New Upper A-arms. BIG Difference in Ride Quality.

[HighMileage]

Just went for a maiden voyage after putting new tubular upper control arms on. My original ones had the shot bushing thing going on. As usual,the right side bushings were cooked. The drivers side bushings were dry/split.

What a huge difference. The front end actually floats over bumps now,compared to slamming over them. This is probably much easier on the car,too. Less banging over the horrible roads up here in upstate NY.

Now I'm wondering if I should change the lowers.

Got 'em from G-body. New Moog ball joints,too. My ball joints were tight,but I replaced them anyway.

One of the best "bang for the buck" things I've done so far:

 

[Toady]

I experienced something similar when I did the front end back in 2006 with G-body uppers. Also added new bushings in the stock lowers, Bilsteins, and Moog 5660s - which are stiffer than stock.

There's a big dip in the road near my house, and with the original pieces, every time I drove over it the t-tops would pop like they were going to fall out. After the replacement, no more pop.

 

[LEGACY_GN]

Everything I've heard said the lowers offer no benefit. Have you considered the taller ball joints from sc and c? Big improvement for little money.

 

[Hoffs six]

What does the taller (1/2" ?) ball joint do? Do you use 2 of the same side for the uppers?

 

[LEGACY_GN]

Call sc and c. The guy is probably the smartest person you'll ever talk to about suspension and he'll talk to you for at least 30 minutes, but when your done your mind will be blown, lol. Anyway, been a few years but it changes the camber of the wheel when the suspension compresses going into a turn and keeps it more straight to keep a flatter contact patch of tire on road instead of the tire riding on the outer edge. Basically the top of the wheel tire pitches out with the shorter ball joints. Like I said, he's the rocket scientist and can explain it better. Nicest guy in the world and very helpful.

 

[1KWIKSIX]

When I installed my GBody upper tubular control arms I installed the 1/2" taller ball joints too. At the same time I also installed UMI's tubular lower control arms.....went with the delrin bushings on these.

The only words to describe this set up is "awesome".
Maybe a little overkill for a street driven car, but WOW, what a difference in ride / steering feel.

 

[charlief1]

What does the taller (1/2" ?) ball joint do? Do you use 2 of the same side for the uppers?

The stock front suspension has some design issues and one of them is the angle of the tires (camber curve) when the front wheels go up and down. By going with taller ball joints top and bottom it helps correct the issue to some degree. You can get the ball joints from several sources like speedway motors, Jegs, and Summit. As a rule you want either a .5" taller top and bottom or a 1" taller lower.

 

[Howling Mad]

Did you have an outrageous amount of positive camber before getting an alignment?