I've been upgrading the suspension on my '70, and i've done the "shelby drop." I'm using stock UCAs, being this is going to be a daily driver (and i'm on a budget). I'm also using granada spindles. I've noticed that the GW tubular UCAs come with a spacer plate that goes between the arm and the tower. Does anyone know if this plate is useful in conjunction with the shelby drop? If so does anyone know the thickness of the plate, so i can fab one up? thanks
spacer plate on UCA?
- Thread starter sc0ttiej
- Start date
i'm sure, the shelby template is just a thin piece of metal with 4 holes for alignment. The spacer plate i've seen looks to be about .25 inches thick and only has the two holes for mounting. You can see what i'm talking about in this picture. It must move the pivot point away from the tower, but without the negative wedge kit, is it a good idea?
2bav8-
i understand what you mean about the global west UCA, but my question is aimed at the stock UCA. The shelby drop potentially causes the upper ball joint to bind with enough suspension travel. A negative wedge kit or Opentracker's UCA mod will correct this potential problem, but would a spacer plate behind the stock UCA be benefitial or would it make the problem worse? I'm just taking shots in the dark, being that i don't fully understand suspension geometry. My hope is that one you might.
i understand what you mean about the global west UCA, but my question is aimed at the stock UCA. The shelby drop potentially causes the upper ball joint to bind with enough suspension travel. A negative wedge kit or Opentracker's UCA mod will correct this potential problem, but would a spacer plate behind the stock UCA be benefitial or would it make the problem worse? I'm just taking shots in the dark, being that i don't fully understand suspension geometry. My hope is that one you might.
The 1" Shelby drop is the maximum drop before UCA ball joint binding will occur. Using a spacer plate with the stock arm might make it difficult to set camber correctly. I have G/West arms on my car, the spacer plate had to be removed on the right side in order to get the camber set correctly. By the way, the G/West drop is more like 1 3/8".
Global West has long claimed that it has an industry exclusive on NEGATIVE roll geometry. According to GW, there's is the only product that produces actual negative camber in extreme body roll situations; all other versions of the Shelby drop transition into positive camber on the outside wheel. The key to that claim is a shorter upper control arm than all the others. However, the only way to use a shorter upper control arm while maintaining a more or less standard track and a standard length lower control arm, and while also have something close to zero camber at ride height, is to move the inner pivot point of the upper control arm out from the shock tower. That's what the spacers are for. They would have no benefit with standard length upper control arms, and would probably make it impossible to achieve zero camber at ride height. They would also change your track. This would be a problem if you're already down to the last quarter inch of fender-tire clearance.
Similar threads
