I was wondering if anyone has used the afco lower arms made for 68-72 a bodies. The arms look really nice the only think i see wrong with them is the shock mount is set up for a dirt car and no place for a sway bar. I am thinking about buying a set and adapting them to work with a sway bar and stock type shocks. Some feedback on this would be great. They are only 150 a piece can not beat the price http://www.secureperformanceorder.com/afcostore/getproduct.cfm?CategoryID=8&ClassID=98&SubclassID=1759&ProductID=7312

Derek69SS has them on his Chevelle. I'm sure he'll chime in here soon.

I discussed this here previously and there is not really much benefit of running these arms. A boxed set of stock lowers is about as good as it gets for now.

Here is what Derek said:
I have AFCO lowers, and if I were to do it again, I probably wouldn't buy them.

The 2 issues I don't really like about them is that a) the rod ends are welded on rather than threaded for easy replacement, and b) the outboard shock-mount is located at least an inch too far back to use it as a sway-bar end-link mount without a bunch of extra work making a sleeve to be able to mount it on the front of the mount.

You can read more here:
http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130087&highlight=front+suspension

Supposedly marcus is working on a set of lowers with spohn right now so I would stay tuned and hopefully he will chime in with some more info.

The Afco arms look nice but for starters from an engineering standpoint heims are never supposed to be subjected to severe side loading. When subjected to bending loads their fatigue life can be shortened significantly. Also in the dirty environment inches above the road they`ll become contaminated with road grit quickly which acts like valve grinding compound to loosen the clearances. Then the buzzing and rattling will start. On race cars they`re fine,who can hear a little rattling over the open headers? ;)
The new Spohn arms should be out in January. I`ve worked closely with them on these and they should actually have some geometry benefits over stock arms as well as being stronger and offering a nice greasable delrin bushing option,coilover or coil spring/shock configurations and optional 4130 chrome moly construction. We hope to keep the price point at or very close to the G body arms $395pr. for base arms in red or black. Mark SC&C

Marcus I like what I am hearing. Have you computed any numbers on the spohn arms combined with your stage 2 plus setup or the Afx spindle setup? The reason I ask is you mentioned a bit of geometry advantage built into the arms I wonder how it will affect the rest of the suspension geometry.

Will the Spohn arms work on the early A-bodies (64-65) ?

Pete,the overall suspension geometry,camber gain,RC location etc. will remain the same. The improvements are related to centering the wheels in the wheelwells even with modern + caster settings (for tire clearance and asthetics) and the motion ratios of the springs,shocks etc.

Bunky,our test cars are `66 and `70 can you get me some numbers on what`s different on the `64/`65? Mark SC&C

You guys really need some more prototype test cars.:rolleyes::D

Mark, how far forward will these arms move the lower ball-joint?

My front wheel is very-noticeably moved back, and I've been thinking about loosening the body-mounts and trying to slide the body back a little just to get it more centered. :clonk:

Bunky,our test cars are `66 and `70 can you get me some numbers on what`s different on the `64/`65? Mark SC&C

The frame and suspension dimensions for 64-65 cars is the same as 66-67 cars (a-bodies). The body clearances may be a bit different with the 64-65 front fender, but that's about the only difference I can think of.

Mark,

Any progress on the Spohn lowers for A bodies?

I suddenly have a need, and January is close enough to maybe wait.

Derek,the exact amount hasn`t been set yet. It`ll probably be between 3/8" and 1/2". A lot depends on the engineers,structural and dynamic analysis results etc. of the whole arms.
No new progress to report so far on the arms. The industrial complex Spohn is located in suffered a HUGE fire a month or so ago. 20 businesses were a total loss. Spohn was the only one left unscathed (think someone up there likes them?!). They`re still working full time on the power of a BIG diesel generator. The property may end up being leveled so Spohn will probably be moving in the next month or so. That may hold up release of the lower arms some. AFAIK the ProTouring rear bar is still on schedule. Another little heads up is that we`re also working with another company on A body lowers. The design of each arm may not incorperate every possible feature so we`ll likely have 2 different choices each suited best to certain applications. Choices are cool! :) Mark SC&C

Hmm I like the idea of choices. Spohn has some true dedication working on a generator like that man haha. I will stay tuned for updates.

I was hoping we would see something in January. Oh well I guess I will box my lowers until the new stuff is released.

OOOOKAY!

Here's my dilemma!

I purchased Del-a-lum bushings for my stock lowers, ...the large round bushings for the early arms (Stage 2 for the uppers).

When I pulled the arms and cleaned them up, one was cracked at the ball joint.

I went to buy 2 new lowers at OPG (I figured if one has cracked the other may be next) and all they have are the arms with the oval oppenings (bushings/balljoint installed, which I don't need).

GW's page states they'll convert the oval hole to a round one, and press in the bushing.

Has anyone had this done?