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Adjustable rear upper control arms from Flyin' Miata

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Old Dec 10, 2014 | 04:21 PM
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Default Adjustable rear upper control arms from Flyin' Miata

For the 1990-05 Miata.

We worked with Paco Motorsports to design this exclusive part. These rear upper control arms are a bolt-in replacement for the stock part. Unlike other arms on the market, they don't cause a loss of suspension travel and they use the stock Miata bushing sizes. This gives you the choice of either rubber or poly bushings depending on your needs.

Why? So you can adjust your camber quickly and easily without affecting toe. It'll also let you reach alignment ranges that are not possible on stock arms. The adjustment moves the top of the tires inboard, so if you`re trying to maximize your fender clearance these will help.

To adjust, simply remove the bolt attaching the control arm to the upright and rotate the end of the arm before locking it down with the lock nut. Each 180 degree turn will change camber by 0.25 degrees, making it easy to make precise, consistent adjustments. There`s also no chance of the setting slipping under load.

Fabricated in the USA out of High Strength Low Alloy steel, these have been through both Finite Element Analysis and real-world testing on a 466 rwhp Miata running 225-series Toyo RR tires with downforce. They are stronger than required by a substantial margin.

To answer the most common question: front uppers are in the design stage.

$295/pair without bushings. We can supply new IL Motorsport rubber bushings for $100.
Flyin' Miata : Chassis : Control arms : Paco Motorsports adjustable rear upper control arms


Last edited by Keith@FM; Dec 10, 2014 at 06:45 PM.
Old Dec 10, 2014 | 05:07 PM
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Any plans to show the NA's some love? what would be required to get these to fit an NA?
Old Dec 10, 2014 | 05:08 PM
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Swap in NB stuff.
Old Dec 10, 2014 | 05:25 PM
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Typo on my part. They work just fine on an otherwise-stock NA. Original post corrected. Full NA love engaged.
Old Dec 10, 2014 | 05:47 PM
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Awesome, can't wait for the front uppers control arms to be released.
Old Dec 10, 2014 | 06:36 PM
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Very timely! I just saw these on the FM site today under group buys. On the site is says the group buy is for 5 sets at this price point. I did not see them listed in either Group Buys and Member Discounts or Flyin Miata - Miata Accessories. Quicky questions:

Is this price only for the first 5 sets or will that price be available for all sets until Dec 23?

Any plans to continue production after the GB ends, or is this like the COT endplates?

Also, I assume since they accept the IL Motorsport Bushings, there should be no problem with like ES Polly bushings?

These look like they would be most excellent for dialing up the camber for trackday shennanigans and then resetting for DD duty. The temptation is great as I've got some RMA money coming my way from you guys that I could easily turn into store credit.

You guys rock, thanks Keith
Old Dec 10, 2014 | 06:43 PM
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That's the normal price, we're mostly using the group buy to make sure the initial order is large enough to meet demand. These will be a normally stocked item, we have no plans on them going away.

They'll take any bushing that the stock Miata arms can take. That includes Energy Suspension. No need for a special bushing for these.

There's no traffic in the FM section of this forum so if I post there then I get complaints of "I didn't see it". Since we administer our group buys via our own site (and across multiple forums), I felt the GB section wasn't appropriate here.
Old Dec 10, 2014 | 06:56 PM
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Winning! Thanks Keith!

You can't win them all. No matter where you post it, someone will miss it. As soon as I saw it on the FM site, I immediately went to the above locations, then searched "paco" and found this thread.

So, can I get them in black?
Old Dec 10, 2014 | 06:57 PM
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White only. Makes it easier to inspect for cracks. However, a Scotchbrite pad and a rattlecan will make them whatever color you want.
Old Dec 10, 2014 | 07:00 PM
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Originally Posted by Keith@FM
White only. Makes it easier to inspect.
Pssht! You and your logic.

Originally Posted by Keith@FM
real-world testing on a 466 rwhp Miata running 225-series Toyo RR tires with downforce.
I'm guessing that's the targa car?

