Do Not buy the revised Hotchkis upper control arms 1110U-A

I haven't posted on Moparts in a few years so this topic may have been covered already.
I made a video on why the revised design Hotchkis 1110U-A upper control arms are not good for wide tires & wheels just to inform potential buyers.

Just a few comments from my YouTube video & Facebook posts on why the Hotchkis arms don't work. Not my words as I couldnt have said it any better:

"Yep, I really like Hotchkis but these upper control arms are crap. They hit with 18 x 9 wheels too. The Backyard Hotrods guy (see his Youtube channel)running 5 1/4 backspace, 18 x 9.5 wheel, on his Cuda had to take them off because the Hotchkis uppers hit his wheels too. The older units don't hit and can handle that backspacing without hitting the wheel. The adjustable new Hotchkis UCAs actually limit the offset you can run compared to their older units because the adjustable nut hits the wheel. Also, they don't say anywhere in there advertising that they will hit any wheel that has more than 4.5 inches of backspacing. Seriously, the stock uppers have more clearance than these Hotchkis units. And yes, I own a challenger, and yes, I used to have the earlier Hotchkis units on the car (and they worked with no issues) and I also bought and installed the new and "imporved" Hotchkis uppers... and yes, they hit the wheels on full lock. I now have a 1000 dollar box of Hotchkis adjustable uppers that are useless for my car."

https://m.facebook.com/groups/ebodi...nsn=mo&ref=share&mibextid=5hxk5e
"Backyard Hot Rods True, but you sold yours because you couldn't use them. Had you had not sold them, I don't think you would have been so happy with 1000 dollar wall decorations for the garage. Had I watched your video (or his video) earlier, I would not have bought their product either, now I have to replace them, cause they hit my 18 x 9s running 275s... by the way, the old Hotchkis units don't have any clearance issues. And all the guys here saying this guy is trying to run too much tire on the front, don't seem to get it. You are correct, it is a back space issue with these arms. Truth be told they shouldn't hit the wheels, the old ones don't hit, but because the new ones hit, they limit how much tire and how much back space you can use. This guy takes his Cuda to the track and has a pretty good idea of what will fit under those fenders. The UCAs you put on your car are hefty looking units though, but they don't have the anti-dive reduction geometry (which also effects bump steer) that is built into the Hotchkis units. It's a shame the new Hotchkis units weren't dialed in better when they were designed."

Good to know on this. I am using FF arms, so I should be fine but will watch for that as I get further into the build. I planned on using a 18x10 on the front of my 65 Coronet and to squeeze as much rubber in as possible.

RylisPro -- Your complaint is most valid when someone wants to use wide wheels... physical interference when the wheel is turned towards full lock (therefore, restricting and creating a larger turning radius). I've heard of it a few months ago.. and now you are exposing it better for others to be aware. The best alternate choice would be the SPC UCAs... offering a much wider range of adjustability in caster and camber. Its my understanding that the new Hotchkis design simply makes the alignment easier to do.

IMO... Hotchkis should fix the problem or refund your money. They didn't have this interference problem with their original design.

NOTE: The Hotchkis UCAs have never been legal in SCCA class E/SP (autocross) due to their design of relocating the mounting points in a different position from the factory location. There may be some other clubs which also don't allow them in certain classes, again, due to the different mounting location from the factory. However, in the SCCA classes of CAM-T and C/P (and further up), the Hotchkis UCAs are allowed.

Thanks Mitch,

In all honesty with Hotchkis I don't expect them to do anything about these UCA''s because they chose to update the design to appease customers who don't actually track their Mopars which equals about 98% of the market. Hotchkis chose their profit margins over the extremely small demographic of Mopar road racers. As for my set of UCA's, I'm going to cut off the hex adjustments on my cold saw & revert the updated Hotchkis design back to the original version in a future video. Even though the hexes interfere, the geometry is still there & I don't want to lose more money on this issue by jumping to a different brand of UCA.

