[JLMounce]

Originally Posted by gtorich

maybe i should enclose this......

If you look at the 3rd line that is highlighted, it states the longer arm is intended to be the rear arm for lower caster angles.

That makes sense since the top of the knuckle moves towards the rear of the car as caster angle increases.

I'd ask your contact at UMI about the arms to see if they add caster angle or not.

[gtorich]

Originally Posted by JLMounce

If you look at the 3rd line that is highlighted, it states the longer arm is intended to be the rear arm for lower caster angles.

That makes sense since the top of the knuckle moves towards the rear of the car as caster angle increases.

I'd ask your contact at UMI about the arms to see if they add caster angle or not.

Jason, good to hear from ya............emailed Ramey at umi said the ball joint moves forward 1/8 inch max.

Then on the phone with spc..........i gave him my numbers on the alignment and whats going on...............he said switch the adjusters.

The spc specs and umi are almost the same...........im getting really confused on those instructions as if you cant tell lol

long arm in rear for 0-3 caster........long arm in front for more than 3 degrees of caster.

Heres the specs..............i"ll email you later, gonna send some pics of the frame mounts.

Rich

[TB1]

Originally Posted by gtorich

Jason, good to hear from ya............emailed Ramey at umi said the ball joint moves forward 1/8 inch max.

Then on the phone with spc..........i gave him my numbers on the alignment and whats going on...............he said switch the adjusters.

The spc specs and umi are almost the same...........im getting really confused on those instructions as if you cant tell lol

long arm in rear for 0-3 caster........long arm in front for more than 3 degrees of caster.

Heres the specs..............i"ll email you later, gonna send some pics of the frame mounts.

Rich

Hey Rich

I just had my car aligned and have both the SPC upper and lower control arms on my 65 LeMans, I also installed the longer arm in the front as you have to get 5°+ of caster problem is I'm way over that almost 8 degrees and they couldn't get the camber below +1.1° so I'm going to swap the links side to side and get it aligned again to hopefully get it around 5 degrees as the lowers add 1 degree.

[JLMounce]

Originally Posted by gtorich

Jason, good to hear from ya............emailed Ramey at umi said the ball joint moves forward 1/8 inch max.

Then on the phone with spc..........i gave him my numbers on the alignment and whats going on...............he said switch the adjusters.

The spc specs and umi are almost the same...........im getting really confused on those instructions as if you cant tell lol

long arm in rear for 0-3 caster........long arm in front for more than 3 degrees of caster.

Heres the specs..............i"ll email you later, gonna send some pics of the frame mounts.

Rich

Gotta remember, the upper control arms don't know what the lower control arms are doing to the caster angle. 3 degrees in the upper arm needs to be added to anything going on in the lower arm.

I'm really kind of surprised with the lack of information your rep from UMI is giving you. moving the ball joint forward an 1/8th inch doesn't really tell you how much caster you're adding. 2 degrees seems to be somewhat standard in the industry.

Also, keep in mind that it's not like there is a hard stop at 3 degrees positive with the arms in the low caster setting configuration. Those figures are based on what is practical given the desired camber setting as well as the desire to err on the side of caution for the amount of threaded area in the adjuster sleeve.

If your goal was to auto-x this car, I'd actually recommend leaving it as is. For short tight cornering situations that added caster really helps with negative camber gain at high steering angles.

I'd advise a bump steer kit and you'd need to figure out a link for your sway bar. With a good tire, the car would have pretty awesome front grip in tight corners.

I don't see changes to the upper arms here helping you with the clearance issue with the rotors though. That's kind of a conundrum and may honestly be how the lower arm is built. You may simply be forced to grind that section away. Not an ideal solution, but a solution nonetheless.

So I would swap out those adjuster sleeves and get the car re-aligned so it's down in that 4.5-5* positive caster range. That will drop your steering arm and give you more clearance between the steering linkages and the sway bar, and move your wheel forward in the wheel well to help with the bit of rubbing you encountered.

Then grind away the lower-most section of the lower control arms where they are contacting the rotor.

[gtorich]

Originally Posted by TB1

Hey Rich

I just had my car aligned and have both the SPC upper and lower control arms on my 65 LeMans, I also installed the longer arm in the front as you have to get 5°+ of caster problem is I'm way over that almost 8 degrees and they couldn't get the camber below +1.1° so I'm going to swap the links side to side and get it aligned again to hopefully get it around 5 degrees as the lowers add 1 degree.

TB1, hey im doing way better than you i can get that to 7.1 & 7.5.......lol, im hoping i can just jack up the lower control arm , take the 3 pivot bolts out and switch them........let me know if your thinking the same way...........great to update on what you end up getting as far as an alignment.

Rich

[TB1]

Originally Posted by gtorich

TB1, hey im doing way better than you i can get that to 7.1 & 7.5.......lol, im hoping i can just jack up the lower control arm , take the 3 pivot bolts out and switch them........let me know if your thinking the same way...........great to update on what you end up getting as far as an alignment.

Rich

Hey Rich

Yes I was thinking of doing it the same way, Not sure when I'll get it done, depends when I can get it in to be aligned again I'll Eyeball the adjustment to get it to what I think is close for the 5 mile drive to the shop

[gtospieg]

gtorich....you can absolutely swap control arms that way. In order to remove my pass. inner fender(without removing hood and fender) I removed my upper control arm the same way. Pop the balljoint with a tap from the hammer and remove the 2 control arm nuts. Easy and pretty quick .