SStolen

iTrader: (22)

I have LG Motorsports Adjustable Lower Control Arms and Panhard Rod. They are both Poly/Rod pieces. These parts are almost 8 years old with more than 30,000 miles. To say the least, the rod ends are more than worn out! I just got the car running a few days ago and haven't driven the car in nearly two years so the noise coming from these worn out rod-ends is blatently obvious and incredibly annoying. Even with the new motor and turbo kit, I hate driving the car because of all the noise coming from the back of the car . I considered simply replacing the rod-ends but I just don't want the noise accompanied with a rod-ended suspension. I don't autocross or drive the car hard enough on the street to take advantage of the 'non-binding' characteristics for which I originally bought these pieces for. That being said, now that I am in my early 30's and not in my early 20's, I want a smoother, quieter ride.

People are confused with my intentions of this car. It does have a lot of power but it is really just a fun daily driver that I like to mess around with bikes, Supra's, etc on the highway from time to time. 810rwhp obviously makes no sense in a 6-speed with a stock rear. Obviously, I don't drag race it so I was thinking of a different option. I read a thread a long time ago where some of the guys on here, even autocross guys if I remember correctly, were buying Moog(?) bushings like the 1LE pieces and putting them in their factory LCA's. They claimed it improved handling significantly and was nice and quiet still. Is this still practiced/recommended? The only thing I'm concerned about is the LCA flexing and causing wheelhop, not from a launch, but even from a roll. 880lbs of torque puts a lot of pressure on parts and I don't want to rip my stock rear out of the car with wheel hop. Are the bushings in the stock LCA something I should consider or should I just buy new Poly/Poly LCA's?

For the Panhard Rod, I do need the adjustability. I was thinking of getting a new unit that is adjustable in the middle with Poly bushings on each side. Anyone agree, disagree, recommend a particular brand? Any help is greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long post but wanted you guy to understand where I'm coming from. Thanks in advance for any help- Mike.

Element

iTrader: (5)

Poly rear LCAs wouldn't be terribly bad, if you're more interested in highway and cruising stuff than twisty stuff; poly is much more resistant to deflection/compression than rubber bushings, but can bind worse when subjected to off-axis force (like side-to-side force on the LCAs during cornering). Wheelhop can be combated with relocation brackets and good shock choice.

I'd honestly be worried about the stock stamped LCAs flexing and twisting, even without a hard launch from a stop.

1lejohn

iTrader: (9)

I would look into these.http://www.spohn.net/shop/1998-2002-...ot-Joints.html

i would also invest in a good Torque arm if you don't have one already.

tpunk

iTrader: (8)

If you are going to go poly/poly I'd suggest the J&M 3 peice poly units or just swap out your rod ends with some RotoJoints from UMI. They greatly reduce bind but still reatain very low deflection. That being said in my bolt on car I didn't notice a difference between the J&M's and the stock LCA's with moogs. With as much torque as you are making I'm not sure if that would still be the case. I think your plan with the PHB is the correct one and will hold up much better than rod ends (ride quality wont really be any different though as the rod ends in the PHB don't really effect ride much at all). I'd suggest a full length torque arm with the front mount relocated off the trans tail shaft. The front suspension just freshen up the stock parts and rubber will be just fine for the LCA's. Asside from that you should just go thorugh and fix anything else that is worn out like tie rod ends, wheel bearings, any other bushings and such to keep the car running smooth at high speeds.

SIK02SS

iTrader: (11)

there are a lot of people who buy those lower control arms from you n a heart beat

Latch

iTrader: (8)

Get rubber bushings. /thread

poltergeist 02

iTrader: (65)

i was used tractek lca's (three piece poly ball set up) for a few years and they felt like the stockers. got them through speed inc. look them up, they only cost $100.00 or so.

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

I had been through this for the last year and I believe I recently finally put together the perfect street setup.

-BMR rear non-adjustable lower control arms with rubber bushings.
-Edelbrock adjustable panhard rod with greasable poly bushings.
-UMI front lower control arms, Delrin front bushing, Rotojoint rear bushings, all greasable.
-Global West upper control arms with greasable Del-alum bushings,

Ask Global West for the upper arms with stock offsets, their "special" offset arms can cause too much negative camber.

Find some old school GM bumper bracket washers with teeth on the edge. They'll help keep your front lower control arms from moving around.

The result: Front suspension that's just about as tight as a rod end setup without using poly bushings that bind.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/15160275-post104.html

libertyforall1776

iTrader: (2)

Who makes the Tractek parts? A website was not found on the search engines -- who has their URL?

