Tubular Rear Control Arms

Would you be interested in Tubular Rear Control Arms?

  • Yes, if the Price was "Reasonable"

    Votes: 102 82.9%

  • Yes, at Almost any Price

    Votes: 6 4.9%

  • No Thanks, Stock is Good Enough

    Votes: 15 12.2%
  • Total voters
    123
Thomas A

Thomas A

Registered User
This is just an idea at this point, but I have been speaking with a very well known suspension company about the possibility of making tubular rear control arms for our cars. I am looking at having them make uppers for sure, and looking at the logistics of the lowers. I don't know if the lowers will even be possible considering the IRS and how much the lower control arm does in our car. Anyway, please vote in the above poll. This is very early, so there is no pricing info or number needed or anything like that.

Feel free to post comments or suggestions regarding this topic.

Thomas
 
Sounds good brotha! If it were posible to have the LCA's made that would be insane!!!:D Keep us posted!
 
Yes, they offer a lot of advantages, mainly strength and weight. I am just afraid that the lowers would be so complicated that it would drive cost out of reach for most. I'll see what we can come up with.

Thomas
 
Any ideas on how the uppers would be mounted? Would they be a mount to the body, or would they be somehow worked into conjunction with the IRS?

If they are attached to the body, do you have any plans for body strengthening where the mounting points would have to be?

I'd be interested if the price was right.
 
If they bolt up to the stock locations, then I'd be interested. Not sure if thats even an option, but the idea sounds sweet.
 
I'd be all over 2 sets of rear LCAs--but is it worth it for rear UCAs? The stock ones can't be very heavy as is, and I'd rather see the effort put into front control arms. Still, I'm definitely in for the lowers.

As for coilovers in back, one thing to consider would be that even if the LCA itself could be designed differently, to be strong enough for coilovers, what about the upper shock mount? Would just adding a big piece of steel bar or L-bracket to the inside or outside of the body be enough strength to support the whole tail end of the car?
 
I think the main advantage to the rear upper arms would be strength. They would not flex like the factory ones do. In theory, the bushings where they mount to the body of the car should absorb the majority of the energy, thus saving the body from having to take the force. However, that doesn't always work as well as it should, so some good road/track testing would be helpful.

Thomas
 
I'd be more then willing to test these as I get major wheelhop and would love to see if a stronger upper can reduce flex and help with that
 
I would want to know the difference in weight over the Lincoln LCSs first. Then I would want to know if I could get rid of the rear spring with a coil over setup that is used on the POS mustang. If they were lighter, AND had the option of a coilover setup and it was under a grand, I would probably go for it. We would of course then need a stronger shock mount for the top:rolleyes:

Chris
 
I would be interested in uppers if they were triangulated. Make one new weld-on mounting bracket and adjust camber with threaded rod. I hate that factory inner bushing.

Lowers would be cool, but the aluminum arms seem strong enough to me.
 
Yeah...I would be happy if the spring perch that gets added to the aluminum arm was a bit better. Say, with the center hollowed out to reduce even more weight.

Chris
 
Just curious, and slightly on/off topic, but does anyone know if they still make a tubular front k-members for our cars? I think Kenny Brown did for a time, but it's been years since I heard anything about it.

Thomas, if this place can make tubular rear control arms, think they can or would be interested in making a tubular front k-member?
 
AJE makes a tubular K member..need to use the complete setup ..COil overs to tubular arms..It gets rid of the strut rod setup..Unsure how good it is for handeling or ride quality however
 
DamonSlowpokeBaumann said:
I'd be more then willing to test these as I get major wheelhop and would love to see if a stronger upper can reduce flex and help with that
Click to expand...

I have a feeling that a stronger upper would help wheel hop, but also worry about reducing weight in the rear.

[soapbox]
Without losing an equal amount up front to counter-balance the weight reduction in the rear, the car will become more nose heavy than before. This will lead to increased understeer that may not be easily compensated for by increased sway-bar size/pre-load, stiffer spring rate, or power induced oversteer. Also, power induced oversteer may become more dangerous, and launch characteristics might be changed negatively (think more wheel-hop!)
[/soapbox]

I think before we look at losing more rear weight, we should really concentrate on losing nose weight. Balance is key to a car that handles and behaves well.
 
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