U B MACHINE UPPER ARMS

[ELCKY]

Hello Everyone,
I have one question for anyone that can answer. U B Machine build upper arms for the G-body. Has anyone ever used these arms? And how did the work on geomtry? Thanks

 

[Hippi]

seriously I run the ones from the local dirt car shop most likely the same brand(look the same and same price) they fit and work great,you do need to drive the stock mounting studs out and put 1/2in bolts in(I welded mine) but you really can't beat the price.

 

[ELCKY]

U B MACHINE ARMS

Thanks for your reply. Yes the price does fit my budget. Did you have to drill the holes for the 1/2 in. new bolts on the frame mounts?

 

[carpenter383]

I know this is an old thread, but I'm looking into improving my car's suspention geometry. Any other thoughts about these a arms? The price is definately nice compared to others I've seen.
Will these work woth taller upper AND lower ball joints without binding the joint or the need for a bunch of shims?
TIA

 

[pontiacgp]

I have them with a tall spindle and tall lower ball joint but what you have to do is take an inch out of them. They are 8" stock and you need 7" or tons of shims to get your camber setting. I'm running headers so the shims are out of the question and it would look like crap with all the alignment shims. I just cut them, put a sleeve on the inside and welded them back up. The problem tho with the UB uppers is they have solid bushing which wears pretty fast with alot of road use. I changed mine once a year which wasn't an problem but with the tall spindles I'm going to use different uppers manufactured for tall spindles with replaceable bushings. We run the UB's on the race car and they stand up to alot of punishment so there is no problem with them except the bushing, the race car get used one nite a week so the bushings aren't an issue

 

[carpenter383]

I have them with a tall spindle and tall lower ball joint but what you have to do is take an inch out of them. They are 8" stock and you need 7" or tons of shims to get your camber setting. I'm running headers so the shims are out of the question and it would look like crap with all the alignment shims. I just cut them, put a sleeve on the inside and welded them back up. The problem tho with the UB uppers is they have solid bushing which wears pretty fast with alot of road use. I changed mine once a year which wasn't an problem but with the tall spindles I'm going to use different uppers manufactured for tall spindles with replaceable bushings. We run the UB's on the race car and they stand up to alot of punishment so there is no problem with them except the bushing, the race car get used one nite a week so the bushings aren't an issue

Thanks for the info!
Cutting them and having to change bushing regularly is a turn off, but it gives me an idea, has anyone ever cut the stock upper a arm and shortened it?
Is 7" ideal even for a stocker?
I already have polyurethane bushings from when I rebuilt the frontend several yrs ago btw.

 

[pontiacgp]

you can cut a stock upper and weld it back together no problem and yes 7" is the measurement for the upper with a tall spindle...it'll give you enough room for alignment shims.

and on the UB uppers you can't change the bushing cause it's solid....the arm has to be replaced and I was not interested in having to cut and reweld new ones all the time

 

[carpenter383]

you can cut a stock upper and weld it back together no problem and yes 7" is the measurement for the upper with a tall spindle...it'll give you enough room for alignment shims.

and on the UB uppers you can't change the bushing cause it's solid....the arm has to be replaced and I was not interested in having to cut and reweld new ones all the time

You say 7" for a tall spindle, is that the same as tall ball joints with a stock spindle? TIA

 

[pontiacgp]

the tall lower ball joint lowers the car 1/2" so it doesn't add enough to affect the tall spindle and the 7" arm is fine. If you are going to run a tall lower ball joint on the lower control arms you'll need to push the lip of the control arm back. The lip on the lower control arm sits just above the rotor brake face. With the 1/2" difference with the ball joint the lip has dropped a 1/2" and will be sitting hard on the rotor brake face. When I put my front end together I could not get close the camber I use and finally discovered the lower control arm lip sitting on the face of the rotor so I just removed the rotor and modified the lip with a nice big hammer...

if you are going to run a tall lower joint you'll need to get the taper reamer to ream the hole in the spindle to the proper depth so the stud sits properly you'll need to tack weld the lower ball joint. Use a piece of 22 gauge sheet metal to wrap around the ball joint housing so it's a snug fit in the lower control arm before you tack weld it in place.

 

[carpenter383]

the tall lower ball joint lowers the car 1/2" so it doesn't add enough to affect the tall spindle and the 7" arm is fine. If you are going to run a tall lower ball joint on the lower control arms you'll need to push the lip of the control arm back. The lip on the lower control arm sits just above the rotor brake face. With the 1/2" difference with the ball joint the lip has dropped a 1/2" and will be sitting hard on the rotor brake face. When I put my front end together I could not get close the camber I use and finally discovered the lower control arm lip sitting on the face of the rotor so I just removed the rotor and modified the lip with a nice big hammer...

if you are going to run a tall lower joint you'll need to get the taper reamer to ream the hole in the spindle to the proper depth so the stud sits properly you'll need to tack weld the lower ball joint. Use a piece of 22 gauge sheet metal to wrap around the ball joint housing so it's a snug fit in the lower control arm before you tack weld it in place.

Thanks for the tip on the rotor interference. I'm planning to use the stock spindles for now, is it ok to use tall upper and lower ball joints and a 7" upper control arm with stock spindles or is that something that requires tall spindles?

Are you saying even with the tall ball joints that are supposed to be made to fit a g body I need to make lower control arm/ spindle taper mods?