Edit: Sneaky devil https://www.miataturbo.net/flyin-mia...n-miata-82218/
Old Dec 11, 2014 | 06:05 PM
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Originally Posted by Keith@FM
To answer the most common question: front uppers are in the design stage.
I know you can't give an exact answer to this but do you expect the fronts to be available by Spring 2015 or is it more likely next winter at best?
Old Dec 11, 2014 | 06:08 PM
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When's "spring"? Remember, I'm from Canada, spring is April. For someone from Florida, spring is Jan 2 as far as I can tell.

We're still hashing out design ideas - such as the adjustment mechanism and the ball joint. Then it's into the prototype and testing stage. Mid year is probably a reasonable expectation, but that could shift either way.
Old Dec 11, 2014 | 07:53 PM
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In Seattle, spring (when the car needs to awake from its winter refurbishments) is around April 1st. Since the front piece is a more complicated design, my hunch is they won't be at the same price point so I guess I should buy a set of rears now when $300 doesn't feel as expensive!
Old Dec 12, 2014 | 09:16 AM
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Whats the weight?
Old Dec 12, 2014 | 10:30 AM
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Need front upper control arm too....
Old Dec 12, 2014 | 10:47 AM
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Originally Posted by nismo502
Need front upper control arm too....
Originally Posted by Keith@FM
To answer the most common question: front uppers are in the design stage.

Weight is very similar to stock. I know I took measurements, but I can't find the notes right now. Priorities were strength, travel and adjustability first, weight loss second. If you don't need or want the adjustment, then stock is a good alternative.
Old Dec 12, 2014 | 10:50 AM
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Originally Posted by mr_hyde
Since the front piece is a more complicated design, ...
My take on it is that there is not a similar low hanging fruit be making the front uppers adjustable in length. You would still have a relationship between toe and camber (but toe is so much easier to correct up front of course).
Reposition the lower ball joint 3/8"-1/2" outwards and the need for a adjustable FUCA is much smaller.

Making a beefier single sided construction for the FUCA would make damper jobs much faster though (and a single sided construction could have a simple bolt adjustment as these RUCAs).
But the FUCA still takes quite a bit of load during braking.

But I have not my homework of course. How much does the toe change if you would change the camber 0.5 degree using the FUCA?
Changing more would be unlikely and it affects toe if the right direction (more camber needs more toe-out IIRC), and in a dreamers world the ratio of change would be just right
Old Dec 12, 2014 | 10:56 AM
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The front lower is pretty hard to improve on due to some ugly load paths - the constant redesigning of the V8R pieces illustrates that pretty nicely. So we're going to leave them alone.

For the front upper, we have a couple of ideas. Toe is going to be affected, but it's fairly quick to adjust and we should be able to come up with a rule of thumb (ie, for 0.25 degrees of camber change, adjust the tie rod by 1/2 turn). This isn't really something you'll be doing in the pits during a regular pit stop, so taking a minute to get the toe right isn't a big deal. The good thing is that once the camber is set, the toe adjustment doesn't affect anything else. In the rear on the stock setup, toe and camber are intertwined so it's a real pain to adjust.

Single sided construction is not going to happen. Damper changes will not be affected dramatically, good or bad.
Old Dec 12, 2014 | 10:59 AM
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Originally Posted by NiklasFalk
My take on it is that there is not a similar low hanging fruit be making the front uppers adjustable in length. You would still have a relationship between toe and camber (but toe is so much easier to correct up front of course).
Reposition the lower ball joint 3/8"-1/2" outwards and the need for a adjustable FUCA is much smaller.

Making a beefier single sided construction for the FUCA would make damper jobs much faster though (and a single sided construction could have a simple bolt adjustment as these RUCAs.

But I have not my homework of course. How much does the toe change if you would change the camber 0.5 degree using the FUCA?
Changing more would be unlikely and it affects toe if the right direction (more camber needs more toe-out IIRC).
You dont really want to adjust the front camber with the FUCA, not enough room in the top of the tire area. Theres a good chunk of weight to be taken out of there though. Just extending the FLCA ~10-15mm is more than enough help in the front of the car for camber. I've pretty much covered all the good ideas that no one else is doing with my arm designs. I've been too busy to actually make a set though. If Keith wants to give em a go though... All thats left is some fixture design.
Old Dec 12, 2014 | 11:09 AM
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Originally Posted by Keith@FM
White only. Makes it easier to inspect for cracks. However, a Scotchbrite pad and a rattlecan will make them whatever color you want.
tell me more about this "Scotch bright" process...
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