bigscaht Posted August 1, 2011 Posted August 1, 2011 hey all im currently pricing options for my front suspention rebuild and have tons of choices.. I know the advantages of going with tubeular control arms over the stock ones but I was wondering if some folks have tried tublar uppers and stock lowers with all poly bushings...is that even possible to do? jus kickin around some ideas in my head and want some opinions on which way to go...the car is gonna be a street car so are tublar control arms over kill for the street? Quote
Andreas Posted August 1, 2011 Posted August 1, 2011 I have tubular LOWER with Del-a-lum from Global West and stock uppers with poly bushings. Love the responsiveness! The lower control arms carry all the load, so I would upgrade them rather than the upper ones... Quote
bigscaht Posted August 2, 2011 Author Posted August 2, 2011 ahhhh thats a good idea..i never thought about it that way!!! Quote
72MC Posted August 3, 2011 Posted August 3, 2011 Scott, I did the same thing as Andreas except I used BMR. I will do the uppers at another time, maybe. I figured I better upgrade the lowers when I went with the QA1 setup. - Dave Quote
Dans '70 Z20 Posted August 3, 2011 Posted August 3, 2011 I am surprised you guys only did the lowers and not the uppers. All the beneficial suspension geometry changes are made with the upper arm and a taller spindle (or tall ball joint kit). The tubular lower arms are identical to stock stamping (except SPC lower arms which arm designed to give more rear tire clearance at the high caster settings needed for better handling) except they are designed to handle additional stress endured with stiffer springs and suspension. By just swapping out the lower arms the only benefit sen will be due to the stiffer poly (or del-la-lum) bushings themselves. Most people (b/c more economical) put poly in the stock lowers and only swap out the uppers to gain all the geometry benefits tubular arms have. SPC also sells a tall ball joint kit that will give you add'l geometry benefis (like an f-body spindle swap) but WILL still allow you the option of installing stock 15" rallies should you choose. The F-body spindles do not allow for the installation of a 15" wheel. Here is SC&C's website who is a retailer of them that is highly educated on suspension technology. Mark (from SC&C) also has a book out on how to make you musclecar handle. Very knowledgeable guy who is willing to answer any questions. They also designed they're own sway bars for our cars being built by Hellwig. The rear bar is attached to chassis rather than lower trailing arms for better articulation and for more torsional force for better handling. Here is there website: Sevitsky's Classic and Custom - Mark Hope this helps. Call Mark if you have any suspesion questions and he will provide clarity. Dan Quote
bigscaht Posted August 3, 2011 Author Posted August 3, 2011 Thats what I was reading else where Dan..all the benifits are in the uppers but its true that the lowers carry all the weight..Im still on the fence so for now I might jus get all new bushings and stay stock....but I dont know. I do want her to handle better than she did stock..so I will see!!! Quote
Dans '70 Z20 Posted August 4, 2011 Posted August 4, 2011 Until you save up the $$cash$$ I would suggest ordering a poly kit from P-S-T for the car, replace body mounts with new rubber ones and get a set of performance springs. You can always do sway bars, shocks and the tubular uppers as you get the money. Swaybars & shocks easy install, Upper arms are an easy swap and can e done w/o removing springs as long as engine/tranny in car for weight. Good luck. Dan Quote
72MC Posted August 4, 2011 Posted August 4, 2011 Well, I'll stick to the notion that I didn't do anything wrong and actually did upgrade. One of my lowers had issues to begin with. BMR uppers will get on there some day. Proof is in the handling and it handles better than it did before. - Dave Quote
Dans '70 Z20 Posted August 6, 2011 Posted August 6, 2011 Hey as long as you got a benefit its all good. I was just passing on info based on my research on the topic. Dan Quote
Andreas Posted August 6, 2011 Posted August 6, 2011 ....except they are designed to handle additional stress endured with stiffer springs and suspension. By just swapping out the lower arms the only benefit sen will be due to the stiffer Hope this helps. Call Mark if you have any suspesion questions and he will provide clarity. Dan And that was all that I was after, Dan. Did not want to turn the Monte into a race car (yet) Stock geometry, coil overs with the tubulars and the better bushings already made a huge difference I know Mark from the Protouring forums and he is indeed very knowledgeable... Quote
monteman427 Posted August 19, 2011 Posted August 19, 2011 here is a pic of mine with the BMR upper and lowers Quote
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