EdwardL

I have a 94 Trans am and a lot of stuff down below is getting rusty and I'd like to start replacing everythign with shiny new parts. I'm going to be doing shocks/springs soon so while thats out of the car why not throw in some new control arms?

I'm looking at lmperformance (i'm not sure if they're a sponsor) but under suspension theres so much stuff to pick from.

BMR adj Upper A-arm
BMR Lower A-arm
BMR non-adj Upper A-arm
BMR Upper and Lower A-arm Kit
G2 Adjustable Front A-Arms Pair
G2 Adjustable Upper A Arms G
PA Racing Tubular Lower A-Arm, 1993-2002 F-body, Chrome Moly
PA Racing Tubular Lower A-Arm, 1993-2002 F-body, Mild Steel
Spohn Tubular Lower A-Arms 93-02 F-Body
Spohn Tubular Lower A-Arms 93-02 F-Body - Chrome Moly
Spohn Tubular Upper A-Arms w/rod ends 93-02 F-Body
Spohn Tubular Upper A-Arms w/rod ends 93-02 F-Body Chrome Moly
Spohn Tubular Upper A-Arms w/rod ends 93-02 F-Body Chrome Moly with ball joints
Spohn Tubular Upper A-Arms w/rod ends 93-02 F-Body with ball joints
Spohn Upper A-Arms w/bushings 93-02 F-Body Chrome Moly w/ball Joints
Spohn Upper A-Arms w/bushings 93-02 F-Body Chrome Moly w/o ball joints
Spohn Upper A-Arms w/bushings 93-02 F-Body w/o ball joints
Spohn Upper A-Arms w/bushings 93-02 F-Body with ball joints

I don't know which brand is best, or even which ones to get.
There's also a bunch of adjustable brackest and bushing kits.

Can anyone help clear this up for me? I don't want to get the wrong stuff.

JimMueller

iTrader: (9)

Best for which application? How much time will the car spend on the street, vs drag racing vs autocrossing vs roadracing vs ... ?

EdwardL

Daily driver for now. I'm still not sure what I want to do with it in the future. Most likely drag.

Foxxtron

iTrader: (1)

Not to get you frustrated, however the "wrong stuff" will be those that will yield you little or no return for your money. I'd say stick around and do some research, then go for the items that are really going to give you something to "work with."

Also, if you plan on keeping this vehicle as a daily driver and part-time track competitor, you should bear in mind that most of the items above will not help very well with many street applications, and many times they end up not not saving the weight but rather yielding the same or sometimes more.

My vote, stick with the shocks and springs for now, then when you decide where you want to go with the vehicle, you'll probably get better response.

If you have to in the meantime (depending on how rusty they are and if they're not deformed), you could pull off your rusty A-arms, remove the rust, them coat them with some sort of high quality rust prevention paint. While you're at it, you could replace all the bushings with Moog problem solver bushings and ball joints so you can get much more use out of the arms, which might be the problem if you're hearing lots of wierd noises from the front end.

AFA your list goes, any of the ones with poly will not be very good for handling, such as AX and RR, even some high performance street DD as they add stiction and bind that aren't conducive to improved handling. I like rod ends, however only the G2's lowers are what I recommend for anything other than dedicated drag racing, even if they're considered overbuilt. The other designs I don't like for the street since the lower A-arm bears most of the loads from the suspension. AFA the upper A-arms, I wouldn't consider replacing them because:

1. The stock ones easy to repaint and recoat, provided they're not rusted beyond repair (highly doubt it).

2. The aftermarket ones tend to weigh around the same, sometimes more.

3. AFA Poly ones, will add uncessary bind and stiction for street, AX and RR.

4. Most importantly, the loads for many AX and RR apps on the upper A-arm don't exceed the OE design spec, so why spend the extra money if you don't need adjustibility.

LS1RedZ

iTrader: (19)

I noticed you only put Spohn and BMR down. Have you looked at UMI's products because they have some nice stuff at a pretty good price.

Cumbias

Hotchkis and Edelbrock make some nice ones too.

Foxxtron

iTrader: (1)

For front upper and lower? I have noticed that they make rear trailing arms, however I haven't seen any front upper and lower A-arms from them, or I would like to say, "wishbones."

AFA handling goes, my vote for an upper would be for Global West arms, and for the Lower's would be LG G2, however once again, how much adjustment will one need?

For the thread starter, how much moisture is in your environment? If you choose ones with rod ends and you live in a moist environment, you'll need to maintain and possibly replace them quite often. Another factor to bear in mind with rod ends is to get used to more labourius alignment jobs, because they will not adjust like the stock arms, which are quite okay for many apps, even some RR. Again, poly bushings, especially for the lower control arms aren't very conducive to handling. The added bind and stiction acutally worsens the performance rather than improve on the rubber, plus you'll need to keep them lubricated as well, and they'll still suffer from cold-flow (or what we scientists refer to simply as "creep.")

Cumbias

No they dont make front control arms, only rears. Wonder why hotchkis hasn't made ones? I remember reading somewhere that stock ones worked well for most applications.
Also UMI seems to have a good reputation.

LMPerformance

iTrader: (2)

We have been a sponsor since the forums first started
you may want to send me an email and i can help go over this stuff and what you are doing with the car. our email is sales@lmperformance.com.