Upper control arm... and LCA question

[Mad Hatter]

Would you consider a Upper control arm as a necessary upgrade??? I have all the rest of the goodies you would expect but not the UCA. And if so I guess adjustable is better?

For the the LCA, is it noticeable if you go for a rod-end instead of poly bushing?? My BMR lca has very tired looking poly bushings

 

[barspen]

I noticed a pretty remarkable difference in the rear end 'compliance' after putting in a BMR spherical end UCA, bracket and Poly diff bushing. I can see where drag racers love it because the end squats squarely under high power. It cleaned up a lot of slop. On road courses, I rarely feel the back end get loose or squishy like the stock components. This is one of my favorite mods for improving how the car feels.

Adjustable UCA are nice to dial in the pinion angle, especially if the car is lowered.

The install was a PITA mod to do in the garage, but was well worth it in the end. Worst aspect was getting the jam nuts tight. Trying to get two large wrenches up in the rear body to torque it down was no fun. Not much room to work.

Here's a link to a quick write up install, pointers and first impressions I did a few years back - https://www.svtperformance.com/foru...or-2011-mustang-utca033.999728/#post-14191461

As far as the LCA goes, I'd give BMR a call to see if you can get replacement bushings or they may even have a rod-end kit options for your existing parts.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Great, thanks for the help!

 

[ChrisM]

If you think about how the arms will move through their arcs you can see where poly is actually causing a lot of bind and preventing proper articulation. That's great for drag racers but works against us corner carvers.

I did adjustable lowers because they're easier to access on a lift than the uppers but the downside is they need to be equal lengths, which can be a pain to accomplish and keep the axle pointing the right direction.

 

[scmscout]

You might look at Kenny Browns UCA, he makes the pivot points about 2" farther apart, supposed to help, swinging a larger radius, still fits in stock location with no mods.

 

[Big Black]

I put Kevin Slaby's Baseline uppers on my fox and ran 1:39 60'@285RWHP. Uppers matter, whatever performance car, whatever application.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I did adjustable lowers because they're easier to access on a lift than the uppers but the downside is they need to be equal lengths, which can be a pain to accomplish and keep the axle pointing the right direction.

It's easy enough to diagnose and correct if you don't get it perfect the first time.

If your steering wheel ends up crooked when you're driving down a straight, flat road (or highway lane) or if holding it straight lets you almost perfectly follow a gentle highway curve, you've got some adjusting to do. But unless you're being picky about pinion angle you'll probably only have to adjust one of the LCAs.

Incidentally, I much prefer off-the-car adjustables where you have to disconnect at least one end in order to adjust. Even if they loosen, they can't ever walk very far out of the adjustment you set, and half-turn adjustment resolution seems to be good enough if you're mainly interested in corner-carving.


I think BMR also offers the later UCA and the correct bracket, which would improve the geometry of the earlier cars.


Norm

 

[Mad Hatter]

Hoping for some after Christmas sales so I can get new set of front hubs as well as a BMR UCA and bracket (rod end). Might get a set of ajustable LCA's with rod ends as well...

 

[BigTaco]

The boss 302S lower arms are a good option. They have a better bushing (poly) that is super durable and easily replaced. These are also round tube so they resist twisting.

All poly bushings should be regularly inspected and replaced as a service item (just as you are doing). If you can, save up for a CorteX Torque arm to get rid of the upper arm. Definitely more Cash but a super fast set up...

Merry Christmas!!!

 

[Mad Hatter]

Merry Christmas.... forgot about the Torque arm..... hmm

 

[BigTaco]

Merry Christmas.... forgot about the Torque arm..... hmm

Yeah, I think it would be worth it. You may have to safe up to do it, but the benefits are so worth it. It’s my next mod. Better corner exit, way less nose dive in braking...

 

[blacksheep-1]

Great read by Bob Bolles in circle track concerning upper control arm angles, how they increase camber and whatnot during turns..etc.

 

[BigTaco]

Great read by Bob Bolles in circle track concerning upper control arm angles, how they increase camber and whatnot during turns..etc.

Cool, got a link to the article?

 

[Norm Peterson]

Great read by Bob Bolles in circle track concerning upper control arm angles, how they increase camber and whatnot during turns..etc.

Which issue?


Taco - I'm sure that Bob's article mainly concerns the UCAs in front SLA systems and IRS systems that use either a real UCA or approximate one with a couple of upper links. What we're calling a rear suspension UCA he'd probably call a "pull bar".


Norm

 

[blacksheep-1]

The article could apply to either an IRS or a front end that uses that style system, in the rear of a stick axle, that arc still applies, but from front to rear.

Here's one of the articles that covers them in general
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/camber-setting-car-geometry/

 

[Albino500]

For road course performance use rear LCAs with poly front bushings and spherical ends at the axle whether they are adjustable or not. As far as the UCA - use only the arm and mount for the 2011 - 14 on any S197 that has poly bushing at the pivot point of the front of the UCA where it bolts to the UCM and a Steeda spherical bearing at the top of the differential. This will free up the axle articulation. As far as relocation brackets top (mount) and lowers (at the axle mount points) that will depend on the geometry of your vehicle and your determined ride height.

 

[Mad Hatter]

I have been wondering about the UCA... when you mention with poly bushing at the UCM you mean like this one..



Or this one?



The spherical bearing at the top of the diff I have not seen clearly yet! Just seems like a bolt?? As you can see I have not taken it apart yet...

 

[Norm Peterson]

This is the Steeda diff-side spherical.

https://www.steeda.com/steeda-mustang-spherical-bearing-555-4104.html

For full articulation you'd want a spherical on the chassis-side as well.



Norm

 

[blacksheep-1]

the issue I have with a lot of the poly stuff is that they bind up and then rotate on the bolt, that's not how that is supposed to work, the bushing is supposed to rotate in the poly. FWIW these are on my car, they were on it when I bought it, so it wasn't my idea at all, but I'm very impressed with the piece, along with the bottoms..expensive as sin though.

https://www.americanmuscle.com/metc...um=shopping&T5_Var3=blue&T5_Var4=49710&intl=0

 

[blacksheep-1]

and you guys need to quit calling trailing arms, control arms