i have adjustable torque arm, panhard bar and tubular rear LCA's. do the relocation brackets really make a difference? i have a M6 and was looking to make this thing hook alil better. would bolt in or weld in be better?

 

Bolt in would be better, they will line up easier. And yes they do work, you can feel it even just going over bumps

 

Bolt-in is for 10-bolt rearends and are more expensive than the weld-in versions. They aren't "better" because it's the same part for more money, but it is a bolt-in that's pretty easy to install and it's powdercoated. They both will still accomplish the same job and you can always modify the bolt-in part to weld onto your next rearend you buy.

They are extremely effective at reducing wheel hop and increased anti-squat which helps the car launch. They're typically suggested for drag racing applications and are one of the best bang-for-the-buck mods out there.

- Kevin

 

Kevin - can you explain when to use one setting over another? I have the bolt-ins, but have never adjusted them since putting them on. I believe I'm in the lowest setting, but I'm not 100% certain till I get home and look.

 

I never messed with mine. I kept mine at the lowest setting at all times. The middle setting is to correct the lower control arm angle once the car has been lowered and the lowest setting is for the performance advantage. I always just tell people to put them at the lowest setting for track use, and if they are concerned with binding, then go with a higher slot on the street.
- Kevin

 

sweet looks like ill b ordering a set.

 

Great thread. Not to hijack, however I do have a question and thought this would be a good time to ask it...

Would installing the bolt on LCA's on the lowest setting (on a stock ride height car) have an adverse effect on the car during road course driving? I'm trying to find a balance with my car between street driving, drag racing and road racing.

I know there's no perfect solution for all three, however it might be a worthwhile mod if it helps out with the street and strip traction and doesn't have a terrible effect on the road racing.

 

Can you elaborate a little on "Binding". What exactly is that?
Novice here when it comes to suspensions... always learning...

Thanks!

 

OK, cool. Binding is when the bushing is trying to be distorted from an irregular lateral force being applied. Lower control arms have a limited range of motion when there are polyurethane bushings installed versus a factory rubber piece. This is because the rearend is trying to rotate while the body of the car stays level. As an example, say you go over a large bump on the passenger side, but not the driver’s side. The passenger side of the rearend will try to move up with the bump, while the driver’s side will try to stay on the ground. This can cause a twisting on the bushing. Polyurethane flexes considerably less than rubber – which is its major performance benefit – but it’s also the reason why it binds. Where the poly might catch and impact the vehicle’s rotation, rubber will just flex and distort through the suspension motion. A way to easily get around while still increasing your vehicles performance is to put a rod-end on the rearend side so it will have a free range of motion, while a poly bushing on the body side will reduce some of the NVH (noise vibration and harshness). It’s the best of both worlds essentially.

Now how does binding impact your car’s road manners and handling? Well it’s a hard measurement, but it’s a simple fact that binding will act how a sway bar would and become an obstacle for the rearend to move in the path it wants to move. This can be a good thing and a bad thing. There is a lot of propaganda out there insinuating the worst outcome, but in all honesty, it’s not a major issue that plagues a daily driver or the recreational autoX and road racer. If your vehicle focus is on handling, I generally steer people away from our poly/ploy lower control arms to let the parts do their job correctly.

- Kevin

 

When you lower your car you are altering your lower control arm angle. That is a fact. Unfortunately, it's a negative alteration and changes the angle the LCA attacks the body of the car. When power is applied to the rearend the only thing that it pushes on to move the car forward are the lower control arms. In other words, there is a lot of force being transferred into those lower arms and it’s one of the reason I feel it’s such an important mod for people to do. If you make the angle more aggressive, it will increase the leverage of the attack and help with traction. If it’s too shallow, it will negatively impact traction.

The downside to this comes in the handling department. You want a shallow angle in a handling application, but not so little that you cannot get the tires to bite. A rod-end on the rearend side helps out tremendously but if there is a polyurethane bushing on the rearend side, the problem is exacerbated greatly. But, the beautiful thing about LCA brackets is that it doesn’t alter your alignment. So you can run them on the street in the first hole to overcome the lost angle from lowering springs and then drop them down for the dragstrip. I personally left them at the lowest hole at all times and never really had an issue with it. However, everyone drives differently and it could be something you will change depending on how you’re driving.
- Kevin

 

My car is lowered and I have LCA.

I dont go to the race track, ever.

What am I missing out on? Seems like everyone has LCA RB but me lol.

 

Well if your car has a traction problem, it could be a result of the lower control arm angle being modified. On the street you can still see a benefit depending on your current traction conditions and how you drive. If you're not spinning or wheel hopping all over the place, there is no point in getting them if you don't feel like you need them.

- Kevin

 

Thread revival here, but My car is lowered on stranos, and I have poly/poly BMR LCAs in, and I have a set of UMI poly/rod adjustable LCAs that I will put in when I get relocation brackets. For the relocation, if I mostly just cruise in the car on the street and drive it hard on occasion, what level do I put my brackets at?

 

You can keep your brackets at the lowers mounting hole, if you so desire. The optimal setting would be the first hole because it wouldn't increase the angle too much and possible generate some suspension bind with a polyurethane control arm.

 

My cat is lowered 2" in the rear, with the LCA's in stock position (up hill from body to rearend) the car would squat the rearend under heavy throttle. Worked halfway decent on the street for hooking, since i couldn't really hit it hard. but it would unload about 10ft out on the track.
I made a set of LCA brackets at work and welded them in mimicking the same design as many of the current available brackets out there:
1st hole: stock location (for line up purposes when welding)
2nd hole: 2" straight down (not in the arc of the LCA length since my car was lowered 2")
3rd hole: 3 down, arc angle accounted for.

I set them in the 2nd hole which mimics the "stock angle" now (slightly down hill from body to rearend) and the car hooks great on the track, pulls 1.4x 60's
Subsequently, it doesn't do as well on the street anymore.