[64speed]

I see a lot of front end upper and lower control arms on eBay that look exactly like the global west units but they hover in the 300 buck range. Anybody use them? Any advantage to them? I would replace the unknown ball joints with moog right off the bat but other than that what's been your experience?

[cnc]

Well...just my point of view...
I was looking at Global West frt suspension stuff......Del a lum frt bushings
But since my latest dealings with Doug and my rear suspension Del a lum bushings ....
I would go elsewhere than Global West....Doug was supposed to make me two new bushings for my fame rails ...haven't heard from him since May 12 after a few emails out to him to see what's going on....yet we were conversing about a resolution hence the new bushings that I have not seen......
So if u have an issue with Global West Stuff are u gonna have it resolved.....I haven't.....
Anyway there are others out there besides Global West....that I'm sure are just as suitable....

[64speed]

These arent Global West parts they just look like them

[cnc]

Then might be a better route u have a link...

[NEW64OWNER]

They're excellent arms if you replace the ball joints

[NeighborsComplaint]

Global West G-Plus Upper @ $598.75
Global West G-Plus Lower @ $699.85

Clones @ $269.98

Someone should drop Global West a line and see if their products are Made in USA or sourced from overseas.

BTW, I have the clones on my car.

[64speed]

Do they take factory ball joints?

[FrankieT/A]

Are there clones for an F body?

[rohrt]

don't have do much searching to find some horror stories of the ebay chinees A-arms. Some feel they are OK if you change out the ball joints.

[NeighborsComplaint]

Originally Posted by rohrt

don't have do much searching to find some horror stories of the ebay chinees A-arms. Some feel they are OK if you change out the ball joints.

Yeah. The same old post on the Chevelle Forum. File it under 'Urban Legends"

Mine were fine. Paid $249 for complete uppers and lowers. Perfect welds and powder coat, identical to Global West right down to the Del-A-Lum bushings and grease fittings. Nothing substandard in the ball joints either. Dust covers fit snugly, well-plated and finished, good polish and no machining marks on the ball and socket visible. I had no reservations putting them on the car. They fit perfectly, no force fit. The alignment shop was able to align without a single issue.

Are they track worthy? Don't know. don't care. My goal was an upgraded, modern suspension with good road feel, good on-center steering feel, OEM ride height (slight forward rake) and a firm but comfortable ride. Toward that end I installed UMI rear control arms, progressive wound rear Moog springs, Moog OEM front springs, the "clones", KYB gas shocks and Addco sway bars front and back, all new OEM replacement steering linkage and a Jeep GC steering box from Autozone (that doesn't leak and doesn't have excessive backlash).

Despite installing "all the cheap sh!t" the car drives like it's on rails and is much more relaxed running at speed than before (stock) with the additional caster from the new control arms and the more precise steering box.. It's not twitchy, goes where it's pointed and doesn't bounce like a bronco or ride like a buckboard. Again, my goals may have been different than those building a "track car."

[64speed]

Originally Posted by NeighborsComplaint

Yeah. The same old post on the Chevelle Forum. File it under 'Urban Legends"

Mine were fine. Paid $249 for complete uppers and lowers. Perfect welds and powder coat, identical to Global West right down to the Del-A-Lum bushings and grease fittings. Nothing substandard in the ball joints either. Dust covers fit snugly, well-plated and finished, good polish and no machining marks on the ball and socket visible. I had no reservations putting them on the car. They fit perfectly, no force fit. The alignment shop was able to align without a single issue.

Are they track worthy? Don't know. don't care. My goal was an upgraded, modern suspension with good road feel, good on-center steering feel, OEM ride height (slight forward rake) and a firm but comfortable ride. Toward that end I installed UMI rear control arms, progressive wound rear Moog springs, Moog OEM front springs, the "clones", KYB gas shocks and Addco sway bars front and back, all new OEM replacement steering linkage and a Jeep GC steering box from Autozone (that doesn't leak and doesn't have excessive backlash).

