Tubular or boxed LCA's, any big difference?

95BlueStallion · Feb 22, 2009

Im looking at throwing some LCA's on since I just bought 17X10.5 wheels for the rear (probably going to have to ditch the quad shocks). Jegs and Summit both have tubular LCA's for less than $200, but then BBK and Granatelli sell boxed LCA's for a good price also. Anyone have an opinion on which is stronger? I dont want to drop $400 on MM LCA's cause my car is never going to be a strip car. Also, after reading threads from a search, it seems stock uppers are best for the street since they allow some flex and articulation... Any personal opinions on that subject? I appreciate all the help yall give me with my noob questions.

02nightmaregt · Feb 22, 2009

Fwiw i have UPR tubular lca's and they are great. Heres a pic

95BlueStallion · Feb 22, 2009

02nightmaregt said:
Fwiw i have UPR tubular lca's and they are great. Heres a pic

They look quite a bit shorter... Did you have to spin the adjuster out far to get them to bolt up? I would be leary of that bolt snapping if so...

Venom351R · Feb 22, 2009

You can get MM LCA for $237

95BlueStallion · Feb 22, 2009

Im just curious of the quality difference of the two basically. Granatelli has a tubular version with adjustable perch for $199, and the MM ones appear to be tubular also. Do the MM LCA's just have a really good bushing in them also? The MM HD with adjustable perch are $379... Everyone swears by MM, so that is why I wondered if the boxed style was worth a crap at all?

Venom351R · Feb 22, 2009

95BlueStallion said:
Im just curious of the quality difference of the two basically. Granatelli has a tubular version with adjustable perch for $199, and the MM ones appear to be tubular also. Do the MM LCA's just have a really good bushing in them also? The MM HD with adjustable perch are $379... Everyone swears by MM, so that is why I wondered if the boxed style was worth a crap at all?

The MM bushings are very good. You said its not going to be a strip car so you dont need adjustables. The standard MM LCA will do just fine, it what Im getting this spring and I do quite a bit of track duty in the summer

MM Standard Lower Control Arms Black - For 79-98 Mustangs - StangSuspension.com

drakesdad · Feb 22, 2009

95BlueStallion said:
Im looking at throwing some LCA's on since I just bought 17X10.5 wheels for the rear (probably going to have to ditch the quad shocks). Jegs and Summit both have tubular LCA's for less than $200, but then BBK and Granatelli sell boxed LCA's for a good price also. Anyone have an opinion on which is stronger? I dont want to drop $400 on MM LCA's cause my car is never going to be a strip car. Also, after reading threads from a search, it seems stock uppers are best for the street since they allow some flex and articulation... Any personal opinions on that subject? I appreciate all the help yall give me with my noob questions.

I read the same threads as you I think. I never got a response when I asked about leaving the stock uppers.........as you , I only see the track 2/3 times a year....

95BlueStallion · Feb 22, 2009

Redline_351R said:
The MM bushings are very good. You said its not going to be a strip car so you dont need adjustables. The standard MM LCA will do just fine, it what Im getting this spring and I do quite a bit of track duty in the summer

MM Standard Lower Control Arms Black - For 79-98 Mustangs - StangSuspension.com

Thanks for the link, I was on the MM site and they are priced at $249 for the non adjustable perch... I think I will stick with tubular since that is what the best of the best are designed with. If anyone else has opinions, I would still like to hear them. I havent bought anything just yet...

95BlueStallion · Feb 22, 2009

drakesdad said:
I read the same threads as you I think. I never got a response when I asked about leaving the stock uppers.........as you , I only see the track 2/3 times a year....

I do plan on hitting the track a LITTLE this summer just to get a baseline idea before I mod the motor any. But it wont be enough to require super duper control arms. I thought the adjustable perch would help me lower the rear a tad more without cutting the springs, but maybe not. I dont know if it would even be worth the cost though. Also, I guess that would only be asking to cut a 315 tire on the fender.

Venom351R · Feb 22, 2009

From what I have read UCA cause binding in drag race applications, MM does not even offer UCA they have the stock replacement ones w/ better bushings.

That link I gave you also has a 5% discount if your a member of sn95forums.com from what Ive been told

drakesdad · Feb 22, 2009

Redline_351R said:
From what I have read UCA cause binding in drag race applications, MM does not even offer UCA they have the stock replacement ones w/ better bushings.

That link I gave you also has a 5% discount if your a member of sn95forums.com from what Ive been told

Well thats an answer.........thanks

96darkhorse · Feb 24, 2009

Posted via Mobile DeviceI have the griggs boxed LCA's and UCAs and they worked great!

millhouse · Feb 24, 2009

Redline_351R said:
From what I have read UCA cause binding in drag race applications, MM does not even offer UCA they have the stock replacement ones w/ better bushings.

That link I gave you also has a 5% discount if your a member of sn95forums.com from what Ive been told

The binding is not seen in drag racing, but rather heavy cornering….which is seen with an increase of snap oversteer. For straight line duty, a poly or metal bushing on one end works great.

FYI, the 3-piece bushing design seen in your previous link from maximum motorsports is not intended for track use...but rather a simple replacement for stock. You might be “OK” if you take it to the track a couple times a year with a low amount of power, but be warned. If you plan on upping the power levels or go to the track with any type of frequency, they WILL rip out on you.

S351Saleen77 · Feb 24, 2009

2 piece poly bushings are good only for the track or straight line. They bind in corners. This is why many don't recommend to replace the uppers because of the binding.

J&M (who is a sponser on Stangnet) has a very cool 3 piece design and are cheaper than MM. The owner of J&M started MM so he know's his stuff. The lowers are like $200. For one of my cars I just bought adj lowers and also the uppers because of the bushing design it won't bind. The center "Hard" bushing is a Ball and the sides are softer and "cup" it with no binding!

Heres a link to their site. You can get the 3 piece front and rear or 3 piece front and a spherical rear which is how MM does it on their street versions. This is the one I chose.
Rear Lower Control Arms

Heres a quote from their testing.. look how the 2 piece bushings that most people use will break a 1/2" bolt with 10 degrees rotation!!

"
Poly-Ball Bushings:

5 degrees of total rotation = 26.1 foot/pounds of torque

7.5 degrees of total rotation = 35.8 foot/pounds of torque

10 degrees of total rotation = 41.7 foot/pounds of torque

Standard 2 piece setup using only 85 durometer bushings:

5 degrees of total rotation = 124.7 foot/pounds of torque

7.5 degrees of total rotation = 156.4 foot/pounds of torque

10 degrees of total rotation = not measurable with fixture. The 1/2" grade 8 bolt twisted in half at 9.2 degrees which was 210 foot/pounds of torque."

Venom351R · Feb 24, 2009

millhouse said:
The binding is not seen in drag racing, but rather heavy cornering….which is seen with an increase of snap oversteer. For straight line duty, a poly or metal bushing on one end works great..

Thanks for the correction, I knew it was something like that but could not remember for sure

95BlueStallion · Feb 24, 2009

Well crap. If I would have read this thread about a half an hour ago I probably would have bought the J&M versions off American Muscle. I ended up going with the MM lowers, cause the price came to $234 with our forum discount, and they have free shipping. Didnt know the J&M's were as good quality. Live and learn I guess. Thanks for all the responses guys.

Tubular or boxed LCA's, any big difference?

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