Post PICS of your latest purchase

[Jarrett]

It's all for the rack.




I got home to Bryan yesterday and had a few things waiting on me here. These Hardrace items are spherical bearings for the rear lower control arms. I did the DIY using the front upper control arm bushings back there and didn't like the fitment.

The red gaskets are from the Zerg brand that Streetrays carries. They're cheaper than the others but I have no idea if they're any worse. I guess I'll find out. They were one of the few who offered a 68mm throttle body gasket.

The plugs, EGR block-off and IACV adapter come from Rosko Racing. Shawn has been awesome in getting everything I'll need to get my manifold ready for install.

The hood pins are for the carbon fiber hood that I have. It flapped in the wind like a flag when I installed it right after buying it from Bboy_Trevstuh in Dallas. I took it off and put the OEM hood back on while I considered options. I hate the idea of having hood pins, but this will have to do. The hood will be painted frost white to match the car and hopefully these will blend in. These may get painted frost white themselves. I still don't like the idea of a non-OEM look to the hood.

[Domesticated]

Oh nice. I was thinking about making brass bushings for the rack and shift cables.

[Jarrett]

That would be a nice idea! I can get you dimensions of the bushings for the rack and the shifter cables if you'd like.

[Domesticated]

Its cool. My car is basically a shell right now so everything is accessible lol.

[CyborgGT]

Shawn has been awesome in getting everything I'll need to get my manifold ready for install.

Shawn found me a seller of one of his prepped manifolds when I asked him about his own availability of the Euro-Rs - it was even spec'd out exactly as I wanted it, fuel parts and all. So money wasn't even going his way for that purchase; that's what I call excellent customer service. Still gotta get his 68mm throttle gasket though...

*ED. - contacted Rosko about the gasket. If anyone was wondering, he's discontinued them. He's got a 62mm available, but it can't be bored out.

[Tishock]

WerdWerx/FFC Group buy. Just got them this morning. Couldn't pass up on the deal, even if my CB isn't going to be running for a while.

[Lucien]

I'm jelly.

Most recent things bought were: new oem oil cap, new oem dipstick, new lateral shifter stalk bushings, 3 quarts of gm synchromesh-fm, castrol 10w-30, heavy duty moly grease for shifter base.

Oh, and i had a o2 sensor bung welded on because i was getting tired of the cel after my header install.

[Domesticated]

I'm actually thinking about selling mine. They are so much heavier than the factory ones and their's really nothing to gain from them.

[jamz720]

Domesticated. Really theyre heavier than oem rear lca and toe arms. I fogired they would be lighter. I guess after wire tuck and gutted interior that would do.

[Domesticated]

I haven't weighed them, but at least twice as heavy. The OE ones are just stamped steel. Not much material there.

[Mike1357]

They'll flex significantly less than the oem pieces. The addition of the bushings also allows more free movement of the suspension, pivoting rather than loading up tension in a rubber bushing. I'd keep them personally.

[Domesticated]

Do they flex less? How much less? And where? Its pretty much a tension rod so flex isn't an issue. I can't imagine the toe curve would change significantly under load as compared to the bushing compliance. I have a brand new set of Prothane bushings for OE arms so that fixes that. Don't get me wrong, they look cool and they come with a bushing already installed, but if you're after performance they offer none over the OE arm and they add unsprung mass. That's 100% my opinion though. Take it as you will.

[Mike1357]

If weight alone is the concern, why not get the form and function control arms? I didn't necessarily factor in unsprung weight as a variable, but I think in the scheme of things, that would factor in just as much as bushing deflection, which really isn't that much. I don't know the exact stressing points on the arm, but given that cornering forces cause flex in the chassis, it's not a stretch of the imagination to think that stamped steel arms would flex in a similar scenario. Pressing in a bushing is really not that big a deal so that's not so much a deciding factor; the upgrade to bushings on a stock arm or aftermarket arm is substantial regardless. If you've already made the purchase I don't see weight alone as a reason to get rid of them.

[Domesticated]

Well they work in tension and compression. They don't provide much longitudinal support. That's what the trailing arm does. It's a link so you can't apply a bending load along the bushing axis, because of the kinematics of the lower links you can't apply bending perpendicular to the bushing axis. Then because of the kinematics of the whole suspension you definitely can't put a torsional load on it. I was stating the bushing that comes in the arm is irrelevant because you could put a stiffer bushing in an OE arm. Also with suspension upgrades you always have to consider sprung weight. The idea is to reduce it. These look really cool and they allow people to safely go lower without hitting anything. But neither of those are concerns of mine so I may be going back to OE. It won't hurt business at all because I can't think of anyone else on here that would care about having a heavier arm.

[Mike1357]

I wasn't so much referring to longitudinal movement as I was lateral movement, especially in a hard corner. Yes, a bending load on the bushing axis typically wouldn't be an issue but the trailing arm is attached with a bushing that could flex under braking depending on the driving situation. If the suspension setup is stiff enough I don't see why some kind of flex couldn't be observed perpendicular to the bushing (especially given the shape of the arm); granted most of that energy should absorbed in the bushing itself or deflected with suspension position changes. I kind of view it similar to piston rods, albeit not as important. The stock shape can handle a lot of abuse to a certain extent. Past that a piece with an inherently stronger structure is a preferred option. One thing that stands out in particular is that these are symmetrical side to side versus the stock asymmetrical arms. I doubt they'll have trouble selling them either way. Any luck weighing them?