jtb727

Alright guys, My factory LCA bushings are calling it quits, and with my recent tax refund I'm looking to upgrade them while I'm in there.

I've narrowed it down after reading Jazzer's thread.. but am still a little hesitant to pull the trigger on a set. I'm an automatic car, and it see's some occasional strip time, but I really like to enjoy hittin a corner nice and hard The rest of my suspension isn't very drag oriented, although the adjustable shocks and struts do a good job for what it's worth at the strip. But the springs are just too stiff to really cut serious 60's which is ok with me.


The UPR ones are a bit cheaper, and are "jazzer approved"
http://www.uprproducts.com/mustang-9...trol-arms.html


these MM ones from american muscle dont say wether they are the heavy duty ones or extreme duty one's, I'm guessing they are just the heavy duty ones. However, these are supposed to be stronger than the UPR's but are "less jazzer approved.".

http://www.americanmuscle.com/maximu...rms-99-04.html

And than I have looked at these, but are they a necessity?
http://www.maximummotorsports.com/st...roducts_id=530

uberstang1

Im a fan of Team Z, check there lowers out, solid on one end heim join on the other.

Jazzer The Cat

Either the UPR or MM LCA's will work fine in your case

The MM ones are supposed to be stronger, but UPR does indeed back up their arms with a lifetime guarantee, so they are certainly not weak. The issues of strength come into play, more with the tires one runs, than amount of times at the drag strip. TeamZ and Baseline will work equally well, in terms of mechanical function, just geared more toward extreme duty applications and don't think you qualify here. They will work fine, just bring you additional NVH and don't see the need for it on your car.The MM extreme duty, are inbetween each of those described above and will bring the same NVH as the TeamZ or Baseline ones.

If you really want to hit corners harder than you do the strip, I recommend you build your car for turns and live with your results at the quarter. A fantastic corner-carver will be OK at the strip, but a fantastic strip car will be HORRIBLE at the corners.

Jazzer approves this message

jtb727

Jazzer, with the car being an auto I'll never take it to an auto x event or anything of the sorts.. but I live in the sticks, and some occasional late night deserted parking garage fun, and occasional twisty free way ramps are about as "corner carving as I get".. and the car see's the strip MAYBE 1 time every couple months.. Which of these will do okay in the twisties? Will any of them be an improvement over the stock ones in the cornering department? I dont have the cash to go TA/PHB set up.. nor is it probably worth it on an auto car. atleast in my mind.

UPRSharad

Jazzer's right that the UPR arms are a good choice. I'm not completely sure how people are ranking the "strength" of the various control arms, but Steve Jackson is pushing over 2000hp through our control arms, and he is consistently one of the fastest outlaw drag radial cars in the country. Our arms have absolutely no trouble with durability if you choose the right arm for your application.

Regarding cornering, our arms most certainly do improve the cornering because they get rid of the incredibly sloppy factory arms.

jtb727

UPR Sharad, I'm going to be ordering a set of them later today. do you guys offer a forum discount by chance? If so can you PM me the details?

Jazzer The Cat

Hogwash

Don't let ANYONE say or suggest that your car is not worthy of an HPDE day, because it is an automatic, a 4-banger, a grocery-getter grandma car or is purple with pink polka-dots! NONE of these are relevant and have no bearing on your desire to race your car in ANY way*, should you decide to do so

Yes

An aftermarket LCA is an upgrade for the the activies mentioned here. AX, open-track and 1/4 mile will ALL benefit from an upgrade to an LCA, but the design is important to me and plays a factor for sure. Nearly ALL will improve your rear-wheel grip off the line, but not all will be as beneficial with cornering. I happen to think the UPR Pro-Series LCA's:

... are a fantastic choice for your needs and actually prefer their location of the spherical bearing over the poly/spherical MM LCA.




Jazzer

*except the street..... of THIS I take issue

ddmsgtr1

I had upr upper and lowers and still have their k on my car. Very nice products. What i will say is depending on how much you drive it, how hard you drive it, and how many launches you do, be prepared to swap out the rod ends probably once evrry year or two, especially if your running drag radials. As i'm sure sharad can attest to with steves monster, drag radials are a hard tire. If you go into tire shake, you might as well be putting a jack hammer to those rod ends.

jtb727

I'm just on street tires for now.. I know alot of people talk about tire shake, however, I've never once experienced wheel hop in my car... my old hyundai elantra.. well that's a different story.. will the addition of LCA's add to the possibility of this? I thought they were supposed to help there also by not flexing..?

ddmsgtr1

They will eliminate a component of it. In a drag racing application two of the main causes of shake, especially on a harder tire like a street tire or dr, is either shocks set too loose or air pressure in the tires too low. The flex of factory arms and the deflection of the stock bushings is an additional factor that can cause this problem that your eliminating with a quality set of arms.