I need to rebuild the front end, and am considering aftermarket, Global West upper control arms, possibly lowers if funds allow. Anyone running these that would give feedback I'd love to hear from.

Noticeable straight line tracking difference? What caster angle alignment did you end up with?

I do not have access to a mill to slot the upper cross shaft as some have done, and really don't trust the local shops around here to even try that.

 

I did not install the control arms themselves....what I did was install their control arm bushings on a 1974 and a 1957 Resto-mod Corvette.

And I can say the owners LOVES how the car handles.

If you need to hear it from him....PM '1974CorvetteJimCr'

DUB

 

For a street driver this is a good way to spend money. The only reason to use this on a street car is for the looks. If you have frame problems then the extra caster will help, but you may need to drive in the 85+ MPH to notice anything.

If your stock suspension is going to be rebuilt completely you will notice a big difference without any aftermarket parts. With a proper alignment and new parts it will drive just fine.

 

I am the owner of the 1974 that DUB referenced to. He installed the Global West Del-A-Lum bushings, and they are amazing money well spent. The car handles the twisty mountain roads of NC with ease.

Del-A-Lum works like a bearing but its a bushing! Del-A-Lum bushings feature inner and outer thrust washers, inner rotating sleeve and lube fittings. This unique design provides smooth performance without squeaks or bind. Designed to last over 100,000 miles.

I highly recommend them without reservation!

 

I did the VB&P poly bushings almost twenty years ago, maybe 140,000 miles on them. They were as you say, smooth performance and no squeaks. If stock arms are about as good as the Global West arms, I don't have any reason to try them. I actually have a set of PST bushings sitting on the bench and could easily just install them.

The other side of the proverbial coin,..if technology advances make gains,...why replace with just stock. The roller cam everyone runs now for example. Back in the 60's L-88 427's made over 550 horsepower with flat tappet solid cams. Today everyone thinks to make 550 horsepower you can't do it without a roller. You can,....but in comparison the old design is a cave mans version.

The idea of more camber would bring the caveman front end more in line with a modern suspension? Or is it just marketing trying to sell fancy looking parts.

 

At one time VB&P made the long slotted upper a-arm cross bar to get up in castor near 7.

The global west bar appears to be thicker and someone posted how it increased camber.

I did that post on making my own slots on a vert mill of about a 1/4 inch or 6-7 mm I have 6.5 castor. It really helps with modern tires

 

The only help of Caster past 2.75 degree's requires high speed.

If you plan on going 85+ MPH get as much as you can.

I went from 2.75 - 4.7 degree's and I didn't notice any difference. 0 - 70 MPH. But I have poly everywhere, vbandp street and slalom complete kit. Does it drive like my 2010 C6 GS, not even close.

Getting a proper alignment with tight suspension all around should be the goal to getting a great street driver. Properly adjusted wheel bearings, very little rotor run-out etc.

 

I put in everything new and always felt that the steering box was lacking So I had our CF steering box man refurbish mine. It still can't compete with some of the power R P vettes that I have driven

My next step is a great power R P kit. I just don't know what is the best

 

A couple people in this thread are getting camber confused with caster.

And you don't need to go 85 mph to feel the benefits of increased caster. Here's a good article if you really want to understand the effects of caster.

The Ultimate Handling Guide Part VIII: Understanding Your Caster, King Pin Inclination and Scrub

 

Which direction did you increase the slot length and did you fill the additional clearance that was created?
Thanks

 

please do a search here on CF. Within the last month or so. I am away and only have my phone

 

Thanks for the reference article, but most of the driving conditions in the article a human driving on the street cannot tell the difference.

Adding positive caster: (from the article)
• Generally improves straight-line stability, ( driving fast enough YES )
• Sharpens turn in. ( needs to be extreme )
• Improves traction everywhere in the turn. ( not on the street )
• Improves steering feel ( possible if way off )
• Improves self centering and self steer effect. ( if you drift )

eg blind test: ask the driver to take a test drive. Then make a castor change eg ( 2.75 - 4.7 ) then ask him to test drive again. His / Her response , it handles much better , feels better , I like it. Then to burst their bubble and tell then "you changed nothing"

Can you notice the difference in a car with better geometry. eg C3 vs C6 corvette, "yes" but only making 1 change caster in a C3 I will go with the blind test results.

If you use your car for track days please read the article. This effects you.

If you want the "wow" factor fix your suspension / alignment back to factory "NEW" condition. Get a proper alignment and go from there.

If your frame doesn't allow you to get proper caster then you need to look at other options (street use ).

For track day guys get something like SPC arms where you can adjust camber / caster in the arms.

To fix frame problems for street use Global West or similar solutions like slotted arms etc. (cannot get 2.75 caster)

 

Us AutoX'rs would differ with you on this. An additional benefit of increasing caster is increasing camber in a turn. When I go full lock, I see an additional 1 degree of camber on the outside wheel. If caster were for instance zero, the wheel would turn perpendicular to the ground and there would be no camber change. So there is a "turn in" benefit.

As I remember with my Savitske upper arms, there was a tall ball joint option which I selected. I don't remember the details but in thinking about it this morning with my coffee, it would seem to put the upper and lower arms more in parallel and change the vertical camber gain. That would probably reduce (I'm guessing here) camber thrust on uneven roads and maybe make the ride a little more comfortable.

 

I have looked at these as well, but I am not sure what the difference would be. More reliable for track days ? stiffer / heavier steering input,

tighter side to side response with the wheel straight.?

Not sure what feeling changes I would expect ?

 

But that is not street use. with 2.75 caster.

I guess uneven roads could be a noticeable effect (usually affected by cross castor / camber not even side to side), but most complain about this type of wandering because of poor suspension / alignments and not adding additional caster (past 2.75) for improvements.

 

Gave it a try and couldn't find anything. Do you remember title or who posted?
Thanks

 

I think this is the thread.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...termarket.html

 

In poking around online, I stumbled on a "Guldstrand mod" that I found interesting. His mod just relocated the mounting point of the upper control arm shaft to achieve better caster/camber. I was wondering why the guys that slotted the upper shaft wouldn't have done that instead.

Guldstrand's mod drops the centerline of the mounting bolts 3/4 inch, and shifts the pair back 1/4 inch. Drill two holes,....have mod. Sounds too easy for nobody to have tried.

The roads here in Pa. are not much better than oiled cow paths for the most part. and so yes,...the car does follow ruts. If I find a way to make the car track more solid, that's my end goal. The rebuild will also incorporate all new bushings and joints, that's a given.

Taller ball joints.....hummm...Will that help and eliminate drilling the frame?

 

doesn't taller ball joints help correct bump steer?

 

C3 frames don't have much room to relocate the bolts, unfortunately.