[crustysarge]

I have been researching tubular control arms the last few days for my 70 Lemans Sport. I see a handful of USA Made arms on the market for over a grand and then, of course, the Chinese knock offs for $400.

Internet is full of opinions on the various arms and I am not really looking for advice as to whether they are needed, but rather the experience some have had with different brands.

I see many say the cheap brands use garbage recycled steel in China. Hmm, I would think even the USA builders are sourcing steel from China. I plan on querying a couple of them this week to see. QC on steel cannot be confirmed unless you do it yourself and test the steel, not easy for a small company. I have seen cases in my line of work where even the US Military had to source critical munitions bunker door steel from China so...I am a stout "Buy USA" person but have seen more than one case of the word game companies play when the "Made In USA" label is affixed.

So, what have you seen or done with tubular arms? Tell me about brand, issues/problems and anything else. Would you do it again?

[STEELCITYFIREBIRD]

https://keysermanufacturing.com/prod...-upper-a-arms/
This is what we use on our circle track car, no issues whatsoever.

[64speed]

I bought the cheap knock offs. Father in law has the real Global West. No difference can be discerned. Both took the Global West alignment specs. I have 269 in mine plus taller proform ball joints. He has over a grand in his. I would be my ass they come out of the same plant

[gman005]

I just bought a set from Parts Geek. $340.00 shipped.

[TransAm400]

We put the Ebay knock offs on my dads GTO. Welds look decent. Powdercoat was good. I did change out the cheap looking ball joints for new Proforged.

[Formulajones]

Dad bought some cheap ones off ebay a few years ago. I'm sure they aren't US made, but quality looked fine to me. I put them on back at that time, the alignment shop didn't have any issues with them, and he's put a few thousand miles on them already, and we don't exactly have baby smooth roads around here either. They've been perfectly fine.
He told me the car actually drives better than it's ever driven, and he bought it brand new.


^^^^same ones TA400 used above

[ZeGermanHam]

I had a bad experience with inexpensive offshore control arms and other suspension components that I purchased for my BMW on eBay ages ago. Although the control arms themselves were fine in terms of their construction, the ball joints failed within a few months of driving, which is a major safety issue. I had my money refunded under warranty, and replaced them with name-brand parts from Germany and have never had a problem since.

Although my story is about a BMW and not a GTO, I think the message is still applicable here. If anything, I'd be extra wary about the ball joints. Maybe you can save money by buying the cheapo control arms and then installing some quality ball joints from Moog or ProForged.

I went with UMI Performrance (which use ProForged ball joints) in my '66 because they strike a good balance of being affordable relative to some other brands, and are still very high quality. After my experience with my BMW, I don't buy any no-name suspension parts for any of my cars. I just save my money for longer until I can afford the name-brand stuff.

Last thing I'll add is that I'm not one of those people who thinks any part made in China, Mexico, or any other non-U.S. country is junk. We don't live in 1950 anymore, and a lot of very high quality stuff comes from all over the world. Most of what we buy, even the very highest end stuff, is not made int the U.S. All this means is that you need to do your homework to ensure you are buying quality parts. Do Google searches to see what other people are saying about the parts after they've had them on their car for a while, not just right after installation. This last part is important. Lots of stuff installs nicely. The question is what happens over time.

[Firebob]

I bought Gen11 upper arms from pro-touring.com. I was told the guy makes them in his Chicago shop. I liked the idea of buying from a privately owned business and he sounded like if anything ever there was ever an issue he'd take care of it. Customer service is everything to me these days.

[68WarDog]

I just installed some of the eBay 350.00 set on my 70 GTO. The only issue I faced because of my 2" Super Comp. was the removal of the lower control arms bolts, but other than that the install is straight forward.

[crustysarge]

Keep it coming. I also sometimes suspect two things:

1. Some people are not adept at installing the part. I don't mean they are idiots but I have seen times where guys think they know what is going on and they don't and they possibly damage the part during install.

2. They buy "cheaper" parts and then expect to beat the hell out of it on the track or elsewhere. The part would probably be fine for street use forever but blows on the track under heavy stress.

I have read many guys change the ball joints on the cheaper arms but not all arms seem to have a "standard" size joint. Seems odd someone is producing cheap arms and also making the ball joints, I am pretty sure they would buy off the shelf joints. I see the Summit brand arms use their "special" ball joint and cannot confirm if another brand fits.

I also agree with the fact you need to hear from guys who have driven them for a period of time and that seems hard to find as lots of cars are not complete or rarely get driven.

[Scarebird]

I wold retain the lower arm but weld in a plate around the ball joint given the tendency now to fail after 50+ years. I am running the Savitske SCII+ setup with the tall joints and tubular upper - excellent stuff.

[crustysarge]

Another question. Did any of you that bought off EBay get the type that has the spacers for ride height setting? I see Summit does and those on EBay look identical but make mention of the spacers.

[jwcfbd]

I put Global West with coil overs on my 67 Firebird and have been very happy with them.

[389]

I only use SC&C arms.. They come with .9 and .5 tall Howe ball joints, it doesn't get better then that..

I watch you guys get away with cheap all the time, for some reason I don't get away with it.....

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by crustysarge

Another question. Did any of you that bought off EBay get the type that has the spacers for ride height setting? I see Summit does and those on EBay look identical but make mention of the spacers.

Yep, for what ever reason the lower arms have very deep pockets for the springs, more so than a stock control arm, so they come with spacers.

I left them in place, and then ordered new correct springs from Coil Spring Specialties and it landed the ride height exactly where it's supposed to be.

[JLMounce]

I run SC&C stage ii+ on my bird. That includes the upper and lower SPC arms with Howe ball joints and I opted for Verishocks and hellwig bars. It’s expensive, but using a stock style spindle and the factory frame, it’s about the best you can get.

On my wife’s Chevelle we are running summit branded uppers and lowers. They are patterned off the global west units. They have been decent for her cruiser. The ball joints are a bit cheap looking but we haven’t had any issues with them so far.

My advise would be to buy based on your usage. If you’re going to be running hard on a track with r compound rubber. I’d opt for the stuff like SPC. If the car is a cruiser mostly you’ll likely be fine with the cheaper stuff.

[grivera]

Originally Posted by JLMounce

I run SC&C stage ii+ on my bird. That includes the upper and lower SPC arms with Howe ball joints and I opted for Verishocks and hellwig bars. It’s expensive, but using a stock style spindle and the factory frame, it’s about the best you can get.

On my wife’s Chevelle we are running summit branded uppers and lowers. They are patterned off the global west units. They have been decent for her cruiser. The ball joints are a bit cheap looking but we haven’t had any issues with them so far.

My advise would be to buy based on your usage. If you’re going to be running hard on a track with r compound rubber. I’d opt for the stuff like SPC. If the car is a cruiser mostly you’ll likely be fine with the cheaper stuff.

If using Chineasium knock-offs and upgrading ball joints/bushings how does one know which parts to buy?

[TransAm400]

My ebay knock offs used stock ball joints. You can get tall ball joints that would fit also if you want to go that way.

[64speed]

Mine used stock ball joints too. Neighborscomplaint was the first to tell me the knock offs were nice a while back. Ask him about them.

[grivera]

What are the thoughts on this kit?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-69-Cam...k/162879615128