Ridetech Control Arm updates?

[BBC71Nova]

I haven't been able to find anything but I swear I remember either reading or being told that Ridetech was about to come out with an updated set of UCAs. I want to say it was supposed to be shortly after the first of this year.

I'm really close to pulling the trigger on the remaining pieces I need for the TruTurn now that it appears I might have necessary clearance. I also need to get a different design of UCA. So as close as I'd be I thought it might be worthwhile to just go all Ridetech up front and have an "engineered system".

Anybody got any info? Brett?

Maybe I was dreaming...

[coolwelder62]

I haven't been able to find anything but I swear I remember either reading or being told that Ridetech was about to come out with an updated set of UCAs. I want to say it was supposed to be shortly after the first of this year.

I'm really close to pulling the trigger on the remaining pieces I need for the TruTurn now that it appears I might have necessary clearance. I also need to get a different design of UCA. So as close as I'd be I thought it might be worthwhile to just go all Ridetech up front and have an "engineered system".

Anybody got any info? Brett?

Maybe I was dreaming...I'm a ride tech Dealer Call me and I will get all your questions answered.1.785.five nine four.74841Scott.

[Jr]

I'm a ride tech Dealer Call me and I will get all your questions answered.1.785.five nine four.74841Scott.

Will you please post what you find.

Thank you

[bret]

I haven't said much about the delrin bushing/caster slug cross shaft revisions yeat because I wanted to be ready to ship first. We'll be changing over the A body stuff first in a couple weeks with the early F body next around the end of May. C10 and G body come right after. I'll post images and text within a couple of weeks.

[BBC71Nova]

Thanks you sir :thumbsup: . I'll sit tight and wait it out then.

[coolwelder62]

I haven't said much about the delrin bushing/caster slug cross shaft revisions yeat because I wanted to be ready to ship first. We'll be changing over the A body stuff first in a couple weeks with the early F body next around the end of May. C10 and G body come right after. I'll post images and text within a couple of weeks.Well I guess that throws me out of the loop.:thankyou: Brett.

[BBC71Nova]

Scott, I called yesterday and left message. Greeting was generic so I wasn't sure if I got the correct number. There were too many numbers listed above so I just went with the first 10 :).


Bret, any possibility that you'll be bringing some of the new arms to Nashville GG to have on display? :D

[marolf101x]

Though we've been keeping this quiet, I guess now is a good time to let the cat out of the bag.

The control arms for our popular applications have gone through a complete re-design. This included, altered ball joint positions for vehicle specific requirements, a forged cross shaft with caster slugs, and self lubricating Delrin bushings.

Here are the highlights. . .

Bushings:
-injection molded Black Delrin with PTFE (Teflon for self lubrication)
-no maintenance required
-screw driver slots for easy removal (should they ever need to be serviced)
-internal grease slots (should one want to add lubrication zerks)
-direct replacement for popular poly sizes

Control Arm shaft:
-forged steel
-caster slug slots
-aluminum caster slugs
-liquid ferritic nitrocarburizing (sort of like anodizing for steel; this is the same process many guns go through) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferritic_nitrocarburizing)
-inner sleeves (like those use in poly bushings) are built into the shaft (fewer parts and mitigates potential for noise)
-control arm "locking" feature

Control arm "locking" feature:
Though 99.99% of the populace will never need this feature we added it cause we could.
We found in very extreme cases that the control arm could deflect under braking. . .basically pulling the control arm sleeve away from the shaft nut over the bushing toward the front of the vehicle.
To solve this issue the cross shaft has a large "washer" built into it on the rear side which holds the bushing. The steel control arm sleeve has a ledge machined into it and the bushing has a ledge that fits inside. Once assembled this locks the rear of the control arm to the cross shaft so the control arm cannot move forward or backward, only up and down.

I have attached a couple of images for reference.

[bret]

We will have the arms, cross shaft, delrin bushings [and Britt] on display at Nashville. The new system will be installed on our 66 Chevelle that will be running the autocross.

The delrin material we are using is self lubricating so there is no grease mess neccessary. We've run this material in Rodney's Suburban for the last 2 years to test durability...they've been quiet and no wear at all.

Because we've made the investment to injection mold the delrin versus machining it from solid stock, we've been able to incorporate some cool design and functionality features...AND with no extra cost to the customer.

BUT...before anyone asks...in most cases, they are not retrofitable to the previous style StrongArms. Doing that would have prevented incorporating several of the design and performance features. We chose to leapfrog ahead with a complete system instead of being tethered to the previous dimensions.

