Can't have my car down for any longer and my school semester begins this month * its my dd.. Any input from a umi representative ..?? An updated version?

It would be great to get a refund so I can look into a a arm set up with bump stops index point and steering stop.

 

YES! Please UMI chime in and answer your customers. I bought your TQ arm, a-arms, and tons of other parts.. Not too impressed with the a-arms.. no steering stops or index point! I bought spohn steering stop clamps but it didn't fit over your design.. then when i called UMI to ask if they have one in the works they stated that they do not make them and do not have any plans to make them... It has costed me nearly 700$ canadian to buy these, and ship them to canada and have them installed. I'd appreciate some input from UMI on these issues as well. Thanks!

 

Do you think it would be possible to weld index points into the spring pocket? I have UMI arms also but I've had them for over a year sitting in a box and i know that i won't be able to return them.

 

Not avoiding... but just not aware, a big difference. E-mail us with an issue or a link so we can address it. We don't search the forums on a daily basis and to be honest we are short staffed in our office at this time so forum monitoring has been behind.

We do not put a index, never did and never had an issue with out. I will look at adding something to the arm in the perch. We never had any issue with the spring moving.

For steering stops, not many aftermarket companies add stops to their A-Arms, using the A-Arm itself as the stop. I will look at making some type of collar clamp like others are offering as an option to add to them, that is pretty simple to do and won't take much. I will keep you updated on the stops.

 

I'm not sure if the absence of the index point causes my spring to move out of place, but I do hear a thumping sound. My plan this weekend is to check that out, I'm hopin by adding insulators to the top of the coil will decrease the possibilty of moving around/less vibration.*what are the disadvantages of not having the index point?

I also believe the sound is coming from the absence of bump stops , with this I purchased ground control strut bump stops.
*will these accommodate the purpose of having bumpstops on the shaft comapred to the a arm structure?

But my main concern is the lack of steering stop because my brand new wheels/tires appear to be hittin/running against the control arm.
*powdercoat will soon be scraping off and rust can build up..

 

Awesome! Stops would do great and I would buy them right away. please let us know when they are done!

 

i know on my car, the arms are so far away from the k-member, that i dont think even with the springs removed, and the tires sitting on the inner fender, the a-arms would ever touch the k-member, so i dont think thats what you are hearing.

do you have the upper spring insulators? the springs can be more noise without them.

the shaft bump stops are just fine.

 

Hey Guys,

We are going to look at adding a steering stop into the A-Arm. If we weld a stop on the A-Arm the powder coat is still going to chip if the spindle hits it. But this would be how the factory arm is set up.

We are going to also look at a collar style stop and see if we get something to work with our A-Arms and our gusseting.

Thanks guys,

I will keep you posted.

Ryan

 

I think the collar style stop is better, but isn't the stop supposed to come into contact with the spindle before anything can hit the powdercoated a-arm?

 

Well on the Spohn arm in the picture they are welding a block the A-Arm as a stop. The factory arm uses a strap/piece of metal attached to it, so any kind of stop that is attached the A-Arm is going to be coated with the A-Arm, unless it is a collar style. The collar style is going to cost more to manufacture.

 

Its not an issue of the spring moving, its an issue with the spriung being installed into indexes so that each side (left front and right front) are sitting at same spring rate and ride height so as not to have an uneven install or uneven dynamic motion.

 

We are working on a tab to be built in the A-Arm spring mount now as an index.

 

This will require welding to the current UMI a-arms to install, correct?

 

if you measure carefully, you can simply drill a hole in the bottom of the spring seat and use a bolt as a index point. They both have to be in the same spot though, so measure carefully before you drill. Probably the easiest way to add one to the existing arm

 

THe helix shape should still fit into an index ramp- I would not advise that for optimum performance and lineear spring rate climb through articulation.
This gets into the subject of dead coils and rate calculations. I posted a picture on this thread already on page 1

 

Thanks umi for stepping in.. keep us updated.

I added insulation to the coils, repostition the coils a bit better than before and added the ground control bump stop so its running good.

I still hear a thumping sound. I'm not sure if my sway bar might be stickin out or to close to one side of the k member.

When I took down the struts my driver side strut *shaft sank in when I held it on hand. When I held it from the top by the thread section the shaft expanded. The other side did not do this. Is this an issue?

