Hey guys so I recently bought a 71 4dr hard top. Previous owner put tubular upper a arms (not correct ones) and Cadillac spindles and disc brakes.
Now my issue is that with the wrong uppers he put on I have no adjustment with them and I’m ripping my front tires off (be lucky to get 500km)
Now my question is being that I’m on a very tight budget I have a 75 Pontiac Grand Prix. I’m wondering if the a arms and spindles will work from this car on my chevelle. Or if there is any other donor cars that will interchange onto it.
Is it a B-Body tall spindle setup with the required shorter upper arm? If so, if done correctly it should be okay but see info below about the wheel offset as from what I've noticed the B-Body conversion moves the wheel mounting surface outward a bit.
By "have no adjustment" what exactly do you mean?
IF alignment is correct maybe the wheel has the wrong offset causing the tire to rub the outer part of the wheel well? I've noticed more than a few aftermarket wheels with the wrong offset (not deep enough) cause what you might be describing.
I keep hearing people say that but it has not been my experience nor that of others I know running them. One of my cars is set up with B Body spindles, the required short upper arms, and 1LE Camaro brakes. It works and handles exceptionally well, very comparable to one of my other A-Bodys with quality upper & lower arms, tall upper & lower ball joints, and LS1 Camaro brakes. I'm able to get modern alignment specs out of both cars with lots of caster and the much discussed bump steer is actually small and hardly noticeable in my pro touring-ish application. Maybe in a softly suspended car with lots of travel it could and very well may be more of an issue. Jeff Smith ran an A-Body set up nearly the same as mine but with much stiffer springs for years with many autocross events and track days, he did very well and also said the bump steer issue was over hyped.
One significant drawback is that the turning radius is noticeably larger with the B-Body spindles, for this reason and this reason alone I would not go that route again when there are (now, not so many years ago when I did the conversion) so many other good affordable ways get the benefits of a taller spindle, modern alignment, and good brakes. If I had a car with a correctly done (and I do) B-Body spindle conversion I would not change it.
By no adjustment I mean the mounting bar of the a arm is directly on the frame mount. The tire wear is from tires being scuffedon the ground. Wheel wells are cut out to accommodate for these rims and tires. Lol cars a bit of a basket case but I’ll get it back fixed up
There's nothing wrong with non-adjustable arms, but they do need to be shimmed in order to achieve the correct alignment specs. It sounds like the guy didn't get the alignment done after he replaced the arms. This doesn't necessarily mean they are the wrong arms (unless you know otherwise for sure).
It's also possible he installed the correct arms, but put them on the wrong sides of the car. Can you post some pictures? If you can take some good clear pictures from the side of the car looking at the front wheels, and looking straight down on your upper arms from above, we can probably help you tell for sure.
As far as cost goes, assuming that the arms are correct, the least expensive way out of this is to just have an alignment done. Your next worse case is that they were installed on the wrong side, so you'd just have to swap them then have it aligned. If they actually are the wrong arms, then an investment in a new pair will be as worthwhile as it will be necessary. Lots of people have replaced their stock suspensions, so it should be relatively easy to find a set of stock upper control arms for not too much money.
Yes it will work, but bump steer is a common problem on all B-body tall spindle conversions. That was the hot set-up for most of the 90's but the aftermarket has come a long way since then.
If you're looking for other options, a great place to start is with a set of SPC adjustable arms with tall ball joints installed in them. The SPC arms are specifically designed to improve suspension geometry for A bodys, while opening the door for larger brakes & other suspension mods. You can continue to run your existing lower arms until you feel like investing in tubular replacements.
Depending on the year of your car, the SPC arms are around $230 for the pair at Summit. Proforged tall upper ball joints are about $50 each on Amazon.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Team Chevelle
5.1M posts
115.6K members
Since 1998
A forum community dedicated to Chevrolet Chevelle owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about restorations, builds, performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!