Here's the Speed Inc. link:
http://www.speedinc.com/cont.cfm?cid=C0000243

Interesting: "The bushing arrangement utilizes a softer outer busing and a stiffer polyurethane center ball. This allows for great ride and handling. "

02Z28LS1

iTrader: (2)

my vote is to get poly/roto or rubber/roto on the LCA's, as they will give you all the articulation you'll ever need on the street, while being VASTLY quieter than the rod-ended units (trust me on this, i've had rod ends on my car as well, and they got swapped out for roto-joints).

as for the PHR, i would pony up the dough and get a watts link. a lot of people think that you only really need a watts link if you're into some hardcore auto-x or road racing, but that's just because they haven't driven a car on the street with them.....the watts link makes a night & day difference in everyday driving as well, it's just more pronounced when pushing things to the edge.

things like cornering over bumpy terrain & turning while going up/down an incline will feel completely different, it will feel more solid & planted and won't feel like the car is trying to slide off the drivetrain when cornering.

it may be a bit expensive, but IMO, it is well worth every penny. if you're a bit leery about spending that much on a DD, see if you can find someone nearby that has one who will let you drive theirs to see how it feels first.

talk to Sam Strano

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

These are the best components you can get for the front end. It'll be as close to rod ends as you can get without all their disadvantages as well as using no poly at all:

SStolen

iTrader: (22)

Thanks for all the recommendations guys.

I'm getting ready to mount some 295/45/17 Mickey Thompson drag radials. I measured the tire over 2" taller than my Nitto's. I like the idea of those traktech's but won't I need adjustable LCA's to center the tire in the wheelwell? Do you guys not have problems with that?

Where do I get BMR LCA's with rubber bushings? I didn't see this on their site.

I didn't think about replacing my rod ends with the roto pieces? That sounds like a great idea and the cheapest alternative. Do the roto's still make noise though?

Element

iTrader: (5)

If you're not dropped you won't "need" LCAs to re-center the wheels, but even on my stock-height car I wound up using to get the wheels set right. Plus, the adjustables allow you to get a four-way alignment, too. Other than the slight cost difference, I haven't seen any reason not to get adjustable LCAs over the static-length ones.

The roto-joints are basically rebuildable rod-ends, and will be similarly as noisy, as will the delrin ones - since it's basically a solid joint with no soft material to absorb any shock or transmitted road noise, they're all going to be alike in the NVH department.

For the BMR parts, I think it's possible to contact them directly and order the parts with OEM rubber pressed in instead of the poly bushings, but I'm not completely sure.

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

Yes, this is correct however they'll do rubber in most bushing locations, not all.

tpunk

iTrader: (8)

I'll recommend you stay away from aftermarket lower A-arms. I've seen too many bend at the shock mount to trust them. The only company that made a set I would trust was LG and they are no longer in production. The stock lower A-arms are more than fine, as are the uppers. If you want you can simply replace your upper A-arm bushings with offset bushings form Strano.

The Roto's for the LCA's won't be "quite" as loud as rod ends but you will absolutely know they are there.

The Watts linkage is GREAT. It is one of the next mods I want to do to my suspension. Like was said it completely changes the dynamic of the car.

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

^Agreed. All I've seen have been pushed downwards by the shock. Once it bends a bit though, they don't bend any more and performance doesn't seem to be affected.

You'd think the aftermarket makers would thicken up or reinforce the lower shock mount bracket so it won't bend. The comparably soft aluminum spacer they now provide with them don't do diddly to prevent the problem.

tpunk

iTrader: (8)

Yeah, there are so many better ways to do that mount yet they all seem to go with that same damned design. I don't have anything to say that a bent one is bad but I just can't trust something like that (personal problem I suppose).

v7guy

iTrader: (1)

Any spring/shock mount that bends is inadequate. The metal is fatigued and starting to fail. When it finally does fail it will be a lot more than just slightly disagreeable. Just sayin.

02Z28LS1

iTrader: (2)

ummmm...no.

i've had both rod ends and the roto-joints (which are delrin, btw), and they are nowhere close in terms of NVH. the roto's are a little bit louder than stock or poly bushings, but they are light years ahead of the rod ends in the quietness department.

Element

iTrader: (5)

Then you had something else going on. They're nearly the exact same design, with the Roto-joint style simply being a rod-end that can be disassembled. Neither have any bushing material to soak up NVH.

Are you sure the rod ends you had on weren't ready to be replaced? I've put a lot of rod-end stuff on my car, and the only time I noticed markedly increased noise was when they went bad and needed replaced.

Also, there are solid Delrin bushings now, hence my note about those.