MonteMack Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 Hey Guys first post here was just looking for some advice before I go ahead ordering parts for my mostly stock 72 Monte. After some research Ive been thinking about going with viking coilovers in the rear while using the hotchkis 2" lowering springs I already got for the front with some bilstein shocks to save some cash. Second I was looking to upgrade the front control arms to hopefully fix the infamous geometric issues in the front end of our A bodies and was wondering what the most cost efficient options were as the qa1 and other brands tubulars are quite out of my budget it seems. Any input would be greatly appreciated and srry for the lenghtly post. Cheers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monte70car Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 First off Mackenzie welcome to the forum. What is the goal for your car? The Hotchkis lowering springs is a nice way to go. Some times you can get lucky and find Viking coil overs for the front for $225 each. There is a few on here that have installed the Viking coil overs front and back and really like the outcome. As for the control arms you can pickup all from for less then $500 just change out the ball joints as they have failed. I went with a seat of tubular a-arms from Speedway motors and added Viking coil overs to the front with a 550# spring (street car with a big block). I have two Monte's a 70 which is mostly stock running on Hotchiks lowering springs and KYB gas shocks and a 72 that's no were close to stock other then the sheet metal, it run Viking coil overs on the front and a race coil over on the rear. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 Welcome to the forum Mackenzie. Good to see more people here from BC. You'll find some great advice on this message board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 Here's a post I found that might be helpfulhttp://www.firstgenmc.com/forums/index.php?/topic/17219-suspension-upgrade-question/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonteMack Posted March 1, 2017 Author Share Posted March 1, 2017 thanks for responses guys, Robert with the brown monte did you buy the speedway cheaper tubular arms? how were they quality wise? I was scared they looked alot like ebay no name ones. Im now thinking about going with viking coilovers on the front with viking double adjustable shocks on the back because I cant afford the rear coilovers really at the moment. how big of a loss would i be taking with just shocks in the back instead of coilovers? I believe getting them in the front first is more important and i found this kit on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/Viking-Front-Adjustable-Coilover-Spring-Rear-Shock-Kit-GM-A-B-Body-450-/272430252784?hash=item3f6e1bc2f0:g:ZhwAAOSw5cNYE8zc&vxp=mtr was also thinking of getting the speedway front tubular control arm set unless its more worth just waiting till I can afford a more expensive beefy one from Qa1 or UMI? Having quite some trouble deciding here haha any opinions would be appreciated, cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monte70car Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 Matt classic bowtie is a good place to shop that's where my coil over shock bodies came from. They just had a set of front coil over bodies on sale again but I believe they sold Viking: 2- A225 front coilover shocks: $195 ea scuffs on T bar, 2- 10TP450 450# 10” spring $55 ea light scuff on bottom, 2- 10TP550 550# 10” spring $55 ea light scuff on bottom. I would give Matt classic a call 1-866-628-8746. My brown Monte is setting on stock control arms with Hotchkis lowering springs and KYB shocks and a 26" tall tire front and back. The primer Monte has the Speedway control arms http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-1964-72-GM-A-Body-Chevelle-Tubular-Control-Arms,81680.html Again the reviews say to replace the ball joints with MOOG brand. The control arms are built heavy grease fittings for each joint even for the lower bolt. The control arms that Speedway sells are a close match to UMI's control arms just a different color. UMI does give club members a discount not much think its 5 or 10%. If your building something to handle a good set of lowering springs would be a good way to go and fairly cheap $500 for front and rear springs then get some good shocks so where in the $125 range. The brown Monte rides good even on a bumpy road but the primer one should do a little bit better with coil over front and back (I have the same amount of money tied up in my the primer one as I do the brown one). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monte70car Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 Mackenzie here is what the upper control arm looks like when the picture was taken it had Hotchiks lowering springs on the front with QA1 gas shocks. The link you see attached to the lower arm in the picture is the sway bar mount which is adjustable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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