jag front A arms

[ollykiwi3]

hi
does anyone know of an aftermarket upper front A arm(control arm) that is adjustable that will fit directly(or with minimal machining) into the Jag front setup.
I cant get enough caster(2deg) with my setup(its custom one off) without compromising camber settings.
ideally I want one with left and right thread adjusters so it can be done in situ.
I know there are multitude of arms out there, but don't want to go through the trial and error phase if I don't have to.
cheers

[ollykiwi3]

The silence is defeaning guys

so no one has ever changed out their jag upper arm for an aftermarket one that fits in the same spindle hole? same taper etc...

guess you all started out with the right geometry in the first place

bugger

[Thor maine]

So why do you need so much caster?

[ollykiwi3]

Mainly because its very nervous in the front ,tram tracks,chooses its own direction,has no self centering and most guys are running between four and seven degrees.
Is 5-6 degrees really so much?
Wheel align just done so toe and camber are goodand bump Steer is less than1mm over100mm travel.
Don't necessarily want more caster but feel that's what it needs and is recommended by alignment guy.

[mickmate]

Modern radial tires need less caster but the bias ply Billboards will take about all you can give them. Do your uppers have the threaded sleeve to adjust the arm position/caster? Can you do anything more with that? Are the pads that it mounts to on the frame big enough for a second set of holes behind them?

[CHANMADD]

A front sway bar helps a. lot with front end shake........Also I have know a lot of people look on their tire sidewall, and look at the max pressure and pump the tires to 40 plus psi........wrong..wrong.......a Cobra should not be much more than 34 psi and when I'm just tootling around being an old cart maybe 28 psi.......

[ollykiwi3]

Mickmate: no adjusters as they are standard jag uppers, and no, the mount is made close tolerance so there is no room to make second holes. a possibility is to make a new pivot pin with a longer thread where the arm pivot bearing is and pack the ball joint rear to get the caster. but we are talking about 15mm to get 6deg which im not that keen on.
What is a general number for caster?? how much is too much for road use??

Chanmadd: I have been playing with tyre pressure and have found 35 works pretty well at minimising the wander. no sway bar fitted yet as I want to sort out caster etc first so one thing doesn't influence the other. not too many changes at one time.

There are some photos of my build in my gallery if it helps.

Does anyone know what the taper is on the jag ball joint? is another brand the same that might be fitted to an aftermarket adjustable upper arm?

oh well failing that, I can machine the lower arm pivot mount and move the lower arm forward and re pack with spacers which in effect is the same as moving the upper one aft, but this way is less involved.

cheers for your thoughts

[ollykiwi3]

Mickmate: no adjusters as they are standard jag uppers, and no, the mount is made close tolerance so there is no room to make second holes. a possibility is to make a new pivot pin with a longer thread where the arm pivot bearing is and pack the ball joint rear to get the caster. but we are talking about 15mm to get 6deg which im not that keen on.
What is a general number for caster?? how much is too much for road use??

Chanmadd: I have been playing with tyre pressure and have found 35 works pretty well at minimising the wander. no sway bar fitted yet as I want to sort out caster etc first so one thing doesn't influence the other. not too many changes at one time.

There are some photos of my build in my gallery if it helps

Does anyone know what the taper is on the jag ball joint? is another brand the same that might be fitted to an aftermarket adjustable upper arm?

oh well failing that, I can machine the lower arm pivot mount and move the lower arm forward and re pack with spacers which in effect is the same as moving the upper one aft, but this way is less involved.

cheers for your thoughts

[CHANMADD]

Put the sway bar on before you do anything else......the difference will surprise you.....

[Thor maine]

Originally Posted by ollykiwi3

Mickmate: no adjusters as they are standard jag uppers, and no, the mount is made close tolerance so there is no room to make second holes. a possibility is to make a new pivot pin with a longer thread where the arm pivot bearing is and pack the ball joint rear to get the caster. but we are talking about 15mm to get 6deg which im not that keen on.
What is a general number for caster?? how much is too much for road use??

Chanmadd: I have been playing with tyre pressure and have found 35 works pretty well at minimising the wander. no sway bar fitted yet as I want to sort out caster etc first so one thing doesn't influence the other. not too many changes at one time.

