Has anyone had any problems with the UMI front lower control arms,the tires now rub on turns in the back of the wheel well?

Any help would be great

 

i have 2 sets, and no rubbing on either, anywhere.

was the car aligned? where is the camber at? if you sit the strut plate to far back, the wheel will rub even with stock parts.

 

installing my UMI Aarms now. I think the problem is prob that the Aarms dont have steering stops and your turning the wheels too much and causing you to put the tires into the wheel well/fender.

Anyone know how to remedy this without welding a stop on the Aarm?

 

you would have to make a clamp on deal, but with the way the arms are shaped that would be difficult.

you can make a bracket to bolt into the 2 holes in the gusset just behind the balljoint and use that as a stop. Thats been my plan, but after you drive the car for a littel while you get a feel for where "too far" is with the steering wheel and you wont have that problem anymore.

but caster alignment will also make the wheels rub in the back if you have too much.

 

i did a test yesterday with the driver side all buttoned up (minus the baer rotors/calipers and threw the wheel on and rotated the tire to max. Seems that it wont rub any more than the car did originally with the stock Aarms and steering stops.

I also got in contact with UMI yesterday and here was our conversation (email) UMI's Jerry responses are in bold.

1.) The lower Aarms have no oversteering Tab to prevent over turning the wheel and pushing the wheel into the wheel well? How can i prevent over turning the wheel since theres no stop, Im also running a BAER 13" front brake setup.
We and a lot of other manufacturers have found no reason to include a steering stop cause the steering will max out before your tires will rub.

2.) Ive tried to install an energy suspension polyurathane coil spring isolator on the bottom of the spring that fits into the Aarm to prevent scuffing the powercoat but was unable to do so since the spring has such a tight fit in the UMI Aarm spring pocket. Is there anything i can install to prevent powercoat wear and rust?
Nobody makes a coil spring isolator for the 3rd gen. If your trying to use one you would have to fab one out of a heater hose or some other type of rubber.

3.) What is the max spring rate these Aarms can handle? Im currently running cut moog 5664's which should put me at a rate of about 900lbin.
That Moog spring is probably a factory replacement so there should be no problem.

4.) Also noticed that the sway bar mount with end links installed is pushed foward toward the front of the car compared to stock. And there is no bump stop.
The sway bar mount does not need to be in OEM location cause it is not a lever link set up. With it being forward more it would actually stiffen the bar ( like using a larger diameter bar ). We include no bump stop cause the shock has one in the dust cover.


Im alittle worried with his responses as they are kinda odd. I stated i was running a cut moog 5664 spring which are about 900lbin rate, this is not the stock rated 700/750lbin spring, so he didnt really answer my question accurately.

Also where is the stock bump stop on the shock (think he meant strut)? I mean from what ive read there are no bump stops on the strut and that they can bottom out if your running a really low drop spring and u remove the rubber stops on the stock Aarms. Also im running KYB AGX struts and HOTPART caster/camber plates, so im not using the stock strut covers.

 

with you spring selection, are you concerened about the heavier spring actually fitting in the arm, or are you concerened about the rate ofthe spring? think about it. the front end of the car weighs the same regardless of what rate spring in the the arm so there would be no added stress to the part based on the spring. FWIW i have 1050lb front springs in my 86, greanted they are now too heavy and i will be swapping them this summer, the arm has no issues with them.

heater hose will work as a insulator, or buy a sheet of 1/8" rubber and cut something to fit the arms yourself.

as for the other answers, the factory steering box supposedly has internal stops, but im pretty sure the tires will hit the frame before you hit the steering box stops. my 86 rubs the frame at full lock, barely, but its a AGR box so who knows where the stops are.

as for the swap bar hole, i didnt notice a difference in location, but Jerry's answer is a little odd, unless terms are confused. if the mount moves forward or backward on the arm (front to back on the car), the affect on the sway bar should be minimal if at all. but if it moves side to side (closer or further from the wheel) it will make the bar softer/stiffer because of the change is leverage.

bump stops, there is no stop in the strut mount AFAIK, the factory stop is on the a-arm. A shaft mounted stop would be better anyway since they can be set/trimmed to length to suit the ride height and amount of travel wanted/needed

 

No the heavier spring selection worry is due to the overall strength of the UMI Aarm. Ive heard of the tubular arms being weaker than the stock arms on a daily driver, I dont want to hit a large bump and have the spring push out the bottom of the arm lol. Its a very tight fit in the pocket so no heater hose isolator will make it fit, as the hose will make the coil too large.

My stock arms and stock spindles with 17x8 SLP rims rubbed the plastic wheel wells very slightly, test fitting the tires with the modded spindles and UMI Aarms shows the same basic light rubbing as stock. apparently the stock steering box stops are the same stop as the stock Aarms when they contact the spindle. So really the stops on the spindle/Aarm are not really needed.

The sway bar end links are pushed foward (toward the front of the car), so the end links are no longer straight up and down but angle upwards from the Aarm mount to the sway bar.

I know the strut doesnt have a stop in it, thats where he has me confused. The stock Aarm bump stop is there to stop compression when u bottom out the suspension so you dont bottom out the strut and destroy it. Since there is no bump stop on the UMI Aarm then bottoming out the strut is a possibility.

 

I always put stoppers on my strut shafts,its cheap protection for expensive struts. I rather replace the little stopper rather than buying a new strut.

 

weaker maybe since htey are fabricated and can break if you hit something hard enough if tey are not welded properly. stock ones will never break, just bend.

Im no professional with the loading of the springs here, but nothing i can think of would make the spring push the a-arm harder/softer based of the rate. the weight of the car remains the same and thats the weight on the spring? Can you explain you logic? im not following.

and like i said, i have 1050 lb springs in the 86, no issues, and they are way to stiff. even with you big block, you wont need more than a 900 or 950 lb spring, if that.

 

Ive head of tubular a arms bending from hitting potholes.

 

probably, but FWIW, a big enough hole will bend a stock arm, and wheels for that matter.

 

True, but its cheaper to buy a another stock a arm than a tubular one.

 

you know, honestly, once you figure cleaning and putting new bushings and balljoint in the "new" old arm, a single replacement tubular one is not that bad. since they would be about 200 bux if you can get just one. I think getting just one would be the tricky part though.

or just avoid the potholes

 

Stay in the emergency lanes, potholes & pothole patches suck here.

 

Send a complaint to the Dept of Transportation about the potholes. We pay too much in taxes for our 3rd Gen's to be dodging holes on the road. I'm almost done with my suspension and big brake upgrade.
I noticed the LS1 calipers bump up against the tube a-arms. I thought about using a piece of heater hose and a couple of thick zip ties to protect the a-arm from the caliper. Pics are posted on my signature/albums.