[Rick Dorion]

Will this be done to the arms for the 67 chevy B-body? My Belair is crying out!

[jake72ss]

can,t wait to see them in Nashville, I might even take our chevelle out on the autocross track
Jake

[BBC71Nova]

I checked out the A-body version of these new arms at GG Nashville. These are nice looking parts :thumbsup: .

Couple questions:

-It appeared the shafts were offset. Will the F-body versions also be offset?

-Are the bushings sized similar between the A-body and F-body versions? I ask because of limited space between control arm pivot and PS tank on my particular setup. The diameter of the A-body bearing sleeve was about 3/8" larger than my current arms. Unfortunately I don't think I have the 3/16" to spare :(. We'll see after I get the PS tank back from being modified.

For whatever reason I hadn't previously looked too much at the Musclebar. I got to check it out on the mockup there too. That thing is sweet.

[marolf101x]

The A-Body and first gen F-Body use the same cross shaft, Delrin bushings, and sleeves (only the arms change).
We designed the Delrin bushings to be a direct replacement for the poly units we used on our previous version A-Body arms (as well as a ton of other parts).

The cross shaft is designed with a 0.125" offset to help with alignment.

[Old66Tiger]

Brett, I have the new arms and out of the box, with your spindles, I end up with about 3 degrees of positive camber. I am looking at having to use 3/4" shim stack to get any sort of alignment out of this setup. Please advise. Thanks.

I haven't said much about the delrin bushing/caster slug cross shaft revisions yeat because I wanted to be ready to ship first. We'll be changing over the A body stuff first in a couple weeks with the early F body next around the end of May. C10 and G body come right after. I'll post images and text within a couple of weeks.

[GeoffP]

Ok so I'm a tad bit disappointed that I haven't owned my Strong Arms for 6 months and you guys are doing a complete redesign... I had hoped the cross shafts would at least be upgradable. I still love your products! Any chance in there being a trade in/trade up program? Are you guys redesigning the lower arms too? Will the TruTurn dimensions stay the same for the new arm or is it changing too?

[Old66Tiger]

Geoff,what car are your ridetech arms on? Just curious on some dimensions for a-body uppers. I have a butt load of positive camber and I know these are the redesign arms.

[GeoffP]

Mine are on my Camaro. They're a great product so I sure wasn't expecting the design change!

[instro84]

We will have the arms, cross shaft, delrin bushings [and Britt] on display at Nashville. The new system will be installed on our 66 Chevelle that will be running the autocross.

The delrin material we are using is self lubricating so there is no grease mess neccessary. We've run this material in Rodney's Suburban for the last 2 years to test durability...they've been quiet and no wear at all.

Because we've made the investment to injection mold the delrin versus machining it from solid stock, we've been able to incorporate some cool design and functionality features...AND with no extra cost to the customer.

BUT...before anyone asks...in most cases, they are not retrofitable to the previous style StrongArms. Doing that would have prevented incorporating several of the design and performance features. We chose to leapfrog ahead with a complete system instead of being tethered to the previous dimensions.

thats pretty cool and engineer on display. better out a do not feed the engineer sign.

[GeoffP]

Ok so I got a couple of my q's answered and thought I would share since they seem to be pertinent to this discussion. RideTech revised the upper and lower arms. They are designed to work specifically together to get even more positive caster. I haven't found out if the TruTurn is the same but I suspect it is. I'm also pretty sure there won't be any kind of a trade up. I figure if I ever get some surprise income I'll splurge and buy the new arms and sell the ones I have at a fair discount.

[Smoker03]

Any update on when the revised 1st gen f-body arms will be ready to ship?

[cwylie]

Im curious as well I just ordered new uppers and lowers from you guys and would like to know if Im getting the new design.

[marolf101x]

I believe everything from this point forward is the new "caster slug and Delrin bushing" style arm. They are being powdercoated now, so they won't be ready to ship for till the middle of next week at the earliest.

[Smoker03]

So are the news arms shipping?

[Rick Dorion]

I am buying the Strongarms for my 67 Bel Air. Are these changes incorporated? If not, will they be?

[marolf101x]

The first Gen F-Body arms are now shipping.

The Tri-5 Chevy will likely not get this change as the OE upper and lower cross shafts are "special". The upper is bent in toward the motor to clear the shock mount, while the lower has a wonderful bolt pattern that is not easily duplicated. As such we use the OE cross shafts on these vehicles.
We are looking across the board at our applications list and trying to get as many cars as we can involved in these updates, but some are limited as to how far we can go.

[Rick D]

What about for the second gens??? :hello:

[marolf101x]

The second gen is likely going to get these updates, though it will take a little while.

