tubular control arms

Suspension related stuff goes in here.
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So Cal Mark
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Your car is a: Fiat
Location: upland, ca.

Re: tubular control arms

Postby So Cal Mark » Thu Feb 21, 2013 10:06 am

my arms will feature urethane bushings
Mark Allison
allisonsautomotive.com Fiat and Alfa Romeo parts and service. Performance parts our specialty!
Headers, ignitions, wheels, cams, flywheels
starsmark@hotmail.com 909-981-3566

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manoa matt
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Joined: Thu Oct 26, 2006 4:28 pm
Your car is a: 1978 Fiat 124 Spider 1800
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii

Re: tubular control arms

Postby manoa matt » Thu Feb 21, 2013 3:16 pm

I just wish they would box in the leading edge where the ball joint mounts. That's one of the weak links in the original design, that flange is almost always warped throwing the ball joint/alignment out. I've been putting of a project of strenthening the original arms and inserting some MOOG BJ's and some yellow poly bushings I got from Classicricambi when they were still in business. Maybe I'll hold off and wait for Mark's arms.

Tobi
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Your car is a: 1981 2.0 FI
Location: Minneapolis MN

Re: tubular control arms

Postby Tobi » Thu Feb 21, 2013 6:05 pm

It looks like the mount for the anti sway bar can be flush on the tube arms. The guy at the alignment place told me 5 years ago that the way I macgyvered the connection for the Adco bar it is not going to work but it did and I have been rough on it. It still would be nice to take care of that.
Anyway Mark I guess it is worth waiting for your arms since I have been planing on changing to poly bushings.
Is there a way to make up for what ever lowering the car to much messes up. My arms are far from being horizontal.
And also, are they going to be available in black?
Green 1981 FI
Red 1976 Fiat 126 Bambino (more than 25 years ago)

Tobi
Posts: 650
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:50 am
Your car is a: 1981 2.0 FI
Location: Minneapolis MN

Re: tubular control arms

Postby Tobi » Thu Feb 21, 2013 8:23 pm

The people at Vick's have responded and changed a few things on their web site.

http://www.vickauto.com/newstore/index. ... ts_id=3806
Green 1981 FI
Red 1976 Fiat 126 Bambino (more than 25 years ago)

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SLOSpider
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Your car is a: 1973 124 Spider 2.0FI
Location: Lompoc, Ca USA

Re: tubular control arms

Postby SLOSpider » Thu Feb 21, 2013 9:27 pm

Forget the arms we need some drop spindles...
1975 124 Spider
1976 Mazda Cosmo http://www.mazdacosmo.com
1989 Chevy k5 Blazer
1967 GT Mustang Fastback

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divace73
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Your car is a: 1980 Fiat 124 Spider Silver
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: tubular control arms

Postby divace73 » Thu Feb 21, 2013 9:42 pm

They have responded to me as well and have give some good feedback, I'd seriously consider them it's just freight component to OZ that kills a lot of deals for me.....
Cheers David
-=1980 silver Fiat 124 Spider=-
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So Cal Mark
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Location: upland, ca.

Re: tubular control arms

Postby So Cal Mark » Thu Feb 21, 2013 10:50 pm

hmm, 10 degrees of caster (not castor) will make for some heavy steering effort.
Mark Allison
allisonsautomotive.com Fiat and Alfa Romeo parts and service. Performance parts our specialty!
Headers, ignitions, wheels, cams, flywheels
starsmark@hotmail.com 909-981-3566

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4uall
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Your car is a: 1980 Fiat Pininfarina Spider 2000 F.I.
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: tubular control arms

Postby 4uall » Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:44 am

based on their photo it appears there is no place to mount the shocks :shock: :?

not like the last pair I bought which worked out sooooo well (dripping with sacrcasm) :roll:

Image
Jay

Fiona
1980 FI 2000 Spider
ITZEBTZE

https://goo.gl/photos/eNKaX7hrXhBu9fmp6

FINN (FN-2187)
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MYTHERPY

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manoa matt
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Your car is a: 1978 Fiat 124 Spider 1800
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii

Re: tubular control arms

Postby manoa matt » Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:19 pm

"hmm, 10 degrees of caster (not castor) will make for some heavy steering effort."

When mounted on a Lada, it won't.

"based on their photo it appears there is no place to mount the shocks"

Good eye, hahaha.

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giuliot60
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Your car is a: 81 Fiat Turbo removed Spider
Location: Concord, NC (Charlotte area)

Re: tubular control arms

Postby giuliot60 » Sat Feb 23, 2013 2:48 am

No place to mount shocks is a pretty big factor. How could something like that be overlooked? Or is there a bolt on feature to accommodate?

And isn't there already some positive caster to our cars? Does any one know the amount? And are Vick's arms 10 degree positive or negative?
Giulio/Charlotte
1st car '75 pistachio 128 sedan
Owned a '74 Spider, '68 Firebird, a '65 GTO convertible, and a customized '74 650 Yamaha
Currently own an '81 Turbo (removed) Spider

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azruss
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Your car is a: 80 Fiat 2000 FI

Re: tubular control arms

Postby azruss » Sat Feb 23, 2013 9:34 am

10 degrees is a very radical change. It would seem that would hurt handling and make the front end looser. One of the things that makes an X handle so well is the near zero caster. That is also what makes the car so twitchy. Maybe you race guys can explain this.

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So Cal Mark
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Re: tubular control arms

Postby So Cal Mark » Sat Feb 23, 2013 10:35 am

more caster makes the car want to go straight, and requires more effort to turn the wheel. 10 + would be good for a drag car that only goes straight down a drag strip. Negative caster would be a bad thing for a car.
Mark Allison
allisonsautomotive.com Fiat and Alfa Romeo parts and service. Performance parts our specialty!
Headers, ignitions, wheels, cams, flywheels
starsmark@hotmail.com 909-981-3566

vandor
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Your car is a: 1971 124 Spider
Location: Texas, USA

Re: tubular control arms

Postby vandor » Sat Feb 23, 2013 10:56 am

>And isn't there already some positive caster to our cars?

Yes, about 3-4 degrees.
Csaba
'71 124 Spider, much modified
'17 124 Abarth, silver
http://italiancarclub.com/csaba/
Co-owner of the best dang Fiat parts place in town

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RRoller123
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Your car is a: 1980 FI SPIDER 2000
Location: SAGAMORE BEACH, MA USA

Re: tubular control arms

Postby RRoller123 » Sat Feb 23, 2013 11:47 am

I alwys think of the classic shopping cart at the supermarket when considering caster. Perfect example of an unstable system. :mrgreen:
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
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giuliot60
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Your car is a: 81 Fiat Turbo removed Spider
Location: Concord, NC (Charlotte area)

Re: tubular control arms

Postby giuliot60 » Sat Feb 23, 2013 4:03 pm

Thanks Mark & Csaba.

So you want just enough to bring the wheels to center when letting go of the wheel, but not too much that you have to fight to turn it.

I'm also assuming that there is no way of adjusting it, unless you modify or replace the control arms, correct?
Giulio/Charlotte
1st car '75 pistachio 128 sedan
Owned a '74 Spider, '68 Firebird, a '65 GTO convertible, and a customized '74 650 Yamaha
Currently own an '81 Turbo (removed) Spider


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