I'm thinking of purchasing a set of aftermarket A-arms. I've noticed that a lot of the companies offer the uppers only. My question is, what benifit would there be in replacing the stock lowers and uppers as opposed to just the uppers? Does replacing the uppers alone improve the handling that much?

I've gotten pretty accustomed to the handling of the stockers so I wasn't sure if the price of the complete set would be worth it for me.

Thanks,
SD

 

I replaced my uppers with Alba arms.They did improve handling of the ds stoped the darting i was getting from the stock a arms. If i would have the money at the time i would have bought both upper & lower a arms!

 

I've been looking into this too, and from what I gather the insufficient caster angle that all the magazines complain about can be corrected with just the uppers. The uppers, from all the companies I think, feature adjustable caster, which allows you to change the position of the upper knuckle to increase caster. 4-5 degrees of caster is factory, 7 degrees should be more ideal. Camber is also adjustable on the upper arms.

The upper and lower sets can be bought +1 forward, to change the weight bias that is also complained about, but I don't think much steering control is gained from this. Of these sets, the caster adjustability is still in the upper arm.

The 4130 chromoly aftermarket arms are much lighter than stock, so you will shed a supposed 7 pounds by going with the upper/lower set.

I plan to just change the uppers eventually, so I can dial in the camber/caster for my riding style and likes, but I'm keeping the factory lowers so I don't have to get new a-arm skids.

 

Thanks guys.

I was thinking that the uppers would make a lot of difference. I had my mind set on the Timmyboys but wanted to do a little extra research. I found that Alba also offered the uppers only. On their website the uppers look different than the upper/lower set. I called them and the service dept. said that they didn't know why that was because the uppers are made of the same material and are powder coated the same as the full set. They also have a lifetime warranty against bending from what I understand.

The uppers run $299.00 I believe. That sounds pretty good to me so I might give them a try.

Thanks again.

SD

 

Does Alba make their own a-arms, or are they made by somebody else and just marketed through Alba?
I only ask 'cause I know that some of their other products are not made by them.
Let me know how you guys like the upper arms.

 

I think someone else makes the A-Arms for them!Iv'e been very happy with my alba a-arms!

 

My TimmyBoy uppers are awesome. The full sets usually increase the track and/or wheelbase or something, like +1,+1. "DS650stage1" the guy that does the awesome jumps, says the +1+1 A-arms leverage the stock shocks and make them pretty acceptable, an advantage to full A-arms then is not having to replace the front shocks. But I like my Works shocks with the TimmyBoy uppers, I don't need it any wider or longer. My caster is set at about 9 degrees, which is a bunch. It is hard to turn the handlebars at rest, but once you get going it is a dream. So stabile at speed, so great in sand. I wouldn't have it any other way. Lowers would be nice just to shave a few pounds, but then I could skip the cheesecake too... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]
.....I think I love my DS just a little more each day.
I Just put on a tach, man is it cool. The effective powerband is 3,000 to 8,000 rpm, with nothing but a Pami CDI, K&N and a HMF Quiet Core slip-on.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

Love my timmys upper and lower.they make me not only fast but fast and accurate!!

 

Just finished dialing in my American Star fully ajustable a-arms from Knutz, 8 degrees(positive)caster & 1.5 degrees (negitive)camber.
American Star a-arms are the same arms that Alba sells [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]
Cant wait to give them a run!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
Jeff

 

What did the set from Knutz cost? I'd rather give him my business..