Anybody who’s ever owned a GM A-body – Chevelle, El Camino, Monte Carlo, Skylark, GTO, and so on – has a story about how the car tried to kill them at some point. Even though those cars featured a 4-link rear suspension in an era when leaf springs were still in vogue, handling at the limit could be spooky under the best circumstances and treacherous at worst. Control arm flex, odd geometry, and sloppy rubber bushings all teamed up to leave a lot of room for improvement.
Fortunately, Currie Enterprises has found the solution with their Currectrac line of rear suspension components for ’64-’72 A-body cars. Their billet lower control arms are CNC’ed from billet 6061-T6 aluminum, a greasable urethane busing on one end, and their own Johnny Joint rod end at the other, which provides a range of motion without binding that a normal Heim-style end cant’s match. They’re black anodized for durability, with machined highlights, and they have mounting provisions for stock or aftermarket sway bars.
Of course, upgraded LCA’s are only half the solution. Currie’s double-adjustable upper control arms, available in versions for 1964-67 and 1968-72 cars, are “turnbuckle” style designs with a center section that can be rotated to adjust the arm length (and therefore set pinion angle) without removing either end from the car or axle. Like the LCA’s, they’re equipped with a fully-rebuildable Johnny Joint end, making them the last upper arms you’ll need to buy.