INFO: Tubular Upper Control Arms |
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BackInBlack
Senior Member Joined: 11-January-2011 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 1013 |
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Yup...already bought the CVPI springs sitting with my pile of suspension parts waiting for install. I'll take you advice...try it out first then decide. I'm holding off finishing the suspension until I'm done painting the car.
Sorry to derail the thread...back to A-arms. If anyone buys those Hotchkis A-arms; would like to hear what you think of them...
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-John
1973 GTS |
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Nuggets
Senior Member Joined: 07-November-2014 Location: UK Status: Offline Points: 869 |
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If they're still available once I get my payslip I might take the risk
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Barnaby
429 powered 73 Stripper.....no comfort, just noise! |
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russosborne
Senior Member Joined: 01-January-2015 Location: Glendale AZ Status: Offline Points: 664 |
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I would think that Hotchkis Galaxy parts bolted on and worked on our cars that they would advertise them as such. Would really increase their sales I'd imagine.
Hoping to be proved wrong, but I can't be the one to finance the experiment though. Russ |
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Billy C
Senior Member Joined: 10-February-2010 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Status: Offline Points: 948 |
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I have Porsche cayenne 6 pistons up front on a massive (14" I think) rotor. The pads are off the shelf, the rotor is off the shelf, and the caliper is off the shelf. The only thing needed to be made was the bracket. It's all water jetted and welded 4130 steel. I even have rev 2 ready to crank out if I ever feel like it. I have the entire unsprung into CAD but it's buried deep in the depths of my hard drive somewhere at this point. The 6 pots stop like a race car. They can outperform my driving skill by a long shot. I could crank out a few sets of brackets but they would cost $600 a set for just the brackets and hardware. Custom low volume things are expensive especially when engineering time is involved. If I felt like my car needed those upper arms I would pay the $600 in a heartbeat. What my car needs is someone with time to keep testing and tuning it which I have none of right now. After that, it needs a better driver. I think LittleShop did us a huge favor trying to make a few sets to sell at any price.
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-Billy Conturo
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russosborne
Senior Member Joined: 01-January-2015 Location: Glendale AZ Status: Offline Points: 664 |
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Question for those who've used these or know something about this.
I'm quoting from Little Shop's instructions "Please note that there are 2 different lengths on the factory cross-shafts for these cars. The shorter cross-shaft (72 and early 73) will leave a small amount of thread unused in the end of the nut. It is preferable to use the longer cross-shafts if possible." Would using the longer cross shaft on a 72 cause any issues? Would using the stock 72 shaft cause any issues? Not sure why I am asking, but since I am working again I can't get these arms off of my mind. Might make a good Christmas present. Thanks, Russ |
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Billy C
Senior Member Joined: 10-February-2010 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Status: Offline Points: 948 |
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Both cross shafts will bolt to the chassis. The lengths are different for some reason. I don't remember why or in what way. When I switched my pre 73 arms out for later ones I remember the bushing being easier to install with the longer shafts but that's all.
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-Billy Conturo
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Power Surge
Senior Member Joined: 06-March-2016 Location: Palm Coast, FL Status: Offline Points: 542 |
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I did not get any directions with my arms, and I have a 73. I did not notice anything special about using the 73 shafts, they worked fine.
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Sal Mennella
73 GTS 351 CJ 75 Cougar XR7 73 Ranchero - 5.0 Coyote swap - in progress Past Torinos - 72 Gran Torino, 75 Gran Torino, 75 Elite |
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californiajohnny
Moderator Group Joined: 05-October-2013 Location: winlock, wa Status: Offline Points: 14609 |
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IIRC the 72 shafts are shorter and don't leave enough exposed threads for the nuts?
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JOHN
74 GRAN TORINO S&H CLONE 74 VETTE CUSTOM 90 S10 BLAZER 4X4 LIFTED 77 CELICA CUSTOM 75 V8 MONZA SUPERCHARGED 79 COURIER VERT. SLAMMED 75 VEGA V6 5 SPD 70 CHEV C10 P/U 68 MUSTANG FB CONVERSION |
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Power Surge
Senior Member Joined: 06-March-2016 Location: Palm Coast, FL Status: Offline Points: 542 |
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Just a quick note here... since I am selling the Ranchero, I swapped the little shop arms over to my Torino and then aligned the car. They weren't kidding...those arms gave me 5-6 degrees of caster. I do a lot of highway driving back and forth to work, so more caster is very welcome. I must say, the car feels much more stable at 70-80 mph, and the biggest difference is it no longer twitches to one side or the other over bumps at speed.