I don't mind all the negative comments as people are just ignorant about suspension & handling. I made the video in order to teach the next generation of Mopar enthusiasts who are willing & really want to learn as all the info we've accumulated over the years needs to be passed on. I try to be as objective as possible in my videos & if a company make a great product they're going get praise from me. If their product is awful then I will tell it like it is which some people don't like. A long as I state the 100% truth, then I can sleep well at night.

Nice tire choice on the A052's! There are lots of great brands available in the 315/30R-18 size such as Nexen N Fera Sport R I've heard but I have only driven around on BFG Rival S tires

Why don't you trade for a set of the older versions? Most guys might like the redesigned arms and are not running large wheels up front.
For the insane prices they charge they really should have done their homework.

I could trade them but I risk getting used suspension parts that are fatigued already. I would also have to wait for someone who wants to get rid of the old version which people now know are the better UCA's to have & may not want to give them up so easily. With the Challenger build, except for the chassis I am using all brand new components.

My plan is just to cut off the hexes & weld the spinning threaded portion where the heim joints bolt fixed onto the arms. It'll make for an interesting video & show others how to modify these UCA's themselves. I'm sure it'll be quite satisfying to finally cut off these huge adjustment hexes haha!

Thanks Brent!

I have a brand new pair I would trade you. The new ones came out after I bought my TVS so I used their hardware and built my own with the new design.

Thanks for the offer!
Sent you a PM & email

PM sent

Hey Hustlestuff,
were you able to get your UCA's?

Thanks!

Hey Hustlestuff are you still willing to trade the control arms?
Just wondering as its been almost 2 weeks since you last messaged me with zero communication?
Thanks

When is the cutoff for the new vs old arm design? I bought a set in 2015.

Thank you.

Not sure exactly which year they changed them? Approximately around 2017 if I venture a guess?
Original design:


Current version:


As long as you don't have the huge hexes that interfere with wheel clearance, you have the ability to run 315 wide tires in the front of an E body with stock looking fenders

Their control arms eliminate the anti-dive in the stock arms??
Why ??

Because the Hotchkis TVS kit that these control arms are included with utilizes a thicker than stock torsion bar, a 1.10" diameter which has a much larger wheel rate to help control the up & down movement. I personally feel that the 1.10's are too small for road course actually but I guess it works well for auto-X.

Hey Rylispro sent you a PM, I have some original pairs for sale

I feel like the title of this thread and the YouTube video are misleading as from what I can tell there's nothing actually wrong with the Hotchkis upper arms as long as you're not running a overly wide wheel / tire combo. It makes sense that a significant number of would-be buyers of these upper control arms would be auto-cross enthusiasts and would want or need to run a wide wheel and tire up front. In that case, yeah, Hotchkis should absolutely let it be known than this new design will no allow for that. Moreover, continue to make a product that makes wide wheel combos possible! But are these junk? What if one just wants to improve handling with a standard width wheel on their car or use them for something that looks and performs better than stock? I'm considering them for a 15" or 16" diameter 7.5-8.0" wide front wheel and I'm pretty sure they'd work great in that application.

Using these Hotchkis UCAs for a fairly stock car is overkill.
Instead, you should consider using the Moog K7103 offset UCA bushings in your stock arms. They are a fraction of the cost and do provide for better wheel alignment settings.

Hey Dan,

Thank you for the offer! Very much appreciated.
If I am not able to trade Hustlestuff for unused original Hotchkis arms, I will just modify the Hotchkis arms I have.
Its way too early to work on the Challenger builds suspension as I still have some frame repairs that are required.
The modifications are not too complex to do on the control arms in order to get rid of the adjustment hexes & unless the Hotchkis arms are 100% unused & brand new I won't settle for anything else as the rest of the parts for the Challenger are 100% brand new as well.

Thanks again,

Thanks, I'll have to check. I think I do have the older ones.