Anyone have any experience with these upper control arms?

[Back N Black]

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sps-94450/make/dodge/model/charger/year/1969

[Kern Dog]

For the street?  
Imagine the noise and vibration they will transmit.

[John_Kunkel]

The inner fittings appear to be poly bushings, not "heim joints". 

[Kern Dog]

The inner fittings appear to be poly bushings, not "heim joints". 

I'm sorry, you are right. I didn't look close enough. My mistake.

[Back N Black]

Just want my charger to track down the road a little better. I was thinking I could more caster out of these upper control arms. Its a street car, cruiser, but want more stability on the highway.

[twenty mike mike]

Those don't look very substantial. These have worked very well for me.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hss-1110u-a/make/dodge/model/charger/year/1969

[Kern Dog]

Nine hundred and ten dollars.   
Heim joints.   

[Mopar Nut]

For only $90 more, you can get $100 off. 

[b5blue]

Just want my charger to track down the road a little better. I was thinking I could more caster out of these upper control arms. Its a street car, cruiser, but want more stability on the highway.

Consider Moog offset bushings for your UCA's. I installed them staggered to tweak castor. 

[Back N Black]

Just want my charger to track down the road a little better. I was thinking I could more caster out of these upper control arms. Its a street car, cruiser, but want more stability on the highway.

Consider Moog offset bushings for your UCA's. I installed them staggered to tweak castor. 

You have any more info on the Moog offset bushings?

[b5blue]

https://www.manciniracing.com/trwmoofupcoa.html 
See how the hole is not in the center.    One in and one out will move the ball joint forward or back or both out will move the ball joint outwards.

[twenty mike mike]

Nine hundred and ten dollars.   
Heim joints.   

Yeah, I almost went into A-fib when I saw that price. I think mine were a third of that. But they sure look good in the wheel well.

If Heim joints are good enough for highly stressed flight control systems, they're good enough for ground based vehicles. I get no noise or vibration from them.

[WHITE AND RED 69]

I've heard good things about the SPC arms. They are easy to adjust but I always wondered about the strength(never heard about any failures though). They just came out with an updated design too but its double the price.

The Moog bushings will get some extra adjustability but there are a lot of complaints about not being able to get enough caster out of them. I'd go with updated arms, I personally think the QA1's are one of the best on the market and for a decent price. I run them on my Duster and was able to get more than enough adjustment out of them. If I didn't have the old style Hotchkis arms on my charger I'd go with the QA1's. 

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/qa1-52305/make/dodge/model/charger/year/1969

Heim joints are rough on the street but aren't too bad, just have avoid potholes at all costs. But they are the best if handling is your goal. But you also run 15" wheels so there is some extra cushion compared to my 18" wheels.

[Mike DC]

                          

If Heim joints are good enough for highly stressed flight control systems, they're good enough for ground based vehicles. I get no noise or vibration from them.

Stress is one thing, shock loading is something else.  Ground vehicles get vibrated & knocked around more than planes do.  Custom-fabricated racecars still use steel in places where planes could get away with aluminum.  

Heims in a car suspension may not break, but that just means the shock loading got passed on to the unibody.  IMO a car with heims has to be treated as more fragile than a car with rubber bushings.  

You can probably get away with it (street-driven heims) as long as the tires are eating all the impacts.  But you may be in trouble if a rim gets impacted directly.  That basically means the unibody gets hit directly.


Full disclosure:  I prefer rubber in any street cruiser.  Even if it's built for handling.  When you hear somebody complaining about rubber, they are usually complaining about 30+ year old rubber.

[twenty mike mike]

                         

If Heim joints are good enough for highly stressed flight control systems, they're good enough for ground based vehicles. I get no noise or vibration from them.

Stress is one thing, shock loading is something else.  Ground vehicles get vibrated & knocked around more than planes do.  Custom-fabricated racecars still use steel in places where planes could get away with aluminum.  

Heims in a car suspension may not break, but that just means the shock loading got passed on to the unibody.  IMO a car with heims has to be treated as more fragile than a car with rubber bushings.  

You can probably get away with it (street-driven heims) as long as the tires are eating all the impacts.  But you may be in trouble if a rim gets impacted directly.  That basically means the unibody gets hit directly.


Full disclosure:  I prefer rubber in any street cruiser.  Even if it's built for handling.  When you hear somebody complaining about rubber, they are usually complaining about 30+ year old rubber.

So airplanes are not subjected to shock loading (which is, by the way, stress) during maneuvering and turbulence? Not subjected to as much vibration as a car?

Spoiler alert: Yes, they are. When it comes to vibration, probably more. Stop drilled a crack in your car lately?

After installing the Hotchkis UCAs there was zero degradation in ride quality, but a vast improvement in handling.

Since I don't have to navigate pot holed streets, I'll just continue to enjoy my "fragile" car.

[Mike DC]

So airplanes are not subjected to shock loading (which is, by the way, stress) during maneuvering and turbulence? Not subjected to as much vibration as a car?

Spoiler alert: Yes, they are. When it comes to vibration, probably more. Stop drilled a crack in your car lately?

After installing the Hotchkis UCAs there was zero degradation in ride quality, but a vast improvement in handling.

Since I don't have to navigate pot holed streets, I'll just continue to enjoy my "fragile" car.

Yeah, sure.  That's exactly what I meant.  I literally believe that airplanes never get shock loads or vibration. 


The reason why people don't stop-drill a lot of cracks in cars, is because car structures aren't built with so little reserve (in terms of metal fatigue) for it to happen much . . . because cars get so much vibration & shock-loading abuse.  That, and weight isn't as critical in street-legal cars.  

Nobody builds aluminum rollcages in cars.  Lots of planes have totally aluminum structures.  But planes are built to flex more, and they see less severe shock-loading.  (Not less force, less sharp shocks.)   Even if an aluminum rollcage was built robust enough for a crash, it would still fatigue-crack itself apart as the car chassis flexed during normal usage.  



Let's take a car with heim joints and slide it sideways into a high curb so the wheel rim itself hits the cement.  Then we'll try the same stunt with a car that has rubber control arm bushings.   One of those unibodies will see a higher shock-load than the other.      

Is this a freak rare event?  I can think of several places in my town where there is a tight turn and the curb is chipped & gouged & tire-marked from multiple cars hitting it.  I once had a girlfriend who destroyed 3 wheel rims in about 3 years.  This stuff is only freak-rare for restored muscle cars because we treat them so carefully (as if they are FRAGILE, or something).  

[mally69]

I have SPC i havent drove the car yet but there on it. I do not like the grade 5 bolts they came with i am changing to grade 8

[nativefx]

I've got the newer forged SPC upper arms in my 68 charger.  I've only got about 800 miles on it so far before winter hit, so I'm waiting for things to warm up.  My impressions so far are all good, but can't differentiate just the upper arms as I redid the whole front end at the same time.  The new forged arms were included in the suspension kit from Bergman Autocraft.  I always thought the original arms looked a little flimsy and was told they would have to be replaced "at some point" depending on the amount of driving.

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