Megan Racing Upper Control Arms 94-97 Accord

[Rilas]

Does anyone know if the front upper control arms from a CD5/7 are a direct swap for our cars?

Megan Racing Upper Control Arms 94-97 Accord


I'm looking to replace the stamped steel control arm with something that has less flex in it under extreme loads/forces. It looks like these would fit the bill and still have the adjustable upper ball joint.

The thing I'm wondering about is the ball joint itself. I mean hopefully the one that comes in it is decent. My real concern is about the replacement of it. Can I just buy and SPC or a decent stock replacement and put it in there? I tried to ask this on their website, but their contact us page has an internal 500 error when hitting submit on the form. Go figure.

Last question on this part. Can we use our existing studs that mount the upper control arm around the shock, in the shock tower? I'm not sure if the CD5/7 used the same width as the CB7.

I was reading some reviews for other cars but no one was concerned about replacing the ball joint that I could find. I'm looking for a bit of help here. I may just bite the bullet and order a pair if I know it will at least fit on the CB7.

[Granite CB7]

Unfortunately without modification the CD UCAs will not work on the CB. There's roughly a 1/2" difference in bushing eyelet spacing between the two. I measured 9 1/4" center to center on the CB and 9 3/4" on the CD. I also found a thread where oneoffaccord talks about an 8-10 mm difference. You may be able to make them work but you'll be doing some mods that's for sure!

5hrs later EDIT:http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=179281

[Rilas]

Megan Racing Upper Control Arms 90-93 Integra

Alright so writing off the CD5/7 upper control arms. Lets go with DA upper control arms. They seem to be a factory fit according to Chrisnick here.

1990-1993 Acura Integra Upper Control Arms


My main concern here is still the ball joints. Does anyone know if these are possibly replaceable without buying another set of arms. I'm assuming these probably use some type of stock non adjusting ball joint and just use the slide for the adjustment. The cost of the ball joints should be significantly less than a set of SPC ball joints or new Megan Racing control arms.

Does anyone have any opinions on the anchoring method for the adjustment? Will the say hold as much as an SPC adjustable ball join in our stamped control arms?

At this point I'm going to either buy a set of these arms or a new set of SPC ball joints. The cost difference is around $30 so it's negligible at this point. My current ones are tired and need a refresh, so I'd like to be able to just stiffen it all up at the same time.

I am hoping to keep my existing studs as they have Energy Suspension bushings in them already. I'm not sure if that is possible, I could always upgrade these later I suppose.

[oneoffaccord]

DA might work but will give too much negative camber even maxed out. I know EF worked but camber was still way negative.

[Rilas]

I don't know why I didn't realize this before but DA arm's won't work either. Chrisnick has a 5th gen Accord. Not sure why I was thinking his was a 4th gen. I might be SOL on this one. Unless I come up with something. I might work on that next winter though. As I already have more than enough to do, with far too little time already.

[deevergote]

Do the factory style stamped steel arms really flex that much?

I can't seem to find any manufacturer of tubular front upper control arms for the CB (quality or otherwise.) Sadly, they are indeed something we do not share with the CD chassis.

I wonder if ESP would consider making some for the CB... and if so, how much they would cost. I would trust their craftsmanship far more than stuff like Megan Racing, that's for sure!
Even a set of arms that have a provision for the installation of an adjustable Ingalls or SPC ball joint would probably be sufficient, I'd expect. As long as they can get the geometry correct (which is probably where the cost would come from), I'd imagine it'd be totally doable.
edit: I just sent John a message to see if it's something he'd be interested in tackling.

[Rilas]

I looked for a few days in the spare time I had and couldn't find anything either Deev. That's why I finally made this thread. Was hoping someone else might have already gone down this road and figured it out.

I don't know how much they actually do flex but I know under extreme cornering that they are going to flex somewhat. I'm hoping to eliminate this altogether or at least minimize it as much as possible.

It would be awesome if John was willing to tackle this project. Would be another quality part for our chassis that would be available from no one else but him, I would be totally down for that.

If we can't come up with anything, I think I have a plan already. If nothing can get made or used from another chassis. I'm going to cut some 1/8" mild steel into some strips and weld a strip in at an angle into the underside of the arms in the groove already there. Once that angled piece is in both sides of the arm, I'm going to weld another piece across the bottom and box it in. This should totally strengthen up our stamped arms. I would be alright with this, as it would still retain the ability to have adjustable ball joints. Only it will have to wait until fall/winter. I'm hoping to have the car on the road in May and for the rest of the summer/fall until the weather turns again.

[oneoffaccord]

I don't mind the SPC ball joint but I know my brothers control arm cracked in the middle with that ball joint installed. Im surprised no company has offered a aftermarket replacement yet

[Granite CB7]

You bring up a very good point about Chrisnick's CD, I'm wondering if he had to do a modification to get them to work. There have been a handful of CB's on here running DA and EF arms and they all made no mention of mods to make them work. Chrisnick also did not mention modding either, so I'm confused. I would assume 96/97 CD's also have the 9 3/4" spacing, I'll have to check. If I REALLY wanted to run those Megan CD UCA's on my CB I would chop roughly 1/4" of the outsides of the center sleeves of the bushings and then I would add washers to go to fill the gap next to the insides of the center sleeves. It would also be alittle more challenging doing so with Prothane/ES bushings, my Prothane bushings are flush with the ends of center sleeve, so there would be more modding + possibly cutting back the metal on the bushing eyelet if it ends up rubbing on the fork of the UCA. That's probably what I would do or at least that was my first thought anyway. I was trying to think of a way to not mod the CD arm to fit the CB chassis

[deevergote]

I don't mind the SPC ball joint but I know my brothers control arm cracked in the middle with that ball joint installed. Im surprised no company has offered a aftermarket replacement yet

Oem control arms aren't meant to have the ball joint removed. That's why Honda sells them as a complete unit. I've always been partial to anchor bolt kits for that reason.

[Jarrett]

There are also some OEM Honda lower ball joints only sold with the knuckle, too. That doesn't mean you shouldn't replace it. Only that Honda has decided that they want to charge more for that particular part.

The OEM upper ball joint was pressed into place, so it can be pressed out. You just need to make sure you keep it straight.

[SSMAccord]

If we can't come up with anything, I think I have a plan already. If nothing can get made or used from another chassis. I'm going to cut some 1/8" mild steel into some strips and weld a strip in at an angle into the underside of the arms in the groove already there. Once that angled piece is in both sides of the arm, I'm going to weld another piece across the bottom and box it in. This should totally strengthen up our stamped arms. I would be alright with this, as it would still retain the ability to have adjustable ball joints. Only it will have to wait until fall/winter. I'm hoping to have the car on the road in May and for the rest of the summer/fall until the weather turns again.

This would be my suggestion. Boxing in the stock arms should add a bit more strength to the arms.

[deevergote]

I'd be a little concerned about weakening the metal by subjecting it to the heat of welding, though. I'm far from an expert, so this may be an unfounded concern.

[Granite CB7]

This is going to the extreme of cutting and welding factory arms:

http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthre...184774&page=14

Definitely not entry level and it's gotta be done right or it's an accident waiting to happen.

[sepulveda87]

ive been running the EF uca for almost 5 years. No problems with them at all, direct fitment. Yes, you will be running -3 camber with the uca max out at positive side.