Are there any reasons to consider the adjustable LCA's and panhard bar if I have NO intention of lowering the car?

Thanks!
Chuck

 

Adjustable lower control arms? No. If you're not going to taller wheel/tire combination or aftermarket rearend, there is no reason to buy an adjustable set of lower control arms.

Adjustable panhard bar? Yes. I would never buy a non-adjustable panhard bar because the rearend wasn't even centered under the car from the factory. Even if you're not going to lower your car, you can get the rear squared up with the body.

- Kevin

 

Thanks Kevin!

 

I disagree. The use of adjustable LCA's allows you to adjust thrust angle during alignment. Not a huge deal, but well worth the few extra dollars the adjustables cost.

 

Even on stock cars at stock height with stock wheels & tires it is common to have it offset. Mine was.

As for the alignment deal? How many shops are even gonna check that? .001% MAYBE & only at an extra cost which won't benefit a street car & barely anything less than a full-on drag race car needs it. Certainly not at stock height. I've had many a lowered 3rd gen, never Adjustable LCAs & no problems with any of them.

Besides.....If you wanna adjust the thrust angle? An Adjustable torque Arm is what you really want to adjust that with, not with your LCAs.

 

Maybe I am silly, but I don't go to Sears for my alignments. My car has been getting 4 wheel alignments for years. This is not a drag car, but rather a street / road racer. We are not talking stock alignments here.

I think you may be confusing thrust angle with pinion angle. Two very different things. Thrust angle is the angle of the rear wheels with respect to the center line of the car. Other than oval track racing, thrust angle should always be set to zero. Factory tolerances can allow this to be slightly off.

 

Yes I was. But I believe that the Adjustable PHB is better suited to fix that, not the Adjustable LCAs since that is what can bring adjust that sided to side angle in your pic. Adjustable LCAs kinda could but they would also set the rear at a bad relationship to the front track & cause the rear to track bad going down the road out of alignment with the front track. Also they would affect pinion angle. How can the Adustable LCAs compensate for both correctly? When you adjust for one it would effect the other & I think you end up settling for a compromise between the two, but neither one set correctly.

 

Our 201529 is hugely popular.

http://www.umiperformance.com/catalo...roducts_id=346

The non-adjustable LCA's are bulletproof and the PHB is adjustable at a reasonable price.

201520 is a cost effective option if you're never ever lowering you car and don't mind if the rear is off a tiny bit (even from the factory).

http://www.umiperformance.com/catalo...roducts_id=140

 

The confusion of thrust angle and driveline angle shouldn't mix everyone up. You do not need adjustable lower control arms to align your car or modify thrust angle at all. The torque arm will be used to adjust the driveline angle (commonly called pinion angle) and the panhard bar is used for thrust angle adjustment. The lower control arms position the rearend in the wheelwell from front to back. So as long as you're not running a wheel and tire combination that caused them to hit the body or bumper, you don't need to make any adjustments to the length of them...unless you just want to.

 

Well that is an interesting post. The panhard rod moves the rear in such a huge arc you would have to move the rear inches to make any difference in the thrust angle.

Imagine this. My rear is centered left to right in the car with an adjustable panhard rod. Now my rear is centered but pointing slight left or right due to an imperfect thrust angle. Why would the thrust angle be off???

- differential housings are not perfectly straight
- LCA's may be slightly different lengths
- LCA pickup points on car or differential may be slightly off

Its clearly easiest to correct this situation to adjust the length of the LCA's until thrust angle is zero. The LCA's purpose is to keep the differential pointing straight. Therefore if its not, you adjust the LCA.

Honestly I can't think of another reason to have adjustable LCA's unless you wanted to be silly and globally change the wheel base.

 

The adjustables sure look cool! Lol! My old stockers with poly bushings is getting replaced! I found some nice adjustable used BMR's to go along with some other upgrades i'm finally doing!