so i was looking around on the different suppliers online catalogs to see if i could order aftermarket control arms (through one of our suppliers at the shop) for my latest build, i found out that mevotech has two listings one says for all 95-04 except with HD suspension the other says 95-04 with sport suspension (new p/n listing) so this has me really curious what could be different i get my supplier to contact mevotech tech support and they say the sport suspension is 3/4 inch longer i am like wtf no way (unless sport suspension has different camber specs which a longer c arm would do???) what confuses me is that the struts springs etc are all the same weather it is a z a base model or whatever (the sway bars are different obviously) but what could be with a control arm..... so i call my GM parts guy who is very knowledgeable and he says no dont think the length should be any different BUT the bushings are different and there are different c arm bushing p/n's for are cars depending on reg or sport suspension. so i am hoping someone on this site might be able to give me a little more info ??? i am puting urethane bushings in anyways but this info really suprised me i have been a mechanic for almost 20 years and never came across this until now.
The only quality "upgraded" control arm that i know of for J-bodies is the aluminum N-body control arms that are only found on 1999 Olds Aleros or Pontiac Grand Ams. But they require modification(ball joint has to be moved in 1/2"). 1 person has successfully ran them without modding them, but they used Tein SS's with camber adjustable strut mounts to correct the camber.
thats what i thought too,..... aparently i am wrong, i have been searching online for the last hour or so though and some did have an FE2 (sport tuned suspension option) z24 and the fire gt while others didnt i always thought in the j body it was a bigger sway bar being that the struts/springs are all the same. anyway here is the mevotech catalog if anyone else is intrested in checking it out:
http://partsonline.mevotech.com/MMYSearch.aspx
well today i ordered a set of each so that i could see the difference myself if any, the bushings look exactly the same on both arms same shape, thickness construction, same ball joint etc etc..... the difference believe it or not IS in the length, the sport suspension listing is a bit longer i would say 1/4 to 1/2 inch, (ball joint is moved out that much) so by moving this out it is going to point the top of the tire inward which is the camber angle thus meaning the sport suspension has less camber ....... see you learn something everyday lol. What i am curious about now is when using aluminum N-body arms do we really have to mod them like we all have been doing all along, it would be dependant on if who ever figured out the very first set that was done measured a standard control arm (which would mean the ball joint is ok in the location as is), if they measured a Z24 or sunfire GT i guess they SHOULD still be modified (bj moved in 1/2"). in either case if a camber adjustment bolt kit is used i am pretty sure they will work just fine without modding them, i always install the camber kits when i install sportline springs or similar anyway so i can set the alignment to the proper specs rather than just doing a " set the toe and let it go alignment". (yes i know there is a post in here that says it doesnt need to be done on our cars when they are lowered i dont want to make any enemies on this board with people that have been here forever but as a tech who is in the feild i will say that statement isnt exactly correct, you may not have any issues with the car pulling to one side or the other but it will wear the tires unevenly if it isnt set within the range called for and lowering the car will definately change the camber, and we align alot of cars that have been lowered or had suspension changes where i work)
I'm running un-modded 99 Aluminum arms too. I slotted one of the the J-body strut holes to allow more movement to align it. Easy as pie.
^^ yep, that works. ive got a buddy that did that on his 96z recently. he's on here, mike burns... L67 swapped. well, he slotted the upper strut bolt holes, idk if thats what you did??
both his and paul's car run them un-modded and are doing just fine.
All I want... is a little of the good life
how much of a slot did you all make to make these work? And did you also use the camber bolts?
to slot the struts all you do is find the same size drill bit as the hole (approximately) and just elongate the top hole until it is about twice the width you started with, you dont need cam bolts if you use this method and alot of aftermarket struts already have this done for you.
