Can I cut here? (QA1 upper control arm issue)

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MRGTX

MRGTX

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I spent a few hours getting the QA1 UCAs installed. The driver's side seems ok but on the passenger side, there's a piece of sheet metal that interferes with the travel of the control arm.

I can't see how I could have screwed up the installation so is this just a case of "extra" sheet metal from Detroit or is the arm not designed correctly?

In either case, should I take the cutting wheel to that metal to provide the clearance?

Could that weaken the mounting point?

IMG_4941.JPG
 
I would just notch it to clear. Will be a little weaker but prob not enough to matter. Or cut it and weld like material on the other side.
 
Notch it till it clears . Weld more material on the other side to reinforce it . Rather be safe than sorry .
 
You can cut the UCA mount back without sacrificing the structural integrity of the mount if you do it right. The upper part of the tab doesn't do much if anything for strength. Leave as much of the corner as you can, because that does add strength, and only take the cut down as far as you need.
dart-uca-jpg.jpg
 
I should have mentioned my car is clearanced there too. You could gusset the back side of the mount there too if you were concerned about it. They gusseted the green brick there. I haven't noticed any issues with mine, although I'll probably add gussets like the 'brick the next time I have the UCA's off.
 
Thanks so much, guys! I don't know what the hell I'd do without this forum.

Brian once again comes through with the specifics!!

I'll get to cutting tonight. We've had rain nearly every weekend this spring and I'm grateful to get some necessary work done and not miss out on cruising time. :D
 
If you can weld you "could" gusset it from the other side.
 
Thanks but am I the only one on this forum who doesn't weld? :D
 
RedFish said:
I really don't see any welding req'd
View attachment 1715052896
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I really don't think you need to. I had to cut mine back pretty severely on that side to clear the Magnumforce non-adjustable UCA's I have on my Duster right now, they have a very tight "V" shape. I haven't had any issues even running 275/35/18's and 1.12" torsion bars. The top corner of the tab isn't doing much strength wise for the mount, the lower corner and leg where it's welded to the frame is the important part. Plus that's the side that's continuous with the shock mount. A gusset wouldn't hurt any either, but I don't think it's a "must have" situation especially for a street car.

MRGTX said:
Thanks but am I the only one on this forum who doesn't weld? :D
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It is a super handy skill to have. There are some pretty inexpensive MIG welders out there now that would still do just fine for some occasional work. I would want a gas set up so as not to deal with the flux core thing, but even then you can get fairly inexpensive machines to do that. A 110 welder can still get a lot done on these cars if you're not going crazy with chassis stiffening. Even if you are, just have to watch your duty cycle. And a lot of JC's offer intro to welding courses that are pretty inexpensive and super helpful for a beginner if you don't know where to start.
 
this was great i'm about to place some qa-1 uca small ball and lca on my 64 barracuda . not worried about lca's not having early mounts for the sway bar , welding is not an issue . i'll fab whats needed . if i go with one . using 340 t bars n k/h disc's with them . i've seen your input more than once regarding front suspension 72blunblu . you have great advice always .
 
thinking on placing a gusset like the other one to the out side of the travel area . are these qa-1 parts great or just better than stock ?
 
QA1 makes good stuff. How they compare to the other stuff out there depends on your application. I think that the QA1 stuff is great for a street car. The added built in caster means better alignment specs (more positive caster), and the fact that they have bushings and not heims should mean they'll last longer on the street than other tubular arms with heims. They also have a pad so they work with the stock bumpstop location, which a lot of the tubular arms won't.

The only possible drawbacks are having to clearance the mounts and the fact that they aren't adjustable, so you can't dial in more caster for your application. They just have a fixed amount. But with more caster already built in that shouldn't be an issue for most folks, and it means that the alignment is done the same way as stock UCA's just by using the camber bolts. Adjustable arms mean you can dial in almost any kind of alignment specs you want, which is handy if you need a more extreme alignment for autoX or road race. It also makes the alignment process more complex because you have adjustments at the camber bolts and also at the UCA itself. But for a street car that shouldn't be needed and the additional built in caster should be fine to set up some great numbers.

So they might not be great for everyone, but I think they're a really nice option for folks that want to run primarily on the street with a more modern alignment without having to deal with heims or making your own bump stops.
 
thamks for that insight . the car isc a 64 barracuda 4spd , doing a 340 6pck init , the car will set as the first 43jr did . with vintage 4'' patterned americans t70's on the noise , and steels on the rear in 4'' bc 15x8's i built . it will sit high by todays standards , just more room for pan n headers clearance .

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That is common on various tubular a arm brands ... keep in mind that you need to take a little off corner ... once the vehicle is on the ground a arm should move up to give more clearance in this area ...at least mind did... i did not reinforce due to a SLIGHT trimming of corner on bracket ...
 
I know this is an older thread but I’d read it awhile back as I was randomly surfing FABO. I’d forgot all about this thread until I went to install my QA1 UCA’s and they hit in the same spot as the OP’s. I instantly had a flashback to this thread so a quick google search later, I found this thread again and cleared up any questions I had. So thanks to everyone who posted in here!! FABO’s the best
 
MRGTX said:
I spent a few hours getting the QA1 UCAs installed. The driver's side seems ok but on the passenger side, there's a piece of sheet metal that interferes with the travel of the control arm.

I can't see how I could have screwed up the installation so is this just a case of "extra" sheet metal from Detroit or is the arm not designed correctly?

In either case, should I take the cutting wheel to that metal to provide the clearance?

Could that weaken the mounting point?

View attachment 1715052341
Click to expand...
I had to notch on driver and passenger side.
 
Mopar put out a Technical Service Bulletin for the '73 models for a fix if a car suffered from a loss of alignment. The dealer-fix was to weld a gusset on the UCA mounts if cracks were noted.
So "in general" it could be assumed that some reinforcements in this area is recommend, especially when the car is used on a more performance orientated way.
 
BigBlockMopar said:
Mopar put out a Technical Service Bulletin for the '73 models for a fix if a car suffered from a loss of alignment. The dealer-fix was to weld a gusset on the UCA mounts if cracks were noted.
So "in general" it could be assumed that some reinforcements in this area is recommend, especially when the car is used on a more performance orientated way.
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Kind of off topic, But what did you guys do for the steering stops, I have new spindles so no idea of what was there before. Some pics would explain much better than words. Thanks, guys.
 
MRGTX said:
I spent a few hours getting the QA1 UCAs installed. The driver's side seems ok but on the passenger side, there's a piece of sheet metal that interferes with the travel of the control arm.

I can't see how I could have screwed up the installation so is this just a case of "extra" sheet metal from Detroit or is the arm not designed correctly?

In either case, should I take the cutting wheel to that metal to provide the clearance?

Could that weaken the mounting point?

View attachment 1715052341
Click to expand...
All that I did was take a pair of vise grips and bend the corner down and it worked perfect!
 
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