Despite installing "all the cheap sh!t" the car drives like it's on rails and is much more relaxed running at speed than before (stock) with the additional caster from the new control arms and the more precise steering box.. It's not twitchy, goes where it's pointed and doesn't bounce like a bronco or ride like a buckboard. Again, my goals may have been different than those building a "track car."

You and me are of the same mindset. Do you remember what the part number for the rear springs was? I just ordered station wagon rear springs. Didn't know progressive rate was available

[NeighborsComplaint]

Moog makes the CC501 but their application chart says they fit 1967-1972 only.

[64speed]

Originally Posted by NeighborsComplaint

Moog makes the CC501 but their application chart says they fit 1967-1972 only.

Thanks just ordered some from summit. Gonna send the station wagon coils back

[rohrt]

From what I remember a few of the failures were ball joint related and I do remember one of the arms themselves failed. I think they said the welds were mig welded not tig welded on the knock offs.

I guess why would you even buy aftermarket A-arms unless you were going to push it a little. And if you are going to be pushing it is worth the risk? For me that is why I will steer clear.

[Interceptor]

A friend of mine tried the knockoffs and they didnt fit. You might get lucky, then again you might not.

[A.J.]

Yeah, this has been up here before.
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...r+control+arms

[wovenweb]

Have you considered the tall ball joints as replacements for the ones that came with these control arms? I'm not sure on the 64-67s, but these are supposed to be the more important change for 68-72 to improve handling.

I've been considering all this for my Skylark. Not looking to do a track car, just a better handling weekend cruiser.

[64speed]

I don't know anything really about the tall ball joints! Do they work with your original slindle and control arm? What is the original application? What is gained by doing such?

[JLMounce]

A tall ball joint lowers the effective upper control arm pickup point, reducing the positive camber gain prevalent in 60's era GM double wishbone suspensions. It also raises the roll center up a bit which flattens the car through the corners without going with crazy stiff springs and huge sway bars.

Early GM suspensions lack a couple critical things that can be reduced or solved thorugh aftermarket parts. Because many models came off the line with both manual and power steering, the suspensions were designed to be light in a non-power situation. As a result you can't get much positive caster from the setup as it makes turning harder without power assist. Secondly the pickup points for the upper control arm are too high and the arm is too short. This means that as the wheel goes through it's travel, it gains positive camber. This is opposite of what you want to happen in a performance driving situation.

It's almost precisely what you want when you have a big heavy, powerful rwd car that you want to err on the side of understeer instead of oversteer.

The A body cars have stuff in the way so you can't do the guldstrand mod like the F-body guys do, which is basically free. If you are going with some aftermarket arms though, you can reduce some of this. You want to make sure the arms you select have updated caster geometry. This will allow you to dial in more caster which increases high speed stability and enhances negative camber gain through suspension travel. The key is to look for "geometry corrected" wording on the product. There are some tubular arms on the market that are just tubular versions of the factory pieces and will not provide that extra positive caster potential. Don't assume it's geometry corrected, ask or look for specific wording. IMHO there's zero point in going to a tubular arm for a street driver if you aren't aiming to correct the geometry.

If you add a tall ball joint to this arm, you also change the effective pickup points of the arm and reduce positive camber gain, which when combined with added caster potential starts working more in your favor for cornering grip.

If you are doing aftermarket upper and lower control arms, I would go with a .9" tall ball joint. If you are keeping the factory lowers, or keeping both factory control arms, binding can occur at certain ride heights and as such you want to keep the tall joint at .5" over stock. Stick quality bushings in the arms, quality springs in the pockets, then give it a modern alignment and you'd be surprised at how well the car will handle.

[wovenweb]

Originally Posted by JLMounce

or keeping both factory control arms, binding can occur at certain ride heights and as such you want to keep the tall joint at .5" over stock. Stick quality bushings in the arms, quality springs in the pockets, then give it a modern alignment and you'd be surprised at how well the car will handle.

Thanks for the well written explanation. I'm headed this way, 0.5" for both uppers and lowers.