Awesome explanation John - thanks! My 73 is now running and my restorer will be putting the fenders and hood on soon - I wanted to go with QA1 or Hotchkiss uppers but ended up going with the stock upper control arms for now to try and keep the endless costs down.. I painted them with POR15 after they were sandblasted and they have new Moog ball joints. I did weld plates on the lowers and since I had a pair of Just Suspension strut rods I bought years ago we used those. So the suspension is basically somewhat upgraded from stock Rallye. With good new tires and new parts - and the police-grade power steering box I bought from Steer and Gear it should be better than terrible - I hope!
I can definitely relate on the endless costs. It's been a lot of years to get mine to this point. One thing I've heard people do to get a little extra caster in the stock uppers is use the Moog offset bushings and install them staggered (if that makes sense).
Yes. Moog K7103 offset upper bushings can be installed to give you additional caster. Ran those for 15 year with 3+ degrees caster. Results will vary. Search for special instructions how to install them online. Do not use the instructions in the box.
The uppers yes. High quality construction with corrected geomtery. The lowers no, not for the price. In my opinion it makes more sense to box the factory lowers (places like firm feel and bergman sell boxing plates) and save the money of the QA1 lowers to spend elsewhere on suspension components.
Thank you for the reasons why you picked the QA1 UCA. Makes sense. Every connector is a possible failure point. Do those connectors make the UCA's rebuild-able and would that add points for the segmented units? Thank you for covering SPC and Hotchkis. These are the 3 I'm looking at so your thoughts are appreciated.
If you are doing custom racing type alignment, an A-arm with adjustable length arms comes in handy. Sometimes a built-in extra caster geometry won’t get you where you want to go. Really low or really high ride height can add to these challenges. Even more race oriented: if you run taller upper ball joints to alter camber change and roll center, you probably will need an arm with adjustability.
Thanks! No issues yet, but for me I wouldn't do the lowers again, as I don't feel there is enough benefit for the cost. I would just box in the factory lowers for added rigidity. I believe Bergman and Firm Feel both sell boxing plates.
Thank you John for sharing this information and I am definitely interested in doing some upgrades to my R/T especially the power steering units you mentioned. I believe you said Borg Warner was coming out with the steering box, or are they available now? Appreciate all that you do for our Mopar community!!👍👍 Merry Christmas to you and your family 🎄
I wish you a Merry Christmas and all the best, Mopar friend!
Merry Christmas to you as well!
Awesome explanation John - thanks! My 73 is now running and my restorer will be putting the fenders and hood on soon - I wanted to go with QA1 or Hotchkiss uppers but ended up going with the stock upper control arms for now to try and keep the endless costs down.. I painted them with POR15 after they were sandblasted and they have new Moog ball joints. I did weld plates on the lowers and since I had a pair of Just Suspension strut rods I bought years ago we used those. So the suspension is basically somewhat upgraded from stock Rallye. With good new tires and new parts - and the police-grade power steering box I bought from Steer and Gear it should be better than terrible - I hope!
I can definitely relate on the endless costs. It's been a lot of years to get mine to this point. One thing I've heard people do to get a little extra caster in the stock uppers is use the Moog offset bushings and install them staggered (if that makes sense).
Yes. Moog K7103 offset upper bushings can be installed to give you additional caster. Ran those for 15 year with 3+ degrees caster. Results will vary.
Search for special instructions how to install them online. Do not use the instructions in the box.
I could write a book... If I had to advise it would be to buy a vintage car with the body work done. All else is cheap in comparison
Yeah paint and body work definitely takes the most time and effort on a restoration project.
2 years later do you still recommend these ? I’m going to order some this week I think
The uppers yes. High quality construction with corrected geomtery. The lowers no, not for the price. In my opinion it makes more sense to box the factory lowers (places like firm feel and bergman sell boxing plates) and save the money of the QA1 lowers to spend elsewhere on suspension components.
GA1 suff looks really nice. Merry Christmas brotha.
Thanks! Merry Christmas!
Thank you for the reasons why you picked the QA1 UCA. Makes sense. Every connector is a possible failure point. Do those connectors make the UCA's rebuild-able and would that add points for the segmented units? Thank you for covering SPC and Hotchkis. These are the 3 I'm looking at so your thoughts are appreciated.
Having the connection points does add another level of serviceability, but I don't know if SPC would sell individually. Good point to consider though.
If you are doing custom racing type alignment, an A-arm with adjustable length arms comes in handy. Sometimes a built-in extra caster geometry won’t get you where you want to go. Really low or really high ride height can add to these challenges.
Even more race oriented: if you run taller upper ball joints to alter camber change and roll center, you probably will need an arm with adjustability.
Good to know! Thanks for the information! Fortunately for my application I won't be needing that additional level of adjustability. But others do.
Looking at putting the QA1 arms on my 73. Since this is an older video have you had any issues with them? By the way, great videos!
Thanks! No issues yet, but for me I wouldn't do the lowers again, as I don't feel there is enough benefit for the cost. I would just box in the factory lowers for added rigidity. I believe Bergman and Firm Feel both sell boxing plates.
Thank you John for sharing this information and I am definitely interested in doing some upgrades to my R/T especially the power steering units you mentioned. I believe you said Borg Warner was coming out with the steering box, or are they available now?
Appreciate all that you do for our Mopar community!!👍👍
Merry Christmas to you and your family 🎄
Borgeson has the new steering box and my video on that will post Sunday! Merry Christmas to you and your family as well!
How has these QA1 A-arms been working on your car so far buddy?