Upper front control arm

[eamici]

Getting ready to install the upper arms and am confused by some of the stuff in the build manual. In that section (p39) the topic of adjustments is discussed but there are no specifications given. The book says to adjust the arms to the "desired length" but never tells you what the desired length is. Would appreciate any input.

[GoDadGo]

When you install front suspension you sort of eyeball everything just to get things in the ball park.
Also, have you had a chance to look at this video that Factory Five did on the front end?

https://youtu.be/oBJ5dKLrhoU

It may help to see it in video form.
Good luck and you just started an amazing journey.

Steve

[phileas_fogg]

I interpreted "desired length" to mean whatever it took to get the alignment you wanted.


John

[edwardb]

As others have said, until you get the front end aligned, it's a bit of a guess. So don't sweat it too much. In general, the front adjuster will be out more than the rear to provide the necessary caster. So you could start there. But don't overthink it right now. Just be sure not to join the upside down club. The upper ball joints needs to be pointed out as shown in this picture. And the pivots at the frame on the upper half with the zerks pointing up. Unless something has changed, this means you will need to disassemble and re-assemble at least one of the UCA's as received from FF. Note also this means the bolted and solid connections at the ball joint plate will be opposite on each side. Don't worry, that's normal.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%2020th%20Anniversary%20Mark%204%20R oadster/Front%20Suspension/IMG_3396_zpsaoq9daop.jpg (http://s867.photobucket.com/user/edwardb123/media/Factory%20Five%2020th%20Anniversary%20Mark%204%20R oadster/Front%20Suspension/IMG_3396_zpsaoq9daop.jpg.html)

[CraigS]

Just to get things at a somewhat normal state assuming you have wheels and tires and can drop the car down on the floor. If no to either of those forget the rest of what I type. Drop it on the floor. Adjust the UCA sleeves so the front is a little (1/4 to 1/2 inch) longer than the rear sleeve and so the tire is vertical to the floor. A carpenters square, or a cardboard box is fine as a reference for vertical. If you have the steering and steering column installed, adjust the tie rods so, if you get on your knees and sight along the outer surfaces of the front tire toward the rear tire, the front tire is aiming at a point on the rear tire about 1 inch in from it's outer surface. Ideally the steering wheel should be centered and the tie rods both the same length, but those details are way further down the line. If the front tires are close to vertical and close to being parallel w/ each other the car will be easier to push around. That is all you need to worry about for now.