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Sal Mennella
73 GTS 351 CJ 75 Cougar XR7 73 Ranchero - 5.0 Coyote swap - in progress Past Torinos - 72 Gran Torino, 75 Gran Torino, 75 Elite |
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BackInBlack
Senior Member Joined: 11-January-2011 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 1013 |
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Nice to hear some good feedback on the arms.
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-John
1973 GTS |
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72FordGTS
Admin Group GTS.org Admin Joined: 06-September-2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 5854 |
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Thanks, it's great to hear some feedback. We were able to get somewhere around 4 or 5 degrees of caster with stock arms, so I am assuming these once could go well beyond that if one desired?
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Vince
1972 Ford GTS Sportsroof - Survivor, One Family car GTS.org Admin |
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chris5769
Member Joined: 09-March-2017 Location: Springfield, Oh Status: Offline Points: 45 |
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Has anyone used the Viking Crusader front coil over/rear shock set? I have seen these on eBay and they look like they would provide good performance and ride height adjustability. Thoughts?
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Cheers,
Chris 1975 Gran Torino |
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BackInBlack
Senior Member Joined: 11-January-2011 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 1013 |
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Very cool....this is the first coil over kit I've seen for the 72+ Torino.
How do they compare with Vari-shok coil overs? |
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-John
1973 GTS |
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Power Surge
Senior Member Joined: 06-March-2016 Location: Palm Coast, FL Status: Offline Points: 542 |
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wow that's kind of scary. That setup puts the entire weight of the vehicle on two little half inch lower shock screws....
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Sal Mennella
73 GTS 351 CJ 75 Cougar XR7 73 Ranchero - 5.0 Coyote swap - in progress Past Torinos - 72 Gran Torino, 75 Gran Torino, 75 Elite |
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BackInBlack
Senior Member Joined: 11-January-2011 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 1013 |
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Yup...have to reinforce the mounting area. The pure vision torino used stock lower arms; reinforced the mounting area for coil-overs. There are some pics somewhere on the internet where you can see some of the work they did for reference.
yup...your right though...definitely need to strengthen up that lower mount |
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-John
1973 GTS |
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72FordGTS
Admin Group GTS.org Admin Joined: 06-September-2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 5854 |
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The Pure Vision setup was a little different than this one, but it's nice to see there are more parts on the market for our Torinos. You can see the rear suspension is totally changed, while the front suspension has the lower part of the coilover mounted not using the shock bolt holes. You can see the reinforcement they added and the coilover mounts to that.  Here are some pics of the Pure Vision car's suspension:           Edited by 72FordGTS - 02-February-2018 at 2:54PM |
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Vince
1972 Ford GTS Sportsroof - Survivor, One Family car GTS.org Admin |
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BackInBlack
Senior Member Joined: 11-January-2011 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 1013 |
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Good pics...I knew the rear was a custom 4 link set up (i believe it was from Art Morrison).
That was helpful for the front lower arm. They boxed the LCA but I didn't realize that the mount was different from teh stock shock style. I have seen that you can buy off-the-shelf mounts and brackets. That may be an option....here is a reference https://www.ballisticfabrication.com/collections/coilover-shock-tabs This looks interesting for the rear... https://www.cachassisworks.com/site_images/58XX/5824-XXX/5824-A10/5824-A10_weld-on_PRKR.jpg All require some welding and modifications to the mounts and arms. |
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-John
1973 GTS |
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chris5769
Member Joined: 09-March-2017 Location: Springfield, Oh Status: Offline Points: 45 |
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I did not really pay attention to the mounting point. Thanks very much for pointing that out. I am glad I posted the question before pulling the trigger. That is more work than I want to put into it. I am going to buy the tubular A arms however. Based on the feedback I see in the thread, they look to be an effective upgrade
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Cheers,
Chris 1975 Gran Torino |
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chris5769
Member Joined: 09-March-2017 Location: Springfield, Oh Status: Offline Points: 45 |
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Bought a set of the LittleShop A-arms. Excited to get them on the car. I decided not to do the coil over setup and stick with CVPI springs. Thanks for the input. This forum is a wealth of info
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Cheers,
Chris 1975 Gran Torino |
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Eliteman76
Admin Group Joined: 20-March-2006 Location: Nebraska, USA Status: Offline Points: 5044 |
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Still waiting to do mine. Having the GTS on stands the last 6 months has not helped things much :(
Side note, Pure Vision has a few things on the GTS about things they did. One specifically was the strut rod was sleeved with DOM tubing to stiffen it up.
