Problems with UMI suspension
Car is.lowered, it needs lca relocation brackets.
I don't want leaky t tops, it needs frame connectors.
I see, but you could always find a set of used stock LCA's. Certainly not needed for handling, if you could even notice a difference at all..
Nope, not unless you want to spend the money. Mine is lowered as well, I bought relocation brackets recently because I get some 2nd gear wheel hop, not only did they not cure the wheel hop, but they hurt my handling as well... (car wants to push in turns now)
Another unneeded part, although these don't hurt atleast. I also have a set of 3 point SFC's welded in, unfortunately I noticed no difference with these. Im guessing because I already fixed what many mistake for chassis flex - lack of shock dampening...
Nope, not unless you want to spend the money. Mine is lowered as well, I bought relocation brackets recently because I get some 2nd gear wheel hop, not only did they not cure the wheel hop, but they hurt my handling as well... (car wants to push in turns now)
Another unneeded part, although these don't hurt atleast. I also have a set of 3 point SFC's welded in, unfortunately I noticed no difference with these. Im guessing because I already fixed what many mistake for chassis flex - lack of shock dampening...
I dont have a stock set of lower control arms, I guess you are the GURU, because the guys over on FRRAX have told me more than once to get them off the car, as did Sam Strano.
The LCA brackets are to get the bars closer to parallel with the ground, mine are pointed down in the front BAD. Again, on FRRAX it is said in many posts this is a good thing to do. Are yours running up hill? Sounds like you need more rear bar.
SFC's? Really? When I can roll down a bumpy road with the windows up and hear the window chatter against the rubber, it has no wind noise or water leaks, it needs FRC's. Anything you can do to stiffen the suspensions base is a good thing. I have read where f body guys dont believe these cars need them, I believe any rear drive uni body car needs them if you wanna beat on it.
Copied from FRRAX
Avoid having poly bushings on both ends. Poly bushings will not allow the LCA to rotate during body roll and this will cause bind. The following LCA’s are acceptable for our uses: rod/rod aftermarket, rod/poly aftermarket, rod/rubber aftermarket, or rubber/rubber stock. Looking at the stock star bushings you can see how they were designed to be stiff in compression or tension, but soft in twist. If you cannot visualize why poly bushings are bad try the following exercise. Go look at the LCA mounting brackets front and rear, now imagine a poly/poly LCA in place and the rear axle glued to the road, now visualize the car in a right or left hand turn, the body rolls, the brackets will twist relative to each other.
Some will argue that poly/poly LCA’s act like a spring and you can tune around them by softening the rear suspension. However, it’s difficult to predict how much stiffness poly bushings add and how it changes during roll, therefore it makes much more sense to tune with springs, sway bars and shocks. Bind is never good.
Lower Control Arm (Rear) Relocation Brackets
There are both bolt-on and weld on LCA relocation brackets. Welding the brackets on is the preferred method. These are brackets welded onto the rear axle which allow the rear of the LCA’s to be lowered. Lowering the LCA’s increases anti-squat. Many drag racers will lower them as low as possible. The downside to this is lowering the LCA’s will cause roll oversteer which will make the car hard to control on course and can be very dangerous. It’s preferred to keep the LCA’s as close as level to minimize the amount of roll steer. In fact it’s preferable to have them slightly inclined towards the front to provide roll understeer which helps in applying power on corner exit.
Roll steer in the rear suspension is caused by the fact that the rear LCA’s scribe an arc as they move. When the car rolls in a turn one side will squat and the other lift causing the LCA’s to move in opposite directions-which they do and in an arc. The effective length of the LCA’s being longer on one side and shorter on another points the axle in a direction non-parallel to the car. If they rear axle points out you get oversteer and if it points in you get understeer. Roll steer is unavoidable but can be minimized by keeping the LCA’s as close to level as possible. Drawing a picture with the LCA’s inclined down, level, and up, along with some imagination, is the best way to visualize rollsteer
Last edited by FASTFATBOY; Mar 22, 2011 at 10:10 PM.
I ordered $700 worth of suspension parts with the understanding that I needed the parts ASAP. First I ordered a phb, called back and ordered lca's , lca brackets and frame connectors, all roto joints.
Not a word was said that they don't have ANY parts on the shelf, they build to order, not a word. I call to check on my order an the guy says it will ship Friday and you will have it in Tuesday. Ok no prob, the HPDE is the 25-26th, which I stressed to him, he said no problem the parts will be there.
20 minutes ago my phone goes off with an email that my parts just shipped WTF?
I call naturally pissed, she explained there was two separate orders, no their wasn't I added to the original order.
What a half assed way to do business, I am now in a bind I have spent $450 on two HPDE days that the car will not be ready for.
If I would have known this I would have bought from Spohn as I will in the future.
Not a word was said that they don't have ANY parts on the shelf, they build to order, not a word. I call to check on my order an the guy says it will ship Friday and you will have it in Tuesday. Ok no prob, the HPDE is the 25-26th, which I stressed to him, he said no problem the parts will be there.
20 minutes ago my phone goes off with an email that my parts just shipped WTF?
I call naturally pissed, she explained there was two separate orders, no their wasn't I added to the original order.
What a half assed way to do business, I am now in a bind I have spent $450 on two HPDE days that the car will not be ready for.
If I would have known this I would have bought from Spohn as I will in the future.
Got the suspension parts when I got home tonight, put them all on in about 2 hrs. All except for the frame connectors, they will have to wait.
I gotta say it feels a good bit better, feels more planted in the rear, all the "twitchy" is gone.
If it dont rain this weekend in Birmingham I'm gonna have a ball.
Thanks Ryan.
I gotta say it feels a good bit better, feels more planted in the rear, all the "twitchy" is gone.
If it dont rain this weekend in Birmingham I'm gonna have a ball.
Thanks Ryan.