 

The strut should firmly want to stay extended. What struts? age? My Koni's are hard to compress by hand. That may be the cause of the clunking.

 

Koni yellows. Less than a year.
Bought these from tirerack. Anyone familiar with their warranty polcy?

 

Sounds like it's worn out to me? The strut should be hard to compress as 87350iroc said. Some struts have a warranty. If it's new, then maybe it's a defect.

 

Sounds like a defective strut. Koni's carry a lifetime warranty. I would try Tirerack first for a replacement.

 

Sorry if this has been completed, but has UMI instituted the changes of bump stops and spring indexes with ramps yet? I was gonna order them but might hold off if the revised design is going to be out soon.

 

Not sure but atleast they know about it and have acknowledged that. They said they are working on correcting the issue the last I heard.

 

Ok, looks like I'll hold off til they make the changes. Doesn't make sense to try modding them if they will have revised ones out. I'm interested in them because firstly, my driver's stocker is bent. Press bent it. Spohn has the issue of moving the wheel back...yea not an option. These work good from all I've heard but have no bump stops or spring indexs.

 

no tubular a-arm has bump stops, the best way to fix that issue is to put those progressive polyurethane bump stops up on the strut.

What they are missing is steering stop so when you turn your wheels all the way to the end they don't rub anywhere (like stock.)

 

BMR's have bump stops. I'd still prefer the strut mounted ones though.

 

I should have meant steering stop. I know most tubulars are designed with a bend in them to eliminate the need for a bump stop. I did think about getting the BMRs but I heard they tend to break. And A arms are not something worth replacing when they break.

 

a lot of their breakage issues are from years back, i believe they have changed hands since then, and havent heard of any issues like that recently.

 

If thats the case then maybe thats the way to go, they're all priced the same or within 10 bucks of each other anyway. I don't really have any allegiance to anyone. My whole car will probably be a mix of parts and companies. The Hammertone will blend in nicely with either my stock 15s or black diamond spokes. I just didn't want to buy them and have em break in a hard corner at some random high speed. If they're greaseable maybe I'll pull the trigger at Summit.

 

if you are in no huge hurry, you can wait until there is a sale, save a few bux.

I thought the bmr ones dont fit the stock k member anyway? i thought it said so on their site?

 

I thought they did. Hawks sells them as an OEM replacement.......unless I totally missed something. I'm all for waiting for UMI to revise them if there are other issues.

 

their sire has changed since i was there last, im pretty use if used to say they would not work with stock a-arms, but now nothing, so i would "assume" they would be fine.

 

I hope you have a lot of time. Last time I asked them to improve a product, they told me business was to good to make any changes.

 

Waiting on umi response regarding my guinea pig first design of their a arm
I'm tired of scratching the coating off my a arms also increasing the presence of rust!

Along with scratching the inside of my BRAND new wheels!!!
It is also a pita to get the coils positioned correctly as the otherside with out
the index points

No customer should be limited to wheel selection because of the a arm design
I have tried two sets of wheels different offsets, backspacing specs, numerous of spacers 1.25" to 2.25", and experience the same issues

Most importantly any business should prevent vulnerable and potential damage to their customers SAFETY

Will post pics soon . I refuse to drive my car as much as I'd like to due to these issues

 

Dude, you just need to learn to not turn at full lock. I've had to deal with it on both my Camaro and my GTi.

 

if i had oem arms i didn't have to deal with this.. so either umi fixes the issue through some type of exchange rather than just fabricating bolt on/clamp style steering stop when they already have fabricated a second version with several issues fixed. ex. index points, bump stop

or they can just give me my money back.


i didnt pay $400 to be cautious and careful to learn to not turn at full lock. every time i attempt to park my car in a parking space or pull out in reverse i hear the wheels hitting.

and no way that i am going with stock wheels! my brake set up requires an 18' wheel for clearance i am not going to step down to a 8.5wide wheel or a 245 width tire.


the pictures below demonstrate the usage of different spacers for my wheels*an attempt to avoid damage to the a arms and wheels.
prior to the new wheels i also used the 56mm offset wheels with a 2 inch spacer and experienced the same results. when i had oem arms i did not have issues. *steering stops were present.