Looking to possibly switch my 69 olds over from stock control arms to tubular control arms, biggest reason is to save some weight. Is this worth it both in performance and saving weight? All opinions welcome. Thanks, Andy.

 

front or rear ?...doesnt matter I guess


I dont think there is much of difference in weight front or rear upper or lower maybe a couple pounds total ??

 

at the beginning of one of the race seasons John Force was noticably thinner. when asked he said that the crew said it would cost $100,000 to get 50 more pounds out of the car and then said "$100k for 50 lbs?, maybe I could use a few more salads!"
point is if you are doing it for weight there are far more cost effective ways. the reason for tubular a-arms is handling. they do not deflect and twist like stamped ones can.

 

Lightweight starter.
Fiberglass body parts.
Aluminum heads.
Lightweight wheels.
All these are money well spent for weight loss because they all help out in more ways then just shedding pounds.

 

That's hilarious ! Wish someone would offer me good money to drop some pounds! Force is always good for sound bites like that!

 

Santhuff front coil springs not only work excellent but save over 10 lbs, make sure you have these before you speed money on tubular control arms.

 

You will need to weigh the front and rear, and then it's all about geometry. Just throwng parts in there will effect handling.

 

Richard on this forum (Gearheads78) has had experience with the tubular control arm set up and any performance differences, etc. PM him as he is a wealth of information on this.

 

Sounds like there's very little weight savings switching to tubular...The weight savings I've have done is mini starter, aluminum heads, fiberglass hood, rims. As far as performance I might not gain much either. I went with polyeurothane bushings, thick front sway bar, rear sway bar when I rebuilt my suspension years ago......Thanks for the input and opinions.