag racing, the
TBC-4 controls lateral movement stopping the rear end from shifting sideways during a hard launch. The bearing also eliminates twisting loads on the frame at the lower control arm mounting point."

My comment: Del-a-lum bushings are suppose to be great, but what type & quality are these front end spherical bearings?



http://www.scandc.com/currectrac.htm

SC&C Currectrac Rear Control Arms $389.95 + S&H

"The converging 4 link rear suspension on many GM cars and all Fox body Mustangs have a problem. Their geometry requires the arms to flex to avoid binding up the suspension but this same flex can also lead to wheel hop and poor handling. Until now you had two choices,
Use the flexible stock arms or use beefy steel arms with hard bushings that helped the wheel hop but caused the suspension to bind in torsion causing erratic handling. Some attempts have been made to fix this problem with heim ends or steel bearings but they can transmit a lot of road noise to the body and are open to water and road grit so they wear much faster than stock components.

Now there's no more need to compromise! New Currectrac arms feature modular Johnny joints on the frame side to eliminate non linear binding issues. These joints allow a full 30 degrees of flex with no binding and are enclosed against dirt and weather for long life. They have polymer races for noise/vibration isolation, grease fittings and are so durable they are a favorite of the hardcore off-road crowd! All arms are direct fit, feature mounts for a factory type sway bar if required and are protected by a glossy black powder coat finish. The uppers arms are fully adjustable to set pinion angle and are among the beefiest adj. arms on the planet!

NEW! Currectrac Billet Aluminum lower arms for `64-`72 A body. The same great features as the steel Currectrac arms but much lighter. Finished in black anodizing with CNC machined highlights they also look really trick."

My comment: Don't need pretty Aluminum, front Jimmy joint sounds good, I think that the rear bushings are Poly??




http://www.bmrfabrication.com/A-Body.htm

"Stock control arms are marginal at best. Bushing deflection combined with control arm flex can create erratic handling and inconsistent rear end stability when subjected to the additional loads of performance driving. BMR lower control arms are built with heavy duty 1.5" x 3" rectangular tubing while uppers use 1-5/8" x .120" rollcage tubing. Together they make a bulletproof combination. Upper control arms are available in either fixed or adjustable versions. Adjustable uppers allow "on-car" pinion angle adjustment by simply loosening the jamnuts and turning the adjuster. No need to unbolt the control arm. These adjusters are by far the strongest in the industry. Made from 1-1/8" CNC machined steel and zinc plated for corrosion resistance, they truly are overkill!

For hardcore enthusiasts with cars NOT INTENDED FOR THE STREET we also offer our control arms with Heavy Duty Spherical bearings in place of bushings. We use only the best QA1 Teflon lined spherical bearings with CNC machined cups and bearing spacers."

BCA006 1964-1972 Boxed tube w/HD spherical bearings
$346.95 pr.

BCA007 1964-1972 Boxed tube with poly bushing/HD spherical bearing combo $289.95 pr.

My comment: NOT for Street? Do they mean that?

Cheapest but is the quality great?



What would be my best choice???

[Buffalobillpatrick]

All 3 of these have the sway bar holes & I believe my stock sway bars will bolt on to any of these (+ washers?)

I'm not sure that they are worth the extra money over Edelbrock lowers with greasable poly bushings.

The guys selling them want us to think so. I have read a lot of threads on several sites about how a Johny-joint front is beneficial for Spirited driving on curves etc.

It seems to make sense that they will bind with just poly.

How much more will the rear move left & right, with a joint, is unknown to me?

BMR offers some with a joint on both ends. Street-able ? They say NO to both types.

It looks like the only ones that are designed to keep dirt & weather out of the joint is the Currectrac.

[andrewb70]

Whatever make you choose, make sure you have a spherical joint on the frame side and Delrin bushings on the rear end side.

Andrew

[Buffalobillpatrick]

From: http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/te...rms/index.html

"The design is essentially a four-link system that mounts the upper trailing arms in a triangulated manner to keep the rearend from moving from side to side and two lower arms to keep the rearend from moving fore and aft. Under acceleration, the upper arms experience tensional forces and the lower arms handle compressional movements"

[T-CHRGD]

It looks like the only ones that are designed to keep dirt & weather out of the joint is the Currectrac.

I switched from Hotchkis to the Currectracs.

[Buffalobillpatrick]

I like the Currie Johnny Joints best, strong, greasable, & keep dirt & weather out.



I have a new plan. I just ordered 2 x Part #: CE-9112

Currie 2" JOHNNY JOINT® ROD END W/ GREASABLE BOLT

I'm going to remove the front Poly bushings from a new set of Edelbrock rear LCA's that I have & weld in the JJ outer 2" x 2" sleeves.

All the features of the Currectrac Rear LCA's in steel & less cost to me, as I already have the Edelbrocks.

[Cutls67]

I don't mean to hyjack your thread but is there any way to buy just the bushings and put them in the control arms of your choice.

Stephan

Whatever make you choose, make sure you have a spherical joint on the frame side and Delrin bushings on the rear end side.

Andrew

[Buffalobillpatrick]

Stephan, YES, see my post above yours.

The Edelbrock RLCA's have a 2" x 2" poly bushings on both ends.

I'm going to try & remove the front bushings without damaging them?

[Buffalobillpatrick]

Used a little WD-40 & bushings pressed out with no damage.

BUT, the holes are 1.85" NOT 2" as I thought, drat!

bought a $10.00 reamer for my drill press, .075" removal all around should not be that tough (I hope).

[bochnak]

I like the Currie Johnny Joints best, strong, greasable, & keep dirt & weather out.

I have a new plan. I just ordered 2 x Part #: CE-9112

Currie 2" JOHNNY JOINT® ROD END W/ GREASABLE BOLT

I'm going to remove the front Poly bushings from a new set of Edelbrock rear LCA's that I have & weld in the JJ outer 2" x 2" sleeves.

All the features of the Currectrac Rear LCA's in steel & less cost to me, as I already have the Edelbrocks.

I looked into this as I plan to make my own arms one day.

Currie sells the inner ball (2.44” W w/.515 thru hole CE-91102GM) which only fits the 2.5” barrel.

http://www.currieenterprises.com/ces...t.aspx?id=3052

[Buffalobillpatrick]

From Global West site:
"The third style is a double poly arm. This means polyurethane bushings are used on both ends of the control arm Part # TBC-6.This type of a control arm is best used for drag racing. The bushings, however, limit rear end movement. Many drag cars can get away with this because of the way the car is set up. However, this type of arm is used on the street or for handling applications will cause the inside tire to unload during cornering reducing rear traction. This is because the control arm bushings will not allow the rear end to have proper movement."