[DeTomaso] Adjustable upper rear A-arms

[Larry Stock]

You turn the adjustable heims out to your approximate length and then use
the regular lower shims to adjust the camber and toe in as you would
regularly. It is really pretty simple.

On 12/2/15, 7:26 PM, "DeTomaso on behalf of Mike Drew via DeTomaso"
<detomaso-bounces at poca.com on behalf of detomaso at poca.com> wrote:

>   In a message dated 12/2/15 5:13:26 PM, tonydigi at optonline.net writes:
>
>     I'm ready to finally compensate for that excessive rear camber my
>     car has.
>     Anyone have good used set they want to sell?
>
>   >>>I've suggested this before, but it bears repeating.
>   If you have excessive negative camber, you don't want, nor do you need,
>   ADJUSTABLE upper A-arms.  You only need LONGER A-arms.
>   The adjustable style have been around for 30 years or more.  They are
>   somewhat complicated to manufacture and incorporate expensive
>   components, which makes them cost an absolute fortune--figure close to
>   $700 for a pair.  But the spending only starts there.  Once they are
>   installed in the car, in order to make an adjustment you have to
>   disconnect them from the hub carrier, then turn the adjustable doohicky
>   in our out some number of turns, put it all back together again, hook
>   all the equipment up again, and re-measure.  It's a very
>   time-consuming, labor-intensive, and thus very expensive proposition.
>   On the other hand, fixed-length A-arms that are slightly longer can
>   deliver the desired result with no difficulty at all.  Just pop your
>   ball joint out of your stock units, swap them over, bolt them on (if
>   you have poly bushings they will transfer over easily, otherwise you'll
>   have to buy four new stock-style bushings and have them pressed in),
>   and then you simply adjust your alignment in the conventional manner.
>   These things are available from both Hall:
>   http://hallpantera.com/cgi-bin/p/awtp-product.cgi?d=hallpantera-inc&ite
>   m=22521
>   And Precision Pro-Formance:
>   http://www.precisionproformance.com/sc2020.php
>   Note that while they achieve the same thing in the same way, they
>   appear to be different designs.  Also note that the Precision
>   Proformance model is slightly more expensive AND requires you to
>   exchange your old units, which incurs shipping cost plus you lose your
>   old ones.
>   I've helped install Hall units on several cars, and they worked
>   absolutely great.
>   Having said all that, realize that the Hall/Precision Proformance
>   adjustable chassis stiffening kits can have a profound effect on wheel
>   alignment.  If you get too rambunctious expanding the lower rear piece,
>   you can create negative camber by spreading the main chassis rails
>   apart from one another.  And by the same token, if you get aggressive
>   with the upper portion, you can potentially dial out all of the sag
>   that may have set into your chassis and return it to its original
>   location (although if one is too aggressive, paint damage could
>   possibly result?)
>   So before you spend money on expensive (and expensive to set up)
>   adjustable upper A-arms, first look at your existing chassis components
>   to see if you have accidentally manufactured your problem, or could
>   correct it.  If not, then seriously consider taking the simple and
>   inexpensive route by using longer-length, fixed A-arms?
>   Let us know how it turns out!
>   Mike
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