gretchen/jason Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 I bought the all aluminum front controll arms from Arizona z car . You can adjust caster on the car but for camber ya have to unbolt the joint from the cross member . / subframe which ever ya call it . I bought a full set front and rear and they have held up very nicely and are easy to deal with . They sure impressed me when i got them dialed in and havent lost any degree of alingment in over 1 year of use . granted the draw back was it cost me just about 1,100 $ for a full set front and rear so about 300$ a corner . Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 And I still haven't bought any arms. . I found these on ebay today: This company is located in Mesa, AZ - same town as that other supplier of billet Al LCAs. These are on-car adjustable. However, they do not offer adjustable tension rods. Also, this design doesn't have the ear (with hole) for the clevis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 One thing I've figured out since the last time we were discussing this is that a 5/8" rod end only allows about 5/16" adjustment before you're technically setting it too far out. The rule is 1.5x the diameter needs to be engaged in the threads, which is 15/16" and the threaded section is only 1.25" long. The on the car adjustable style would allow you to double that length because you're splitting the distance between two threaded ends, so you could go out 5/8" with those. Plus if you've got a turnbuckle there you can buy a longer one (easy to find at places like Coleman Racing and AFCO) and get more negative camber without turning the rod ends so far out of the control arm. I still think "on the car adjustable" front control arms don't make too much sense, because you still have to adjust the toe every time you make an adjustment anyway, so it's not like you just move it and then drive away. To recap, if you're looking to adjust camber, there really isn't that much adjustment to be had and still fill the bearing manufacturer's safety requirements. If you want to increase camber, a longer control arm would be the way to go because you can lengthen the arm without having more threads exposed. If you get the on the car adjustable ones, you can buy a longer turnbuckle to change the length of the arm. The on the car adjustable ones don't get you away from the fact that you still need to change the toe any time you make and adjustment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 With the "non-on-car" type, you have to remove the LCA pivot bolt, then adjust, then see where you are. Plus, you can't do "fine" adjustments - only 180degree increments. This may not be too big a deal since I don't think I will be that anal about the precision. However, with on-car, you could conceivably adjust without jacking up the car - saving another step. I've seen guys do self-alignments on smooth concrete with newspapers under the tires - allows the wheels to slide a bit while you adjust. In my particular case, I have negative camber built-in based on the location of the pivot. What I'm actually after is the ability to remove static neg camber for "normal" driving to save the tires. Also, you're definitely right about swapping in a different turnbuckle - these guys are using an off the shelf piece. But I still need to have adjustable TCs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 Oh yeah, another point that probably deserves its own thread: doesn't having the anti-sway mount in the stock position put strain on the turnbuckle? The wheel/strut will go up, bending the arm up (on the normal pivot axis), but the sway bar end link will resist this, pressing down. This puts sort of a bending load on the arm that seems would get focused on the threads, no? Seems like it would be optimal to somehow mount the sway bar end to the strut, rather than the arm.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 If you want to quickly and easily remove neg camber, as in drive to an autox, adjust in more neg camber, drive, then adjust it back out and drive home, then what you really want is camber plates. Attaching the sway bar to the strut instead of the control arm is a great idea and is commonly done on BMWs and Volvos and some other european car brands. I couldn't figure out how to get it done easily when I modified my sway bars, so I ended up attaching to the control arm again. There are pictures of Vic Sias's car floating around and he has them attached to the struts, but he was using some tiny rod ends as I recall. I don't think the forces that the control arm would be subjected to via the sway bars would be that significant compared to lateral forces from cornering for instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boodlefoof Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Just to throw some more sources for threaded tubing out... www.colemanracing.com www.lefthanderchassis.com Good inexpensive places with quality service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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