Creative Steel Trailing arm group buy! Wider wheels here we come!
08-14-2013, 09:12 AM
#63
UPDATE on the project: 8-13-13
The tubes have BEEN cut, the gusset are cut, our super bad-*** new "CREATIVE STEEL logo" metal stamp will be here tomorrow (that we'll use to mark all our products with) I will stamp the gussets before forming and welding. The Johnny Joints will be here on Monday according to UPS.com. So that will be the day the actual fab work begins.
The request for the spherical bearings kinda caught me off guard. I hadn't done any research on the "Johnny Joints" so I didn't know which brand I wanted to use so we lost about a week while I waited for samples to arrive. Didn't feel comfortable spending $1000 -$1500 of your guys' money without seeing the merchandise first. I went with Rusty's joints. I liked the quality better than the other sample but knew that the "other" sample was made in USA (as advertised). Rusty didn't advertise that fact so I was in a bit of an ethical dilemma. Then I asked the secretary at Rusty's, she says they make them in house.........SOLD. I'm kinda old school on the "Made in USA" thing. I don't paying a bit more if I know I'm keeping one of ours out of the soup line.
Bottom line.... About two more weeks before product starts leaving here (powder coat will take a few days)
Could someone update the guys on another forum. I'm not yet a vendor over there yet. Already got my "you know what" slapped for talking too much.
The tubes have BEEN cut, the gusset are cut, our super bad-*** new "CREATIVE STEEL logo" metal stamp will be here tomorrow (that we'll use to mark all our products with) I will stamp the gussets before forming and welding. The Johnny Joints will be here on Monday according to UPS.com. So that will be the day the actual fab work begins.
The request for the spherical bearings kinda caught me off guard. I hadn't done any research on the "Johnny Joints" so I didn't know which brand I wanted to use so we lost about a week while I waited for samples to arrive. Didn't feel comfortable spending $1000 -$1500 of your guys' money without seeing the merchandise first. I went with Rusty's joints. I liked the quality better than the other sample but knew that the "other" sample was made in USA (as advertised). Rusty didn't advertise that fact so I was in a bit of an ethical dilemma. Then I asked the secretary at Rusty's, she says they make them in house.........SOLD. I'm kinda old school on the "Made in USA" thing. I don't paying a bit more if I know I'm keeping one of ours out of the soup line.
Bottom line.... About two more weeks before product starts leaving here (powder coat will take a few days)
Could someone update the guys on another forum. I'm not yet a vendor over there yet. Already got my "you know what" slapped for talking too much.
09-03-2013, 05:35 PM
#69
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Will start shipping next week. Monday the 9th. Dropped the arms at the powder coater last Thursday. They said the parts will be done this Friday. We're about a half week behind do to that I wanted to send some toe rod sets with this order of trailing arms. The sets of toe rods took a few days to make, so....
09-13-2013, 05:22 PM
#72
Creative Steel Trailing Arms came in. You only need 4 spacers, I got an extra pack.
Here's a comparison:
The OEM bushing came out in about 1-2 minutes. Spray it with PB Blaster and push it out with a screwdriver.
They look pretty good installed:
Notice the spacers top and bottom, torque to 66[ft-lb]
Torque this one to 129 [ft-lb]. Notice the bushings are not squished and bulged.
Here's a comparison:
The OEM bushing came out in about 1-2 minutes. Spray it with PB Blaster and push it out with a screwdriver.
They look pretty good installed:
Notice the spacers top and bottom, torque to 66[ft-lb]
Torque this one to 129 [ft-lb]. Notice the bushings are not squished and bulged.
09-13-2013, 06:41 PM
#73
Launching!
Join Date: Apr 2013
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Looking good philistine! Does the cradle have to be dropped to get the front bolts out of the trailing arms? Is that the bolt guys flip upside down when they reinstall so they don't run into that problem again? Trying to remember. .
09-14-2013, 10:36 AM
#76
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The "bolt flip" is a great idea, but you will need to trim the bolt length. The bolt is longer than required but since the factory put the bolt pointing down the extra length didn't interfere with anything. When the bolt is turned upside down the tail end of the bolt digs in to the floor sheet metal when left it's original length. Luckily the bolt can be shortened to not hit the floor of the car but still have 2-3 threads beyond the nut.
09-25-2013, 10:53 AM
#78
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Just got around to installing mine, even with the subframe on the car it was one of the easiest installs for me as of late (Been doing control arm bushings left and right). Perfect fit, just had to lower the rear subframe/cradle down and out came the bolts along with the old control arms. Great product, great fit; now I have to get wider wheels dammit.
09-25-2013, 02:12 PM
#79
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Just got around to installing mine, even with the subframe on the car it was one of the easiest installs for me as of late (Been doing control arm bushings left and right). Perfect fit, just had to lower the rear subframe/cradle down and out came the bolts along with the old control arms. Great product, great fit; now I have to get wider wheels dammit.
I was thinking about getting my stockers widened to 10-10.5
09-25-2013, 02:46 PM
#80
TECH Enthusiast
I'm leaning towards 10" to play it safe, 10.5" If I can see where the E-brake sits with the car on the ground and if I can move it slightly out of the way without too much tear up.
The biggest problem I'm running into is finding a decent tire in the size I'm looking for. 295-305 keeping as close to stock OD as possible. Not very many options. And if I drop down the OD I want to make sure the fronts come down also to match rears, which will slightly lower the car closer to the point where I'll need some skidplates for my headers, and I'm at stock height for now.