Has anyone tried these lower control arm stiffening plates?
http://store.yahoo.com/chucker54/coarmstpl.html
Any feed-back would be appreciated.

Bob D

I was looking at those over at Mancini racing's site earlier. In practical terms, I wonder just how much effect stiffening the LCA in that fashoin will help. It looks like it's strengthening against lateral deflection, but that should be controlled by the strut rod. On a serious corner carver (like Lou's Dart) you might see a difference, but I wonder just how hard you have to push before it shows up.

_________________
Brett

1963 Valiant Vert(225 /6)
1964 Dart GT Vert(225 /6)
1965 Dart GT (273)
1966 Barracuda (273)
1966 Dart (225 /6)
1970 Charger R/T (440)
1972 Satellite 4 door (318)
1974 Valiant 4 door (318)
1981 Ramcharger (318)
1987 RamVan (225 /6)

While a viable upgrade on an all out race car, on a street car it's likely that you'd never see the benifits of such an upgrade.
The idea is that by preventing deflection of the arm, you limit suspension and alignment changes. Big factors, especially considering when and where those changes take place, and what their effects are. =:^o

FWIW, the plates don't necessairly have to be THAT big...

-JYH
64 Dart, Road Racer
SoCal

Those are made by arengineering.com. I have a couple of sets I'll be using on my '64 Dart and "Project V" racecar. My guess is you'll never see the difference unless you're a pretty nutty driver or do racing, as JYH says.

I have seen UCAs flex when I've had them in a vise prying on them, but I don't know how much you'd see on the road. Also, they are probably more important for heavier SB and BB cars or B,C,E bodies.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Lou, i had forgotten that AR Engineering made them... I've bought stuff from them before and can attest to their quality and design.
For those of you that are just a little bit off and looking for stuff that's on the edge have a look see at their site.

http://arengineering.com/index.html

As an aside, i fabbed up my own-- seeing the type of racing i participate in they had to be very inconspicious. Some 3X2 sheet and a few tack welds. Heat and a BFH. Molded the sheet to the arm with a little brute force, seam welded and then ground smooth and semi-gloss to hide it all.
*rubbs hands together greedily*

-JYH
i'm not sneaky.... just creative
64 Dart
SoCal

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I suggest Lou inadvertantly answered things for us without realizing it. If one can flex an LCA in a vise, I suggest the car is going to put a whole lot more stress on it than you and your pry bar will.

Cheap insurance.....put 'em on.....I intend to when it comes time.

Roger

Lou,
You must be eating your Wheaties! I guess that unless there's a down side these may be worth the relatively small cost. I'm not planning any nutty driving but you never know when you might have to go extreme in an emergency situation.
Bob D

Sounds like "Chicken Soup" work for a street car: Might help, can't hurt, tastes good! I may just have to add that to my disk brake conversion/suspension rebuild plan ...

Nitpicker Disclaimer: Yes, you're right, I suppose it could hurt.

Lou said he watched UCA's flex, not LCAs.

_________________
Brett

1963 Valiant Vert(225 /6)
1964 Dart GT Vert(225 /6)
1965 Dart GT (273)
1966 Barracuda (273)
1966 Dart (225 /6)
1970 Charger R/T (440)
1972 Satellite 4 door (318)
1974 Valiant 4 door (318)
1981 Ramcharger (318)
1987 RamVan (225 /6)

<<Lou said he watched UCA's flex, not LCAs>>

Ahhh... but he intended LCA's...

Also, a minor note of importance. On a street car most of the deflection a LCA sees is not of the torsional variety. Put an LCA in a vise, take a big pry par, torsionally you'll be able to move it about-- now try bending that mofo in an up and down fashion... yeahhhh...

those LCA plates are meant to hamper torsional deflection, which are usually caused by big wide sticky tires and pulling big G's around the corners. **theoretically** the kind of stuff you'd not normally see in a street car. however, a little overkill never hurt nobody.

-JYH
64 Dart, Trans-Am
SoCal

He might have... though I've seen UCA's bend while in a vice also so I woulnd't bet on it.

Love those Upper Balljoints installations out of the car.

_________________
Brett

1963 Valiant Vert(225 /6)
1964 Dart GT Vert(225 /6)
1965 Dart GT (273)
1966 Barracuda (273)
1966 Dart (225 /6)
1970 Charger R/T (440)
1972 Satellite 4 door (318)
1974 Valiant 4 door (318)
1981 Ramcharger (318)
1987 RamVan (225 /6)

Heh heh heh... yeah... if i had a dime for ever UCA i effed up... i wouldn't be rich, but "well-off" could certainly describe it.
*tounge planted firmly in cheek*

After having a shop make the distance between my UCA bushings effectively smaller-- thus not allowing them to fit properly AND stripping the UBJ threads i decided that it was time i did my own work from now on... no car of mine shall see a hamfisted neanderthal again!
*manical laughter ensues*

now back to your regularly scheduled mopar discussions...

-JYH
66 D100 Longbox, no UCA's... ahhh... the luxury!
SoCal Baby, SoCal

Whoops, I did mean LCAs. They carry almost all the load.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I'm going to box the LCA's on my Duster, but I am also going to run coil-overs instead of torsion bars. I'm just doing it because it looks cool. If I'm flexing the LCA from cornering stress, I am in really deep poop anyway.

_________________
Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

FWIW, Ma Mopar never boxed the LCA's on their '76 Police Darts. However, they did gusset the upper control arm mounting ears on the frame, and then reinforced the strut rod bushing area, as I recall.

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'66 Cuda 225/4spd
'66 Dart GT convertible 225/auto
'64 Dart GT 340/4spd