[Rick Dorion]

Do the 65-70 B-bodies have the delrin bushings?

[marolf101x]

Here is a list of vehicles that are currently shipping with Delrin bushings and caster "slug" cross shafts:
78-88 GM G-Body
64-72 GM A-Body
67-69 GM F-Body
68-74 GM X-Body

That is it for now. All other vehicles are on the list for consideration, but have not been completed.

[Rick D]

Here is a list of vehicles that are currently shipping with Delrin bushings and caster "slug" cross shafts:
78-88 GM G-Body
64-72 GM A-Body
67-69 GM F-Body
68-74 GM X-Body

That is it for now. All other vehicles are on the list for consideration, but have not been completed.

2nd gens, always a bridesmaid never the bride :D

[Smoker03]

I received the revised 1st gen F-body arms yesterday. They look great. They only come with the zero offset slugs, so I'll have to order up some of the offset slugs to get the caster where I need it. Other than that they seem to be a very high quality piece. I just got off the phone with Ridetech and they are sending me the offset caster slugs. That is excellent customer service and product support. Light years ahead of my previous suspension supplier.
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/Smoker03A/photo_zpsf8ae07c1.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/Smoker03A/media/photo_zpsf8ae07c1.jpg.html)

[BBC71Nova]

Hmmm. The temptation builds. Me want... :)

[Smoker03]

Hmmm. The temptation builds. Me want... :)

Pull the trigger. I am very happy with the quality of their parts. I've used a mix bag of parts before on other cars that worked, but a fully engineered system is the way to go. Do it once and do it right. You will save time and money in the long run.

[Rick Dorion]

At 2012 SEMA it was announced that all strongarms would go delrin. I was pretty psyched as I had just acquired my B-body. Apparently, the announcement isn't really true? From this thread it seems there isn't a rollout plan to convert all types? I'd be happy for a projected date!

[camsdad]

Is there or will there be a set available for a 1st gen f-body using 3" drop coil springs and shocks?

[marolf101x]

Rick,

I apologize if we were unclear at SEMA.
The Delrin bushings are designed as a direct replacement for our poly bushings. As such, any control arm that has a poly bushing will be changing to Delrin as soon as we can get everything changed over.

However, some of our control arms were designed to use the OE style rubber bushings. (especially control arms that use the OE cross shafts, like the 58-64 Impala, tri-5 Chevy, etc). The 65-70 B-Body uses rubber, but we make the cross shafts, so the change is easier. We just have to go through all the applications we have and re-design everything to fit the new bushings, then test fit them on a vehicle to make sure it all works. Since Delrin does not "move" it is very "dimension critical" to make it fit in the vehicle. I will not release a part that we "think" will fit. . .we have to know for sure.

Most applications will change. . .but some may need to retain the OE rubber bushing. For example, the 58-64 Impala uses an odd cross shaft that is "bent" in the middle to allow clearance for the steering shaft. Obviously these are much more "design intense" and will require more time.

[marolf101x]

kurt,

At this time we do not offer a control arm that uses a "stock style" coil spring and shock. Everything we do is for Shockwaves or coil-overs.
There may come a day when we make traditional "large spring, small shock" control arms, but it's a ways off.

[Rick Dorion]

Rick,

I apologize if we were unclear at SEMA.
The Delrin bushings are designed as a direct replacement for our poly bushings. As such, any control arm that has a poly bushing will be changing to Delrin as soon as we can get everything changed over.

However, some of our control arms were designed to use the OE style rubber bushings. (especially control arms that use the OE cross shafts, like the 58-64 Impala, tri-5 Chevy, etc). The 65-70 B-Body uses rubber, but we make the cross shafts, so the change is easier. We just have to go through all the applications we have and re-design everything to fit the new bushings, then test fit them on a vehicle to make sure it all works. Since Delrin does not "move" it is very "dimension critical" to make it fit in the vehicle. I will not release a part that we "think" will fit. . .we have to know for sure.

Most applications will change. . .but some may need to retain the OE rubber bushing. For example, the 58-64 Impala uses an odd cross shaft that is "bent" in the middle to allow clearance for the steering shaft. Obviously these are much more "design intense" and will require more time.
Thanks alot for the clarification!

[camsdad]

kurt,

At this time we do not offer a control arm that uses a "stock style" coil spring and shock. Everything we do is for Shockwaves or coil-overs.
There may come a day when we make traditional "large spring, small shock" control arms, but it's a ways off.

That's what I figured.... Damm!
Thank you for your reply.