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Andrew:GTS.ORG admin, '72 Q code 5 speed Restomod
Pondering: #99Problems |
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simon455
New Member Joined: 15-October-2011 Location: toronto Status: Offline Points: 24 |
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does anyone know where i could find taller upper ball joint for the littleshop a arms?
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72 pro touring fastback
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BackInBlack
Senior Member Joined: 11-January-2011 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 1013 |
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I got mine from
http://howeracing.com/ I also figured out a way to use Chrysler lowers in our OEM lower arm to use their extended length lowers. I haven't really decided on what I want to do regarding the geometry changes. I was looking at Fatman drop spindles and using 1/2 to 1" extended uppers. If I stick with stock spindles I was thinking of going +1 extended lower balljoints to lower the car. I got my uppers from howe....I'm not sure if they have anymore in stock. |
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-John
1973 GTS |
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simon455
New Member Joined: 15-October-2011 Location: toronto Status: Offline Points: 24 |
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i was eyeing their site, could not see a ford bolt in ball joint? any chance you gotta part number?
Don't belive you need drop spindles, im usning the cvpi front springs with 3/4 of coil cut and car is just sitting low enough to cover the top of the tire, mind you its a 275 35 19 on a 9.5' rim in the front, stance is really good...
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72 pro touring fastback
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JMS48
New Member Joined: 17-November-2019 Location: Glenside Status: Offline Points: 5 |
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I would also be very interested. Please keep me in the loop.
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72FordGTS
Admin Group GTS.org Admin Joined: 06-September-2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 5854 |
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You can but the tubular arms here:
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Vince
1972 Ford GTS Sportsroof - Survivor, One Family car GTS.org Admin |
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afri-can7
Member Joined: 02-August-2014 Location: canada Status: Offline Points: 92 |
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Obviously haven't tested the uppers and suspension as not done with build, but her is what they look like on my setup......
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When i die.....i know where i'm going!
'73 Gran torino sport formal '72 Gran Torino Fastback '06 F150 Supercharged '79 Chrysler 300 |
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Plmeovr
Brand New Member Joined: 30-December-2018 Location: Utah Status: Offline Points: 1 |
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Are these still available from the shop? I can't find anything anywhere! 2dr 73 gtsq code
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californiajohnny
Moderator Group Joined: 05-October-2013 Location: winlock, wa Status: Offline Points: 14609 |
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call littleshop mfg their info is posted on here somewhere...
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JOHN
74 GRAN TORINO S&H CLONE 74 VETTE CUSTOM 90 S10 BLAZER 4X4 LIFTED 77 CELICA CUSTOM 75 V8 MONZA SUPERCHARGED 79 COURIER VERT. SLAMMED 75 VEGA V6 5 SPD 70 CHEV C10 P/U 68 MUSTANG FB CONVERSION |
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californiajohnny
Moderator Group Joined: 05-October-2013 Location: winlock, wa Status: Offline Points: 14609 |
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https://www.littleshopmfg.com/contact-us/
i guess they prefer email, now that i'm thinking about it, i did email them about my A arms they were prompt welcome btw! |
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JOHN
74 GRAN TORINO S&H CLONE 74 VETTE CUSTOM 90 S10 BLAZER 4X4 LIFTED 77 CELICA CUSTOM 75 V8 MONZA SUPERCHARGED 79 COURIER VERT. SLAMMED 75 VEGA V6 5 SPD 70 CHEV C10 P/U 68 MUSTANG FB CONVERSION |
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72FordGTS
Admin Group GTS.org Admin Joined: 06-September-2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 5854 |
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It shows they are still available on the website:
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Vince
1972 Ford GTS Sportsroof - Survivor, One Family car GTS.org Admin |
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