Control arms?
 

This is not a mod ATM, but I was just wondering what is the difference between the different styles of LCAs?

There are poly, poly/spherical, and rod ends.

Then there's boxed and tubular.

I would want whats best for corners and for street/strip usage as well. I don't have an issue with wheel hop at the time, but I know that after the engine mods it's back to suspension for stage II.

I know r3d knows a ton about this stuff, as do most of you. Enlighten me lol.

For a street car that is used as a daily driver get the tubular ones with poly bushings. The other bushing work better, but cause alot of road noise.

I suppose the same concept applies for UCAs and the panhard bar?

For the more hardcore guys or street strip guys like me, the best would be poly bushing on the car side, and a metal derline or spherical bushing on the axle side.

Well I mean noise is not an issue.....my exhaust overpowers anything I could ever possibly hear. So I guess I'll be looking into the poly/spherical combo.

So what is the advantage of boxed? Cheaper?

I think boxed normally is cheaper, just a more often seen design. I like the tubular design of Maximum Motorsports due to a tube having less possible weak spots than a four sided box design.

Yea I knew tubular are stronger because they don't have as many sharp pressure points, but I've never seen anyone get anything other than tubular that was serious yet every suspension company (BMR, MMR, Steeda) makes one.

Since you don't have springs that go on the lowers I see no point in having boxed lower control arms. Plus I would think the tubulars would be lighter, no?

Even with no cats and dumps on my car I can still hear noises when cruising on the highway. Stick with poly on the car side for less noise. Unless its a track car or weekend warrior. Otherwise no need to have that extra noise.

The point of the various bushings is articulation. Problem w/ poly is that's it's stiff, so having it on both ends is a terrible idea (though cheaper). That's why you see poly/spherical combinations. Good all around arms would be arms that have this set up (like MM, Currie and Global West). Currie's are nice since they have the Johnny Joint but MM's positioning of the bushing, I think, is better. As for noise, I noticed nothing w/ my MM arms. My CC plates, however, are a different story.

Uppers are a different thing altogether. Problem is that due to their massive angle, the only thing that is going to work are rubber or spherical. And even then, you need sphericals on both sides or you need to compromise w/ rubber on one end. That's why panhard/torque arm combos are so popular and why serious suspension companies don't offer uppers.

So just forget UCAs, got it.

I think I'll probably get some MMR LCAs with the poly/spherical combo. I feel that I need to change the panhard bar for the fact that it would still be the only thing left factory in the rear. I don't have any issues with offset at the moment, both the wheels on either side are even.

I know panhard bars give you the one-side better turning, versus the Watt's Link. But I don't know if I could go that extreme at the moment.

Thanks guys. I tried searching before I made this thread, but nothing really hit the spot that I needed.