Lower control arm, Hotchkis vs Opentracker vs Total Control

[Bentworker]

I'm unsure of what lower control arms I want to run.

I have the Opentracker DIY kit, but the more I look at it I'm not too excited about the small spherical joints at the end of the arm. I know they would be fine, but both the Total Control and Hotchkis arms have a massive spherical joint.

Anybody on here have the Hotchkis arms? Any other lower control arms anybody is fond of?

 

[Qcode351mach]

I'm unsure of what lower control arms I want to run.

I have the Opentracker DIY kit, but the more I look at it I'm not too excited about the small spherical joints at the end of the arm. I know they would be fine, but both the Total Control and Hotchkis arms have a massive spherical joint.

Anybody on here have the Hotchkis arms? Any other lower control arms anybody is fond of?

I have the Street or track coilover conversion which includes the upper and lower arms on 2 of my 72's http://www.streetortrack.com/Street-or-Track-Front-Coilover-System-pr-24491.html I recently sold a complete setup to another member here http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-last-package-arrived-today

And will be installing another set on a customers car. I can get you a very nice discount, for being a member here, if you decide to go that route..Ask member Ed M what he thinks about the sot stuff.

Heres my install vid

 

[protouringstang73]

Does Hotchkis has anything available for 71-73 Mustangs?

I am going with a full Global West setup, seems to be some nice products they are making

 

[Bentworker]

Does Hotchkis has anything available for 71-73 Mustangs?

I am going with a full Global West setup, seems to be some nice products they are making

This is what I was looking at, seems to have a large spherical bearing like the total control arms.

Hotchkis lower control arms

 

[Bentworker]

I looked at the Global West arms, they seem pretty similar to the Street or Track arms and the fancy Opentracker ones. All three look good, but the spherical joint looks similar. With a stock bushing or the giant Total Control spherical joint (Probably Hotchkis too) you get true double shear when it is all bolted together since the tube the bolt goes through is one piece.. All the other ones use spacers, so I just need to figure out if it is worth an extra $200-$300 to have the inner pivot be a true double shear.

 

[Bentworker]

Decision made.

It was down to the Total Control or the Hotchkis 1118L lower control arms because they both use a beefy sealed inner pivot that is replaceable. The Hotchkis arms use a joint from SPC called the xAxis, pretty common with the 4x4 folks. The total control ones also use a nice pivot which as far as I can tell is made in house.

The Hotchkis ones were 20% off today (2/5/17), that sealed the deal.

 

[Bentworker]

Well... They arrived.  Pretty impressed, nice TIG welds, the SPC x-axis joint is huge.  Can't wait to have a rolling car again

Hotchkis 1118L







Comparison of the spherical joint on the Opentracker kit VS the SPC X-axis

 

[mustang7173]

Bentworker,

Rather impressive Lower control arms there. I am glad to see you got them at a good price. Them boys are not cheap! I installed the TCP Lower control arms and wow, they are impressive also.

mustang7173

 

[Bentworker]

So I have them installed now, and while I am happy with the quality of them, and the fantastic inner joint they are wide enough that I had to take a dead blow hammer to the car to get them to clear under full compression (see the picture). The pinch welded braces that are perpendicular to the car had to be rolled "out" a bit to fit the fat part of the LCA. It was not too bad, and may not have required as much tweaking if I wasn't so set on pulling the lower control arms so far forward to gain caster.