I am already planning a lightweight tubular K-member,but I have questions about the A-arms.

I want GW upper and lower A-arms,the uppers are set non-adjustable but the lowers have that rod end on the one side.

I like doing most my work myself,and adjustablity is just beyond my experience and makes me nervous.

I know I want these A-arms or BMR with it(GWs will have to be painted RED tho) but my main hang-up is the adjustability.
Is there a way to get these lower As on and avoid a 5-6 hour alignment job at a shop cuz I put them on with the rod end too far out or in? Like some others here have had happen!

Maybe a measurment comparison to the stock...set the new lower to the same position as the stock on the bench BEFORE installation?
Or do the GWs or BMR change A-arm style wise so much that this would not be possible? Is this install best left to a pro?

Tony

 

I thought the Global West lower control arm, wasn't actually a control arm but just retrofitted a rod end to the control arm.

Yeah, that sounds good as far as measuring the stock control arm ball joint to bushing and translating that into the new setup... should work fine considering you have a good alignment at the moment.

 

Yeah I guess it is a bearing kit,I want to rid the car of the lower A-arm also mostly for wieght,strength and the overall look that tubular A-arms will match the tubular K-member.

I like the fact that GW upper is pre-set for more negative camber so I'm sticking with that.When if I want that from BMR I will have to use the Adj. upper A-arm from BMR. right? At least they (bmr) dont mention anything about more negative camber and improved cornering about thier non-adj. upper A-arms.

Is there any problem with puttin GW upper As and BMR lowers? And if I set the BMR lowers close to stock will the GW uppers still achieve the more negative camber intended?
Tony

 

Tony, I see you track your car. Save your money and stick with the stock lowers. The BMR lowers haven't been proven to stand up to track duty yet. The design looks rather whimpy IMHO. That goes for the K-Member as well. Let somebody else be the guinea pig.

There are lots of places you could spend that money where it would do you more good. The GW uppers have been around for a long time and many (including me) have used them for roadcourse duty extensively. They'll give you the camber you need and they are durable. I'd suggest -2 as a starting point. There's nothing wrong with replacing the bushings in the lowers with bearings except added ride harshness on the street. I don't think I'd do it on a daily driver.

 

I'd think the BMR lower control arms are more suited towards strip duty... however I would think that their tubular k-member is at least a bit stiffer, and obviously a bit lighter than the factory stamped unit... I haven't heard of any problems with them.

And as far as weight savings for the lower control arm, I don't think you can get it much lighter than the factory unit without compromising its strength, you could possibly weld all the seems in the factory unit if thats what you want to do.

Just my 2 cents.

 

I was intending on getting the chromoly K-member not mild steel so I think it should be stiffer, lighter and nicer looking too.

I'm not so sure about the lowers now but most definitely that upper GW A-arm whoops *** on the stock upper,Ray Charles could see that.That stock one is thin and wimpy.

Does anyone know of a place where they have pictures of the bushing kit GW sells for the front lower control arm?I checked the site not there.

 

Yeah, I'd really like to take a look at the lower rod end myself, I guess it's something like TCP's lower control arm for the older Mustangs.

I didn't know they made a chrome-moly k-member, I don't know if it would be much lighter because the chrome-moly that is used has a thicker wall, so you get something thats a bit beefier but at the same weight.

Later

 

PA makes a chrome moly K-member @ thunder racing

 

I have the BMR K member. Trust me. There is no problem with its stiffness. it is definitly a good modification. I dont know about the Lower A-Arms thought. They look a lot like the GW's which have been road tested to no end, and they hold up well. I think that i am going tha route when the time comes.

 

If you change your lower A-Arms, LG Motorsports are probably the best there is. I had the BMRs and sent them back and got LGs. It was a very expensive alignment for me though, but they are very durable. I had a friend autocross my car and he said it turned in like his Miata that he ran at Nationals (just a lot wider than the Miata).

 

I'm with Jon A on this one. Save your money and get GW upper control arms and 1LE lowers. The alignment from the GW upper arms is perfect with enough adjustability from the stock type lower arms with better bushings, which the 1LE arm is.

 

Thanks for all the replies on this,I think the lowers wont be neccesary after all.
But if I was going to after what auto-Xer said he went through I definitely would use the LG lowers.

BTW auto-Xer how are the G2 coilovers treating you? Have you used any other combo as in springs/shocks other than the G2Coil-overs.Maybe a evaluation can be made between conventional set-up verses the coil-over front AND REAR kits? Anyway got some stuff on your car I was planning How about the SFCs did you get the V-braces with'em? I was thinkin I wanted the X-brace with mine but am leaning toward the V-braces.

Thanxs again everyone. Tony

 

I had the X Brace on my SCF, but the Spohn TA didnt want to play nicely with it, so its gone. I wound get the V brace if your thinking about it. The X brace puts you above even Street Modified for autocrossing. Not laterial connections between SFC are allowed. But the V-brace connects to the tunnel brace, so its not direct The coilovers are great, but I get some noise w/ them in hard turns. Like a long ressonace. I think its the metal spring/metal collar rubbing. I haven't run any other spring combo yet, I've got 650#/225# (the rears are relocated so the spring weight isnt the same as it would be for a car w/ springs in stock location).

Oh, get the Vbrace at the same time, as they need to be installed w/ the SFC, adding them later might not be possible.

--Kevin

 

I have what you might want to hear. I just pulled apart my entire suspension, installed new shocks, 1.5" drop springs, LS1 front brakes and steering knuckle, and PA A-Arms. Its wasn't THAT difficult, if you aren't swapping your brakes its waaay easier. I was worried about the lower a-arm adjustment too, PA said to measure from the stock control arm so that is what I did. I got back from an alignment job and its at -1.5 camber on both wheels. I was aiming for stock camber, so I was off but my measurements were half assed because I was sure I would have to redo them. I would definately have to have the guys at the alignment shop pull the solid bearing from the K-frame and adjust them to camber stock, which would cost and extra $40. But a lot of guys here try to get to -1.5 camber, so I might leave it. It definately cured my understeer problem caused from the drag radials, the car is more balanced and the front tires grip much better. The solid bearings of the a-arms send every bump and road texture right through the chassis though, I kinda like it. If you really measured the controls arms well you could probably hit the adjustment pretty damn close.

All in all I would say go ahead and tackle it, it is pretty straight forward. I could give you a short walkthrough of the problems I had and the "proper" tools needed. It took me 4 days to do, most of them getting the right parts, and ordering a broken control arm bolt from a junkyard. I tried to remove the ball joints with a pickle fork for hours, didn't work, got a $5.00 puller and it took 5 seconds. Stuff like that caused the delays for me. The shop should be able to do the alignment in 1-2 hours tops, even if the adjustment is off.