Anybody using these upper control arms?

Viking coil-overs.

 

Half tempted to get the Mustang kit and try to narrow the plate. Maybe next year...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/262862560008?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

I really like this kit for the money. By the time you sink the cash in to rebuild the stock suspension you'd be approaching the cost of this kit anyways. Look at this pic. Looks like you could easily narrow and even shorten it if needed to fit this chassis.

http://i873.photobucket.com/albums/ab300/capri_v8_driver/mustang/cppkit8-1.jpg

Also, I see they have 2 versions one listed for early 65/66 Mustangs.. wouldn't the earlier narrower version(just guessing based on the difference in chassis width between early and late) be a better baseline kit to start with for mod's?

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1600/689723/18899687/304915597.jpg

Hard to tell the difference but maybe CPP would give you some dimensional differences between the early and later model kits to start with a better fitting baseline kit for our cars?

 

65/66 Mustang uses different upper and lower control arms than our cars, don't know if that affects the mounting points on the plates or not.

 

Differences in upper control arms are discussed in this thread, but excepting for narrower bolt pattern all are basically same dimension wise... http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/vintage-mustang-forum/657573-control-arm-difference.html

From the info I've found on net, apparently the '65-'66 Stang LCA is approx 2" shorter than '67-up...

 

Figured it probably wasn't going to be that easy. Would be nice to have measurements for both early and late versions to see if swapping later/longer LCA over to the earlier style belly plate might save some time or give a little extra latitude for mod's.

Did they ever disclose what type of bushing design this kit uses? And do they also carry rebuild kits?

My quick guess is they are just sourcing the bushings from another brand/model and retrofitting them into this kit. Why recreate the wheel when you can just swap in existing aftermarket parts from another model to save on R&D costs.

 

The info in their ad about the bushings:

"The CPP exclusive pivot bushings are a patented self lubricating plastic that will not squeak, and has a working temperature of over 400 degrees. These plastic bushings refuse to break during impact testing and can absorb high shocks loads that would otherwise be transferred thru the chassis."

On their website they say the bushings will last longer than any metal or rubber bushings.
This all started for me because I wanted to get rid of the squeaky metal bushings. I have the Moog "Problem Solvers" and was planning on installing them soon until I saw these. Anybody wanna buy some Moog "Problem Solver" rubber bushed pivot shafts? LOL

 

Just arrived. Sumbitches are heavy!

 

Found an old thread where CPP responded to some Mustang owners about their then-new Mustang kit. They discuss the bushing material some more:

"About the kit. We made a tubular upper and lower control arm. The strut rod and mount are removed from the car. The new crossmember bolts to the chassis with 12 bolts. The new lower arm uses the original mount for the rear of the arm, and the crossmember has the mount for the front of the arm. The cross member allows the front of the arm to become a caster adjustment. The upper arm is made 1/4" shorter. This allows a better camber curve, and allows you to pull the tire in from the fender. In order to get more room in the fender, you would need to slot the original lower arm pivot. We include a lock out kit that will hold the arm in its new position. In all this arrangement will let you align the car with the upper and lower arms. This lets you move the wheel in, out, front, or back; the advantage is the ability to run as large a front tire as possible.
These arms have sway bar mounts in the same position as the original arms. They offer more clearance for bigger brakes, tires, and wheels. They use a replaceable ball joint. The upper arms come assembled on new billet cross shafts. We use bushings made from a patented plastic material that will never squeak, works at temperatures above 400 degrees, has very little friction, has memory, and has an ultimate tensile strength just 10% less than aluminum. I stated using this in off road truck suspension about 5 years ago. It last longer than Delrin, and unlike Delrin it does not not squeak, break, crack or split. We do not like to mention it by name because then every one would switch. I spent many months researching and testing before I found this stuff. I have never seen a better bushing material. In testing we had urethane bushings fail, and split in half within 1 week of road use. The material we use has run more than 1 year in SCORE with no signs of measurable wear. Hope this answers all those skeptics questions about the bushings.
The biggest difference most people notice is how much more stable the car becomes, and how much better the steering feels.
I know some people say that the ONE suspension will work good if it is in good condition. It is no comparison to this kit though. We have sold thousands of these and not 1 person who installed and drove it could claim that it did not make the car better."

 

How do those bushings feel? Stiff like rubber or more like a roller?

 

Not as stiff as rubber but doesn't just spin like bearings would. Can just barely get it to turn with my bare hands.

 

Started the install today, ran into a couple minor problems. First, I had intended to do a 1" Arning drop but these arms are a little bit wider than stock. The way the Maverick's shock tower tapers toward the bottom there wasn't enough room, at least in my '70. 1/2" wider tower and it would fit.

With some surgery I could make it fit but for the way I use the car it probably isn't worth it. The Mustang guys drop these things 1 1/2" without problem so their towers must be a little wider.

Second issue was mounting the spring perch. There are vertical sides to the spring perch pads to allow you to use coil-overs but the side pieces get in the way of installing the nuts the hold the perches. A few minutes with a grinder to clearance the sides and I was able to install my roller spring perches.

Third, the mounting bolts that come with the arms are about 1/2" longer than needed and interfere with the Hooker 6901's on the driver's side. Quick trip to the hardware store solved that. The early Mustangs didn't use adjustable strut rods and LCA eccentric bolts to set caster and camber, they were adjusted by adding shims between the UCA and the tower so I guess they would need longer bolts.

 

Thanks for the detailed follow up. Any guesstimate of weight gain or loss with this kit vs stock pieces?

 

Don't have actual weights but the new arms are definitely heavier. The stock piece is stamped steel with a spindly cross shaft and the new arms are thick walled tubular steel with a huge steel cross shaft.

 

I went all new moog parts.