A friend of mine is just getting started on his Mk4 build. He asked me a question about his upper control arms(ffr). It makes me wonder if its right. Here it is: My uppers are mounted with the solid corners facing the front of the car as the manual says, however the driver side adjustment bolts are facing down,and the pass side bolts are facing up. Is this ok? I mean does it matter which way they face? here is a pic of the pass side, the drivers side has the silver bolts facing down cobra garage 057 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
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FFR #7815 mk4 complete kit ordered 4/23/12, kit completion date 5/26/12,delivered 6/3/12,roller w/lights 9/15/12, motor installed 11/3/12,first start 11/24/12,first go cart 3/30/13 http://www.flickr.com/photos/7998117...7630306202184/
Did it occur to just undo the bolts on one side and simply flip them. it doesn't matter which way they go but for aesthetics I always put the nut on the bottom.
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I sure can't remember details, and the UCAs have changed over time, but...some have had an interference w/ the top of the caliper and those bolts. Probably depends on what cailper etc but something for him to keep in mind as he progresses. In more general terms, there is a theory that all bolts should be installed w/ the bolt head either upward or forward. Idea is, that if the nut comes off (yeah I know), the bolt may stay in position longer. This theory was told to me decades ago by a guy who had been an aircraft tech during Vietnam.
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FFR 5353K,351/400hp,TKO 500, 3-link w/3.08 and Truetrac, Koni DA coilovers front and rear,APE hardtop,Forte front and VPM rear swaybars
So I am mounting the UCAs as we speak. The pic in the manual is of an older variety that does not have an angle to where the ball joint is mounted. You have to choose between having the ball joint angled slightly away or slightly toward the car. To me it makes sense to have the bottom of the UCA tilt toward the car. That way when you hit a bump and the UCA is forced up, you have less of a chance of bottoming out. Is this correct? Not sure which way to mount the UCAs, with the ball joint angling slightly toward or away from the car.
Has anyone got a solid answer for this?
In unrelated news, it's impossible to mount the UCAs with the solid part of the elbow forward on both arms, that would make one UCA have the ball joint angled toward the car and the other one angled away.
....there is a theory that all bolts should be installed w/ the bolt head either upward or forward. Idea is, that if the nut comes off (yeah I know), the bolt may stay in position longer. This theory was told to me decades ago by a guy who had been an aircraft tech during Vietnam.
My Dad was an A & E Mechanic and told me the same thing. The bolt staying in the hole, even it it is loose, may alert you to a problem in a much nicer way than the bolt falling out and the parts separating. A "last chance", if you will.
Regards, Rick.
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Driving a car like this is about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on.
Your first picture which is the front right is wrong.. You need to take off your ball joint and flip it around.. F5 may have sent you two lefts so check the angle arm/balljoint before reinstalling.. chmasy shows the problem people are getting into on his link.
Your first picture which is the front right is wrong.. You need to take off your ball joint and flip it around.. F5 may have sent you two lefts so check the angle arm/balljoint before reinstalling.. chmasy shows the problem people are getting into on his link.
from my understanding they only make one type of A-arm and one of the pivot bolts has to go forward on the new A-arms.
Mine were exactly the same as pictured. Flipping the ball joint over made the ball joint geometry wrong.
this is the way it needs to go, left side and right side. the ball joint mounts points out "away from the car" on the bottom of the mount. the pictures are taken from front of the car
All I have to say is F#@kin Factory 5 is is going down hill in a big way. Sooner than later new owners are going to find stickers on the chassis and bodies that say "Made in China".
These control arms show the same negligence as the crooked hood scoop problems of the past... Too lazy and cheap to do it right.
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Your first picture which is the front right is wrong.. You need to take off your ball joint and flip it around.. F5 may have sent you two lefts so check the angle arm/balljoint before reinstalling.. chmasy shows the problem people are getting into on his link.
That's the problem... they only have driver side uca's, you need to flip the passenger side over or the ball joint angle will be incorrect. They don't even bother to tell you it's different from the manual...
All I have to say is F#@kin Factory 5 is is going down hill in a big way. Sooner than later new owners are going to find stickers on the chassis and bodies that say "Made in China".
These control arms show the same negligence as the crooked hood scoop problems of the past... Too lazy and cheap to do it right.
Those are the same as the original arms as supplied years ago. Nothing lazy or cheap. Why dont you just keep quiet if you cant say anything but negative.
[ Nothing lazy or cheap. Why dont you just keep quiet if you cant say anything but negative. ]
I have to agree . Ive built a few different style kits based off vw stuff and you talk about horrible. I'm just getting going on my FF comp kit and I'm very impressed. Ive got al the susp done and cant complain about anything. Everything is as it should some things just take a little thinking out.
It is a kit.
Thats the joy of doing it yourself if that bugs someone they should buy something thats already done.
This forum is one of the best there is and has already helped me tremendously.
I don't thing ranting about FF accomplishes much of anything.
Those are the same as the original arms as supplied years ago. Nothing lazy or cheap. Why dont you just keep quiet if you cant say anything but negative.
I beg to differ. My car was delivered in March 2010 #7184. You can see from the diagram from the build manual that the portion where the ball joint mounts is very different from what they deliver now My ball joints a mounted square to the arm, not angled as they are now. These can be flipped as I did without any difficulty.
Well I've had three, and two had the angled arms, one didnt. My point is, that has nothing to do with being a cheap part. You can go aftermarket, and get them either way.
I am in the happy camp. I have my suspension in also, couple parts took some persuasion but they went in. I am sure I fill get frustrated with something but for now I am having a blast.
the only problem here is FFR apparently didn't update the manual. They used to have angled mounting plates similar to the current ones, and there was no reference to whether the solid arm part of the plate went toward the front or the rear because you end up with one of each. When they went to the 0° plate, they made reference to which end faced forward. One way is probably stronger than the other, but the reality is, it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is where the center of the balljoint ends up. Now that they've gone back to an angled plate, they should remove the reference in the manual to which end goes forward. Angle the mount toward the outside...one will face forward and one will face backwards...it doesn't matter.
Once again the forums have saved me a lot of butt scratching. Thanks to all who post, and just to reiterate: there is no left and right UCA, the welded joint will be front one side, rear the other side. There is enough adjustment not to cause a problem.
I like to find solutions on these forums but in my experience FFR techs are more than willing to answer questions and usually very timely.
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When they went to the 0° plate, they made reference to which end faced forward. One way is probably stronger than the other, but the reality is, it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is where the center of the balljoint ends up. Now that they've gone back to an angled plate, they should remove the reference in the manual to which end goes forward. Angle the mount toward the outside...one will face forward and one will face backwards...it doesn't matter. 
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