Suspension Rear Control Arms

GoldenEagle91 · May 4, 2014

Hi guys,

I was looking at rear control arms and I was wondering if upper control arms were necessary cause I see a lot of lower ones available seperate. I guess what I wanted to know was what benefit would it be to handling to replace the upper control arms as well? My assumption would be that the ride would be slightly more stiff over stock but I do not know for sure.

Thanks,
Andrew

mikestang63 · May 4, 2014

what's your use- street or strip. For a DD , get a good set of lowers like MM and upgrade the bushings in your stock ones to Cobra rubber bushings. No need IMO for adjustable ones on a DD, as you don't need to adjust pinion angle.

GoldenEagle91 · May 4, 2014

It would be primarily DD but I would like to give drag racing a try in the future. Everyone who I've talked to says that MM are the way to go. Do you mind me asking why to go with rubber bushings when a lot of the aftermarket stuff comes with urethane bushings? I'm not questioning your knowledge, I was just wondering is all.

mikestang63 · May 4, 2014

GoldenEagle91 said:
It would be primarily DD but I would like to give drag racing a try in the future. Everyone who I've talked to says that MM are the way to go. Do you mind me asking why to go with rubber bushings when a lot of the aftermarket stuff comes with urethane bushings? I'm not questioning your knowledge, I was just wondering is all.

Poly bushings will cause binding. Go to the MM website and you will see they do not recommend poly bushings and in fact do not seel upper control arms for a reason.

GoldenEagle91 · May 4, 2014

mikestang63 said:
Poly bushings will cause binding. Go to the MM website and you will see they do not recommend poly bushings and in fact do not seel upper control arms for a reason.

Oh okay, I was just curious. This is all a bit new to me so I was just wondering is all. Thanks for the background info

GoldenEagle91 · May 5, 2014

mikestang63 said:
Poly bushings will cause binding. Go to the MM website and you will see they do not recommend poly bushings and in fact do not seel upper control arms for a reason.

I read into what you mentioned on MM's website. Thanks for sending me that direction, good info

rbohm · May 5, 2014

since you want a daily driver, unless they are in bad shape, leave the upper arms alone, they are just fine. if you really feel you have to upgrade them when replacing them, follow MMs advice on which arms to get, i think they recommend the 94-95 upper arms, again the stock versions.

as for the lower arms, go with good after market arms that provide as much flexibility as possible to prevent suspension binding. one thing you will note, some companies build arms with urethane bushings at both ends, some with urethane bushings at one end and a spherical bearing at the other. i like the latter with the bearing at the chassis end of the arm as i feel it relieves some of the pressure on the control arm mounting points.

GoldenEagle91 · May 5, 2014

I probably won't bother picking up new upper arms and will just replace the bushings as mikestang suggested. I believe MM uses the same setup that you prefer for the lowers. The idea of using a bearing to allow some rotation seems to make sense in my head so that some movement is allowed. Rigidly attaching parts isn't always the best route to go and it seems that that is what MM is getting at as well as you guys.

GoldenEagle91 · May 5, 2014

I have one more question that I just thought of. Does that same principle of wanting some give apply for a suspension component like a front sway bar that may have used rubber bushings as OE equipment that is then changed to urethane bushings? Just curious if the same applied cause I know that Eibach supplies urethane bushings with their front sway bar kit.

89oem · May 5, 2014

did you get your CC plates yet? if not now would be ideal while you do the front... i use urethane up front, stock rear... follow mikes advise for sure...

GoldenEagle91 · May 5, 2014

89oem said:
did you get your CC plates yet? if not now would be ideal while you do the front... i use urethane up front, stock rear... follow mikes advise for sure...

I dont have the money to do the springs and all that go with it at the moment but I wanted to do control arms and a sway bar kit when i do get some money in my pocket. I shouldnt need to CC plates at the moment though cause I wouldnt be dropping the ride height any right?

mikestang63 · May 5, 2014

GoldenEagle91 said:
I have one more question that I just thought of. Does that same principle of wanting some give apply for a suspension component like a front sway bar that may have used rubber bushings as OE equipment that is then changed to urethane bushings? Just curious if the same applied cause I know that Eibach supplies urethane bushings with their front sway bar kit.

No, as the sway bar and front control arms are not subject to the torque that the rear is, so you don't have the same issue. Go ahead and replace the sway bar bushings with good poly ones like Prothane or Energy suspension.

mikestang63 · May 5, 2014

GoldenEagle91 said:
I dont have the money to do the springs and all that go with it at the moment but I wanted to do control arms and a sway bar kit when i do get some money in my pocket. I shouldnt need to CC plates at the moment though cause I wouldnt be dropping the ride height any right?

Correct, as long as you are not dropping the car more than 1", you should be fine. If you are on a budget- you can try and cut the springs 1/2 coil- although I do not recommend this but people have done it.

smkshw · May 5, 2014

mikestang63 said:
Poly bushings will cause binding. Go to the MM website and you will see they do not recommend poly bushings and in fact do not seel upper control arms for a reason.

great....wish i didnt read that,read their info and it makes me re-think my purchase,thanks a lot...lol

GoldenEagle91 · May 5, 2014

mikestang63 said:
No, as the sway bar and front control arms are not subject to the torque that the rear is, so you don't have the same issue. Go ahead and replace the sway bar bushings with good poly ones like Prothane or Energy suspension.

Okay, just wanted to double check. Thank you for explaining

mikestang63 said:
Correct, as long as you are not dropping the car more than 1", you should be fine. If you are on a budget- you can try and cut the springs 1/2 coil- although I do not recommend this but people have done it.

Yeah, I'll hold off on doing anything like that. If I'm going to take the time to do something, I want to do it the right way. Jerry rigging things always seems to come back and bite ya in the ars in one way or another.

rbohm · May 5, 2014

mikestang63 said:
No, as the sway bar and front control arms are not subject to the torque that the rear is, so you don't have the same issue. Go ahead and replace the sway bar bushings with good poly ones like Prothane or Energy suspension.

in fact i would say that you must change the stock rubber sway bar bushings out for urethane as it makes the sway bar more effective since it virtually eliminates bushing deflection.

Grabbin' Asphalt · May 6, 2014

Good info here, looking to do some things like this.

GoldenEagle91 · May 6, 2014

rbohm said:
in fact i would say that you must change the stock rubber sway bar bushings out for urethane as it makes the sway bar more effective since it virtually eliminates bushing deflection.

Makes sense to me as well.

Suspension Rear Control Arms

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