There are some photos of my build in my gallery if it helps.

Does anyone know what the taper is on the jag ball joint? is another brand the same that might be fitted to an aftermarket adjustable upper arm?

oh well failing that, I can machine the lower arm pivot mount and move the lower arm forward and re pack with spacers which in effect is the same as moving the upper one aft, but this way is less involved.

cheers for your thoughts

I have Jaguar E-type front end in mine and doe not look anything like that. That looks more like a Mustang variant.

[mickmate]

I looked in your gallery and saw that pic. You look to have the 78-87 XJ6 suspension. http://www.welshent.com/catalogs/welsh_xj6.pdf
The top ball joint has shims that can be rearranged to move it fore and aft for some minimal adjustment. I would see about plug welding the mount holes for the upper arm and redrilling them or if your lower is an easier move look into that. I would shoot for 4-6 deg of caster. More caster will give better self straightening but heavier steering at lower speeds. Nice results on the minimal bump.

[ollykiwi3]

yeah, its an 84 xjs front. its not possible to redrill the top mount as the upper arm bushes(bearings) straddle the mount plate with only minimal clearance so it cant be moved. bottom is the easier way forward. the shims are full forward so nothing left there, and I need 15mm(drew it up on CAD) to get 6deg so not enough in shims anyway.

sway bars still need to be designed and made so Im not sure which I will do first as it could take some time to get them sorted. and its another thing that needs to be figured out which could take some trial and error.
think I will do the a arm first. but I have taken your comments on board.
cheers

[CHANMADD]

How much caster do you have now..?

[ollykiwi3]

Currently have 2deg caster, 0.5deg camber.

[CHANMADD]

I run 2.degrees with jag front end .......at 100 on the freeway I can let go the wheel and the car tracks nice and straight........I don't believe you need more caster.....maybe you should look at the rear alignment too.....need a little toe in in the rear to go straight........put the damn sway bar on and put one on the rear too....put some more toe on the front......not caster.........

[ollykiwi3]

Already has toe in on front and rear. Just had alignment done.
I can take hands off in straight line on smooth road also but perhaps our roads are a little rougher than your freeway.
What's yours like on back twisty country roads? Do you have to work the wheel?
I'm looking at making front bar now.
Keep in mind that my car is a one off so just because we have jag suspension arms may not mean they work the same.

[CHANMADD]

Your car is not unique.........lots of Cobras have Jag stuff............mine has Jag front and back.....
I have a Granada front sway bar ......cut the ends off and and heated the tips ....flattened them with a hammer , drilled aome holes, some universal links...and voila.!........in the back I used a sway bar from the front of a Mazda 323..........also if your shocks are too hard they will not be nice.......the suspension (operative word suspension)...needs to be compliant.............
Also I notice that you have not braced the lower or the upper arms with a cross piece......

[ollykiwi3]

woah..im not saying mine is unique because it has jag suspension components(front and rear also), im just saying its not a kit set car that has already been sorted by someone else.all im saying is that its setup kinda the same as others but may not handle the same due to chassis flex, tyre size/combo, weight dietribution...the list goes on. some run 2deg and some run 10deg caster. whos to say whats right for mine. just trying to get a general consensus on what others are doing, but it is obviously not so clean and cut as stated above due to differences.

It does have a cross link where the rocker pivots are so that takes care of the upper arms and it is gusseted at the lower arm pivot. may not be in the photos though.

so what diameter ARB are you running? is yours road or track setup?

may go scrounge around the wreckers to see what I can find to modify.not sure what a Granada is as we don't have them here. sure ther ewill be something similar.
however, im sure my mounting points are different and need 740mm straight across the front before it bends back.
Still working on spring rates also. lots of trial and error,which is costing me.
Oh well, that's what you get for re inventing the wheel, but at least its my wheel

[CHANMADD]

Well....the most important thing is ..you're having fun.........
Ford Granada..?......post some more detailed pics...?

[ollykiwi3]

yep,trying to have fun anyway.

so what sizes are your ARB's?

there are photos of my build in my gallery. has most of the pics, but not all.
let me know if there is something more specific you want to see and I can post it.
cheers