Installed UCA's but question about LCA's

JDwhite98gt

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Picked up a set of upper and lower CA's used form my buddy. The upper's are Granatelli double adjustable with spherical bushings on the chassis side. I think they are adjusted right, measured stockers and adjusted the Gran's accordingly. The SOTP feeling is amazing, a lot of side to side slush is gone and traction is def improved. Now the lowers are boxed weight jackers..i forget the brand but they have poly bushings and attach to the axle with U brackets and also to the stock location on the axle. I'm waiting on these because I lost one of the top halfs of the U bracket. Anyway, I know they will of course be better than OEM in every way but are these style of LCA's only better for performance as far as straightline goes or in my goal to make a great handling street car to really beat up the backroads with? Should I skip on the getting a bracket fab'ed up and go with a more simple design or will these still aid me in my goal?
 

SRT Handz

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Ditch the UCAs are replace then with Brand new FRPP UCA and NEw Bushing.

Aftermarket UCA=Binding

Sell your Granatelli UCAs on Craigslist

Good Luck
 

vermilion

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Granatellis have a bad reputation. theyres been cases of them breaking and it spread like wildfire. its all personal preference.
 
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JDwhite98gt

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wow really? ok well I'll keep them untill I can buy a new set of uppers and lowers. Probably something a little more simple like non adjustable. I thought binding only occurs when you swap out the bushings on the rearend side to spherical. Anyway, since I dont want to go back to a stock piece and wait till I get a new aftermarket set, how do I adjust the UCA's while they are on the car? I wanted the stock length but when I went to install them they didnt line up right and had to mess up the adjustment to get them bolted in. The axle seemed too far back. I had the car on jackstands on the chassis and the axle was hanging freely. Did I do something wrong?
 

BigTang

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You should have brought the axle into position rather than changing the length of the arm, you have changed your pinion angle.
Unless they are double adjustable you can't change them on the car. they will have a "nut" in the center of the arm and threads to the axle end and to the rod end.
 
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JDwhite98gt

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they are double adjustable. I have no clue on how to measure/set the pinion angle. How do I? Anyway I backed up onto some ramps yesterday and pulled them out one at a time and measured the stock arm again and set the UCA to that length or as much as I could(Within 1/16th) of an inch. The first time I installed them the axle WAS NOT preloaded, I had no idea what I was doing. Anyway after Seting each one to the correct/OEM length, they went in without a hitch, I was really surprised being that whenever I work on my car I always run into some kind of problem. So now that they are as close to OEM length as humanly possible they are fine right? Oh, and my purpose for this car is to tear up the windy backroads. My CC plates should be here soon and I know my mod order doesn't make sense but I'm tight financially and I already had these. I also have lakewood weight jackers should I sell them and just go All MM as I planned for the future or will they still be fine as far as in an improvement for handling?
 

GDTrumbo

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I would also recommend ditching the aftermarket UCA's if you want to carve the curves. I'm replacing my UCA's this afternoon with the FRPP pieces just because of age. $69 from StangSuspension.com. The aftermarkets are good for drag racing but in curves they create too much suspension bind.

GT
 

Dalamar

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Suspension is a bit more complicated than it seems.
The rear control arms don't just pivot up and down, they also twist.
It's an old design and is sloppy.
When you put stiff uppers with solid bushings that don't allow for the twist, it will bind.
This is bad for the car's floor pan, or "torque box" area, and can be unsafe/unpredictable when you push the car.

This is why you're getting suggestions to replace the uppers with stock or FFRP.

There's more information in this thread to explain it further:
http://sn95forums.com/index.php?topic=19837.0


If you're not changing the length you shouldn't have to mess with the pinion angle.

And you asked about lower control arms, I'd suggest Maxiumum motorsports LCA's.
They're very strong, have a superior bushing design which allows for the "twist" and still keeps the axle centered. (for a 4-link)

Let us know if you have any more questions.
 

96 blue moon

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+1. I just received my MM LCA's today from StangSuspension.com and can't wait to install them on my car.
 

x182dan

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96 blue moon said:
+1. I just received my MM LCA's today from StangSuspension.com and can't wait to install them on my car.

I put them on my car this year and they are awesome you will like them
 

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