The BMR lower arm #AA016 has 2 deg. pos caster in it And UMI upper arm #4033-1-R has 4 deg. with 1/2" taller ball. Is that to much caster for a 71 or 72 GS 455 4 speed or should there only be 4 deg. more that stock? Any insight would be great.
Nope, I would not be afraid of +6° at all. I have +5° on mine and it works great with a handling mindset.
Thanx,,, Also do you think that .9 taller ball would be to much for street and drag once in a while? may be to fragile??
I have the .5" taller ball joints. If your .9" taller units are ProForged brand, I'd trust them to handle the load. It should handle very well, on par with new cars with the proper (not factory) alignment and a good set of wheels and tires.
I have the UMI 0.9 taller upper arms (only) on my Stage 1. They work awesome, been three years now. Couple things to save you some grief if you haven't installed yet, make sure you check the arms for interference with the frame, they all vary a bit and on mine had to grind down one flange a little bit as it was just rubbing a tiny amount at full travel. Also, the tall ball joints use a regular sealing boot, with the ball joint "stem" exposed there nothing to compress and hold the boot in place, so a piece of heater hose installed between the upper arm and the boot will solve that for you, it just holds the boot in place. Who knows, they may have updated their instructions on that by now (mine have been on since 2013). I run -1/2 camber, +5 castor and 1/8" toe (all done at home so results may vary), it did make a did make a difference for sure. Funny took buddy with new camaro out for a ride and we headed into he first corner he was blown away by how well it took it (I may be a bit nuttier than most though ). Also run 1.125 front bar (long story) and factory 7/8 bar. Weak link for sure is the stock tires/wheels. Between those arms and the perf steering box best mods made for sure, changed the whole feel of the car. And yes saved all the original parts, but I'll never put them back on. If you need any info feel free to send me an email.
It, literally, is like day and night, isn't it? People that have stock Chevelles, Buicks, Olds or Pontiacs go for a ride in my car and they can't believe they are the same chassis and a little front end geometry would make that much difference. I no longer wear out the outside edge of my front tires.
It sure is. I go around some of the sweepers here and 99% of traffic is falling back...I do drive like a teenager sometimes though...made a huge difference on my car. I debated going to 17" wheels and tires too but decided against it just for the restoration and also the ride. I don't put enough miles on to wear much out really except maybe the back tires but yeah the biggest improvement is just the overall confidence in the car.
