upper control arms

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weelze

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I have a 66 valiant, im converting it to disc brakes. I have 84 new yorker spindles, and lower 67 balljoints. The top ball joint needs to be changed to the bigger ball joint. Im told that the upper control arm needs to b swapped out for a 73-76 dart a arm to keep the geometry correct. Im looking for a source for tubular upper control arms that are reasonable priced, or should i stay with the factory 73 an later arms? Any info will help, thanks
 
The F/M/J spindle you've got has a larger diameter taper for the upper ball joint, so you either need control arms that use the larger ball joint, or a set of tapered sleeves to make up the difference.

Dr. Diff sells the tapered sleeves http://www.doctordiff.com/a-body-upper-ball-joint-tapered-adapter.html. These allow you to keep your stock upper control arms, no need for the later 73+ factory UCA's or tubular UCA's. I would suggest that you also get a set of Moog 7103 offset UCA bushings though, so you can set your car up with a proper alignment using specs for radial tires- ie, something like -.5* camber, +3 caster (or more) and 1/16" toe in. The factory specs are for bias plys, and are horrible for radial tires.

If you don't like the idea of the tapered sleeves you either need the 73+ factory A body UCA's or a set of tubular UCA's designed for the 73+ cars with the larger upper ball joint. With the factory arms I would again recommend the offset bushings. Tubular arms are nice, they have the geometry correction provided by the offset bushings built into the arms in most cases, and most also give more clearance for things like really wide front rims/tires. I would stay away from tubular UCA's that use heim joints if you're planning on mostly street use, the heims just don't last as long on the street. But Firm Feel, PST, Bergman Auto Craft, etc all make tubular control arms that will do the part. Firm Feel's and PST's arms are "non-adjustable", meaning the geometry is fixed and the alignment is done with the camber bolts just like stock. With the built in geometry correction that should work just fine for pretty much everybody. Peter Bergman (a member here as well, GMachineDartGT) sells adjustable SPC arms that are bushed and double adjustable. They're awesome, but overkill for most folks that just drive on the street.
 
I think you'll also need the 73+ lower balljoints. I had bought a 73+ suspension rebuild kit and by the time I installed it I forgot it was the 73+ kit and the lower balljoints wouldn't bolt to the sbp spindles so in that case the 67 lower BJs won't bolt to the 84 spindles either.
 
The 67 ball joints bolt up, i just have to nuts on the back side as there are no threads in them. So if i get the tappered inserts and the offset bushings all be good? Where do i get the moog part?
 
The 67 ball joints bolt up, i just have to nuts on the back side as there are no threads in them. So if i get the tappered inserts and the offset bushings all be good? Where do i get the moog part?

Should be able to get the Moog parts almost anywhere, I would think even your local parts store would be able to order them. Summit and RockAuto both sell them. Rockauto lists cheaper, but if you have other stuff to get from Summit you can get free shipping so it would be a wash

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mog-k7103

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php?catalog=11&partnum=K7103&a=www.google.com%2BSearch%2Bfor%2BMOOG%2BK7103&blanktemplate=true

Oh, and don't install them as per the directions, install them like this for + caster.
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If you you haven't already decided on the offset bushings, I'd recommend the QA1 Tubular Control Arms (52301). These are for 73-76 A-bodies. Summit currently has them for under $300 for the pair. I've read nothing but positive reviews on these and they are the only tubular CA that has a bump stop plate built in.

Travis
 
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