Maybe this stat is published somewhere now...but I haven't seen it: Anyone know what the range of articulation/rotation, in degrees, is for the SPC ball joint used in these arms?
I didn’t bother to measure the angle of the dangle during my install, but check this out.
I removed the front shocks and torsion bars and cycled the suspension with a floor jack, compressing the rubber bump stops until the frame lifted off my jack stands. The hub traveled up and down 6-5/8”. The limiting factor was the range of motion from the upper balljoint stud.
I pulled off the stock upper A-Arm, bolted up the SPC A-Arm with the factory alignment cams zero’d in the 6 o’clock position (in relation to the pointy thing on the cam), positioned the balljoint caster cam in the recommended “D” position, and positioned the balljoint in the middle of the camber adjustment slot. Still, with the front shocks and torsion bars removed, the hub traveled up and down 8-1/4”. The SPC A-Arm provided an additional 1-5/8” of down travel (droop) over stock.
But check this out, now the limiting factor is the frame. At the bottom of the suspension cycle (full droop), the upper A-Arm hits the upper A-Arm towers welded to the top of the frame before the upper balljoint stud runs out of motion (see pic attached). One could say, just notch the A-Arm towers for more clearance. But unless your shocks are long enough, that extra clearance won’t matter. I bolted on a set of Fox 2.0 shocks and they are now my limiting factor, and as such, I now have 7-1/2” of travel. That’s 7/8” more than what I had stock. Perhaps a longer shock can take advantage of that extra 3/4” of travel that’s available.
At the alignment shop, the tech didn’t have to touch the driver’s side factory alignment cams at all. On the passenger side, he clocked the front cam in the 5 o’clock position, and the rear cam in the 5 o’clock position (looking from the rear, or 7 o’clock if looking from the front). Being that both the front and rear cams are in the 5 o’clock position, the A-Arm pivots centerline is just a tad off from being parallel to the frame, and that’s pretty good! Going to position “E” (or “C”?) on the balljoint caster cam would have changed the caster too much. For me, position “D” was perfect after the tech made the slight change using the factory alignment cams. The tech did adjust the toe-in slightly to straighten out the steering wheel. I asked for a printout with my numbers but his printer was broken, but everything lined up well and drives perfectly straight down the road.
P.S. I have no squeaks what-so-ever.
