CuttyShark

I used my OPGI points and a gift certificate to buy some of the OPGI control arms!

I know a lot of people say to change the ball joints that come with them. What ones should I use? Stock? Different? The lower control arms are staying stock. My spindles are stock. My Sway Bar is stock. My shocks and springs are stock. I read someone say there is a taller or shorter ball joint that works better than original? Does that require changes to anything else?

Once I put on the control are what are the Specs I should use? If anyone else has done this, what is the good starting point for spacers fore and aft? Can someone count theirs and I will set mine up that way just to get it to the alignment shop.

1970 Olds 442, W30, stock suspension. No lowering, stock rims.

Mr Nick

A few things to consider here...

Are the OPGI upper arms stock length? If so, you could use a stock height upper ball joint or maybe a 0.5" taller unit.

If the OPGI upper arms are shorter, then I suggest using tall upper ball joints to help improve the camber curve, 0.5" at least and maybe 0.9".

How much room do you have between your stock upper ball joint and the rim?

CuttyShark

OPGI describes them like this...
So I am guessing that they are NOT stock dimensions.

I am not sure who makes them but they appear to be copies of Global West or ATI Racing or one of those similar.
https://www.opgi.com/chassis-suspens...r-pp04901.html

Mr Nick

I would go with 0.5" taller upper ball joints, high quality parts and they will help with handling a bit. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/p...lass/year/1970

And if you want to improve handling a little bit more (and lower it 0.5"), you could also put 0.5" taller ball joints in the factory lower control arms, but it's not necessary. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/p...elle/year/1969

Bubba68CS

Nick has you covered on the other questions, so as far as specs, you want about 0.5 deg of negative camber, about 6 deg of positive caster (or as much as possible with the arms if they can't get that high), and about 1/16" of inward toe. Toe can be changed quite a bit more if looking to really dial it in for track or autocross, but for the street, that should work. Same with camber - if you are tracking/autocrossing, you may want more negative, but for the street, -0.5 deg should work.

Note: no one can help you with alignment shims. Every single car is different and what works on one, may not work on another. In fact, what works on one side of your car may not work on the other. Case in point: I have UMI's adjustable upper arms. My driver's side has an entirely different number of turns on the rod ends than the passenger AND the passenger still required shims to get the alignment correct. The most important thing to get correct to get you to the alignment shop is to get the toe right. If the wheels are pointing out, it can make the car scary as hell to drive. You can align that with tape measures. If you have an angle finder or one of those vertical laser levels and a tape measure, you can get your camber in the ballpark. Or you can buy yourself the tools and align it yourself. Takes bit of patience, but really isn't hard to do.

CuttyShark

Lower is not an option. I have some aftermarket ceramic headers that sit very low and even the easiest driveway seems to scrape them!

CuttyShark

The new arms have arrived. They look very well made. I THINK that they came with taller ball joints but I am still going to order better tall ones. Is there only that one vendor?

Mr Nick

RideTech, SPC, and some others have them. You can do a search on Summit Racing and then read the details for each one, if they are stock length or extended. I doubt most of them actually manufacture their own, though. I would just go with Proforged since it's reasonably priced and known to be reliable.

CuttyShark

I finally saved enough and bought the taller ball joints!

CuttyShark

Installed the arms and new taller ball joints this weekend. I have not had it aligned yet but I noticed a huge improvement over how it was steering and cornering before!

w30442

I put aftermarket control arms on my car as well with taller upper ball joints. The original control arms had new ball joints and the car always handled good for an old car but with the new arms and taller ball joints with no front sway is better than before. The added bonus for me was was more room for 2 inch headers.

CuttyShark

yup. The control arms don’t hit my passenger side header anymore. You can see the dents