Vette Brakes A-Arms

[Chris Kennedy]

Vette Brakes offers upper front suspension a-arms that they claim allow you to increase positive caster. According to what I have read, increasing positive caster allows you to increase directional stability a great deal, something our cars could use. Has anyone tried these a-arms out, and do they work as advertised? Also, with these re-engineered products I have learned always to ask whether there are any side effects. Frequently, you may improve one thing by using them but it comes at great cost to something else, and you end up going back to what you had originally. I also read somewhere that VBP was testing a new and improved braking caliper---any more on this? What I really wish Vette Brakes would do is offer an improved (not just rebuilt) steering box! I think we'd all jump at that.

Chris Kennedy
Houston, Texas

 

[AKRAY4PLAY]

Chris,

i went with the complete VB&P performance plus kit, it came with the new upper and lower a-arms. as for improvements, it is a completely new car! very stable, super responsive and a great ride. the only "side-effect" was i tend to hit corners at 20-30 mph more than i would have with stock stuff. kind of like putting an old body on a new frame. others have different opinions, but if i get another C3, the first thing it will get is another VB&P kit. as for the brakes, i have heard they are working on something better. try giving VB&P a call, i'm sure everyone would be interested in the info. Brian

 

[Thumper]

Chris,

i went with the complete VB&P performance plus kit, it came with the new upper and lower a-arms. as for improvements, it is a completely new car! very stable, super responsive and a great ride. the only "side-effect" was i tend to hit corners at 20-30 mph more than i would have with stock stuff. kind of like putting an old body on a new frame. others have different opinions, but if i get another C3, the first thing it will get is another VB&P kit.

What he said...

 

[Chris Kennedy]

Thanks, everyone. This is my only car and I am always looking for ways to improve its "real world" performance. I keep the front end in good shape, but, as we know, these cars have a tendency to be a little "dicey", especially on the crummy roads here in Houston when you're going around a corner on one of our chewed-up freeways with an SUV one one side and a clapped-out pick-up truck towing a flatbed full of garbage on the other. I do not want to go to the steeroids system, as I have engineering reservations. Also, I do not want to go to the full VBP front end system because I think the monospring hangs down too low, as the roads here have these tarmac "ridges" in them from the heat (I have the front 550 springs, which lowers the front end a good deal). As to steering boxes, I routinely adjust mine, which is a great improvement, but I am near the end of adjustments and was simply looking for an especially well built box, not a different ratio. When reading about caster, I noticed that the factory manual is very clear that the more positive caster you have, the better the directional stability. That's what got me to thinking about the VBP upper a-arms as an alternative. Is the way they get more caster by offseting the holes in the cross bracket that bolts to the frame, and this effectively moves the upper arm back more? This may sound like a dumb question, but it seems to me that if you go to more positive caster it would move the front wheel back a bit more to the rear. Is this true?--Chris Kennedy

 

[AKRAY4PLAY]

Chris,
to answer your question, yes adding caster angle will move the wheel rearward. i would not drill the mounting brackets, it may weaken things a bit to much. it's been a couple years since i was in Houston, so i can't comment on the road conditions. in Alaska, we have some of the crappiest roads known to man. sometimes you need a 4x4 to get around in the summer. most of the busy intersections are riddled with 4-5 inch grooves from all the traffic running studded tires. it's scary driving the car through this, but i have yet to snag anthing with the VB&P kit. actually my oil pan hangs lower than the kit, so its a good thing i have not made things go bump under the front. i can get some measurements from the ground to various parts off my car if you're interested. Brian

 

[Chris Kennedy]

Thanks, Brian, I appreciate the reply and offers of measurement. I wasn't thinking about actually drilling offset holes, but was just wondering whether the VBP cross shafts had the holes offset from stock, and this is what makes the difference (which, of course, raises the interesting question of whether you could just buy the offset shafts, if they are offset, and save the cost over the entire a-arm assembly). If I were to go this route I would just be changing the upper a-arms, though, as I am also concerned about low curb interference with the front transverse spring. What I am tempted to do is see how much of a positive caster change I can get out of the current set-up. I was looking at the factory manual on this point, and it would seem to indicate that it may be possible to get up to 4.5 degrees positive. That would put it awfully close to what VBP advertises for their arms, without the cost of buying everything, changing everything out, and then finding out something else is adversely affected. I will think on this/experiment etc. and let everyone know how this great drama turns out.
Thanks,

/s/ Chris

 

[Chris Kennedy]

Thanks, Robin. To see if I have this correct, I think what you are saying is the the construction of the a-arm, itself, is angled such that the upper ball joint center line is placed farther towards the rear of the car than the stock arm. This causes there to be more positive caster. Thanks, again,

/s/ Chris