impaled

i am looking to so some suspension work on the formula, and i was wondering if i should go soild rod end or with poly.

i have the solid rod ends in the IROC and for a straight line and minimal street use, but it doesnt have very good road manners (for a number of other reasons).

the car's use will be 90% street driving, and maybe some heavy corner carving. it will go to the strip probably once a month or so.

i am not concerned about ride comfort, but with performance. so...

the question being how streetable are Solid Rod ends on a daily driver.

at this rate i think i am going BMR for LCA's PHB, etc.

cookba

iTrader: (10)

i have all rod ended rear suspension and will be changing out the RCA with a poly/rod set pretty soon. on flat roads i have no complaints. on shitty roads you feel everything and the car rattles and bangs to high hell.

Vndcatr

iTrader: (8)

I have tubular front Upper & Lower Adj. control arms and A -arms. Along with the rear panhard,control arms, SFC's.

Besides the SFC's everything is rod end. With the stock springs/shocks i felt the road pretty good but still not anything bad. When i lowered it with adj coilovers , and added Koni's it helped alot. I dont feel the road anymore. So Rod ends are definally doable on a DD. But shocks help.

Call SAM stano

Foxxtron

iTrader: (1)

From my experience...

Dual rod-ended PHB's have been nearly undetectable, even by some of my most particular passengers. AFA LCA's go, at least a good poly or rubber bushing on the body side dramatically decreased the NVH whilst only introducing approximately 2-4% bind overall, which was mostly from the body side bushing.

What I do prefer with regards to a poly/rod combo is when the "tube" actually has threaded bungs on both ends, but at least one of these bushing designs:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspension-brakes/1001932-new-replacement-poly-ends-rod-ends.html

or the rubber bushing listed within this page:

http://www.jonaadland.com/Z28/Mods/L...minumLCAs.html

Now...AFA the LCA's, if there are really no problems with the rear thrust angle and the stock ones are in good shape (which many times they are), then consider just replacing those old worn out "fluted" bushings with Moog replacement bushings.

FWIW, I didn't use any "brand name" per se, however what I did do is source almost all of the parts for my LCA's and PHB from Coleman racing, which ended up slightly being cheaper and just as good.

impaled

i will be going all rod end then unless i have any other substantial objection. thanks guys for the info.

as far as shocks and struts, i will be going Koni for the rears and possibly bilstein or KYB for the fronts (until i can afford the best koni's up front).

tpunk

iTrader: (8)

I highly suggest using the stock LCA's with the moog solid rubber bushings. These greatly decrease deflection (which decreases wheel hop) while retaining the proper articulation range needed for cornering. They will also provide better ride characteristics for comfort. Double poly LCA's are a poor choice for handling as they will bind in the corners and cause the car to act like it has a larger rear bar and tend to oversteer. Rod ends in my experience are extremely noticeable in LCA's and are not comfortable at all. Also rod ends do need to be replaced fairly often as dirt and movement eat away at them and caus them to become loose (about 2-3 years in my experiece). I tend to stay away from them for street use while others live by them. For the PHB rod ends won't effect ride quality at all so if you are ok replacing them then that would be a fine choice. Otherwise I'd recommend an on car adjustable PHB with double poly bushings since bind is not really an issue with this part. Good luck with your project.

impaled

i am not overly concerned about the comfort, mainly performance. i think the Koni's on back will help with that issue.

SanitysBane

How long will rod ends last usually?

Foxxtron

iTrader: (1)

Anywhere from about 6 months to about a couple of years depending on driving situation, road quality, humidity and dust conditions. They often become noisy and uncomfortable a little sooner than they wear out to the point of being unsafe.

Randy WS6

iTrader: (69)

rod end here also.

tpunk

iTrader: (8)

Yup, which is why I don't recommend them for daily drivers. The moog bushings are really just a great option all around unless you are building a dedicated racer. But that's just my opinion so take it as you like.

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

On one hand, I think some people don't mind the rod ends and others don't like them.

On the other hand, solid moog rubber bushing replacements are what tons of people are using in road racing and autoxing successfully. You def won't have to worry about ride comfort there either. I understand you don't care about ride quality, but if you care like 1% about it then solid rubber bushings is a win win situation for you.

Big Bird WS6

iTrader: (9)

i have dkt lca and they are adj like rod/rod. but are not rod rod. hard to explain. but no road noise. bad ***. best of both worlds

tpunk

iTrader: (8)

Not if they have poly bushings they aren't. Poly is litterealy the worst option possible for reasons I have already stated. Also, in most applications I have not had the adjust the LCA's.

Big Bird WS6

iTrader: (9)

if you have the right poly end. it wont bind.

also if you use a good rod end it aint notice able

tpunk

iTrader: (8)

I will go ahead and dissagree with you . I have yet to see a poly bushing that is soft enough to not bind but maybe I'm wrong. Now if you are talking about the 3 peice poly bushing LCA's offered by J&M then I agree 100% that it won't bind. Rod ends may not be overly noticeable for a while but will eventually become loud and ride poorly. The ride and noise aren't even why I don't feel they are needed though, its that adjustment in the LCA's in my experience is rarely needed, the moog bushings do a great job, and rod ends need to be replaced too often on a DD. If you are using a different poly bushing I'd love to hear about it and why it works without bind (Not trying to be a smart ***, I really am interested).

Big Bird WS6

iTrader: (9)

i don't think you are being a smart ***.
first if you use s teflon lined rod end. and not a kevlar/teflon lined. the teflon only rod end. makes very little noise. ( i have had both)

now my new rod ends are like this( click on link)
https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspension-brakes/1010501-look-my-new-lca.html

thanks
Big Bird

tpunk

iTrader: (8)

Those do look rather nice. I would like to know how long they last though and if they eventually get loud and change ride. Have any info on that? Also do these guys have a site you could PM me?

JScamaro

iTrader: (6)

I have rod ends on my front suspension as well as the lca's and panhard rod. Honestly my exhaust is so loud you can't hear any noise from the suspension even if there was any.

My car is only driven on nice sunny days and isn't a daily driver but I could definitely daily drive on rod ends.