Is it worth spending the money on Lower control arms and a bolt in torque arm or are these the same thing? or is it best to run both
Thanks

 

To be honest, I think it's worth investing in anything that helps in traction. There are plenty of people running both of the items in which you state in your reply. I hope this helps

 

Those are two seperate items. You have two lower control arms/trailing arms attached to the axle right inside the wheels and a torque arm attached in the middle - it runs along the drive shaft from the trans to the differential (the pumpkin shaped thing on the rear axle). The stock pieces use soft rubber bushings and are prone to flex.. eliminating this flex with stronger pieces and harder bushings generally provides better traction.

There are two types of torque arms.. one design is similiar to the stock design in that it bolts to the transmission tailshaft. The other design bolts to the tunnel cross brace (you'll know what I mean if you get under the car). Anyways, most prefer the spohn and bmr extreme duty units that bolt to the cross brace mounting points... but some still argue that the other design that follows the stock setup is best. I guess the verdict is still out.. Do a search! Oh, I will say no matter what design you use you should definately buy an adjustable torque arm.

The lower control arms can be had for much cheaper than a torque arm. There are adjustable units and non adjustable. Some are boxed and others are tubular. Generally the tubular is not as strong as the boxed although it is lighter. Really, the tubular is probably plenty strong. Some lca's use rubber bushings, some use polyurethane, some use rubber on one end and poly on the other. Some use spherical rod ends. Every design has it's weak and strong points. The rubber tends to flex a bit which somewhat defeats the purpose of having a rigid lca in the first place. The poly ends may squeek and can bind - this may not really help your car's corner carving ability. I think the spherical are generally considered to be the best although they get to be super expensive. Anyways, do a search for more info... I use the lakewood boxed arms myself - cheap at $90 or so dollars shipped.

Also, lower control arm relocation brackets really help traction.. they make a world of difference on a lowered car but are a good idea on a stock height car also - I use them and am not lowered. I'm not going to get into the mechanics of it here but they will help plant your axle into the pavement on launch and will prevent wheel hop if that's a problem.

I might add that all these pieces only help your car's straightline traction and will not improve your car's cornering.. some may even hurt it a tad. If you want your car to corner then that's a whole different ball game.

Anyways, in short it's best to run all of the above mentioned pieces if you can afford it. That should net you some good 60ft times at the track. If I had to pick and choose I'd probably buy the lca's and the relocation brackets before the torque arm (I'm still using the stocker ).

Hope this clarifies

 

Thanks, huge help.