I bought a set of the Knietix upper A-arms on eBay for what I thought was a fair price. Only problem is, they didn't come with any instructions. I tried to install them using my best guess, but they just don't look right. With the car still in the air, they don't seem to be able to increase my camber over stock (more negative) in any configuration.

If anyone has any experience installing these, I have these questions:

1. There is obviously a right and left A-arm, but they are not marked. How do I know which is right and which is left? Does the angle for the heim joint point up or point down?

2. The stock a-arms have a conical mating surface in the upright component. There is no conical piece included with the Kinetix arms. Are you supposed to somehow remove the stock conical piece from the stock arms or does the Kinetix arm not use these conical pieces? Really not clear...

3. There are two nuts on the heim joint that connect to the stock upright piece. One is a large ny-lock type nut and the other is a smaller (but still large) normal nut. There are two flat washers (one bigger than the other). Does the smaller nut and bigger washer go on top of the upright joint and the large ny-lock nut go on the bottom or do both go on the bottom? Not quite sure how these are supposed to be tightened either.

Does anyone have any recommended torque values for the nuts?

Thanks.

 

how do you like the over all quality on those?

 

I just ordered some from Kinetix Racing and they didn't come with instructions. I'm e-mailing them right now to see if they have any available along with torque specs and hints for identifying left and right.

 

You will have to compare the arms with your stock arms. You can basically flip flop each of the kinetix arms. I'm not quite sure what you mean about the angle of the heim joint. My heim joints were pointed straight down.

No, do not remove the conical piece from the stock arm. The heim joint just installs as is. The large washer goes on top and the smaller goes on the bottom. Then, the nylon nut. I didn't have any torque numbers either. Just went off the stock specs.

 

SJTrackZ, can you give the numbers for the torque specs? Also, where did you reference those torque numbers from?

 

I am currently at work, but I can get them in about an hour.

BTW, here is a pic of the arm in my Z. Also, there arm are no longer in my car.

 

Thanks for the pic. I haven't looked where my brake is on the disc, but is this the left or right side of your car? Also, I never adjusted front arms before, which bolt do you use to adjust the camber?

Here's some more info to help anyone else out. Here's the reply from Kinetix Racing for some questions on the arms:

the arms should be in the same orientation as the factory arms.

The ball joint is offset towards the rear of the car, and they point
downwards. The factory arms have the same offset, and angle to the
balljoint.

The order of nuts bolts is

from top to bottom
-ball joint
-thick washer
factory spindle
-small washer
- nut

 

Thanks, guys.

I called Kinetix today and heard basically the same thing as above. They don't come with instructions (can you believe that?). They state that the angled part holding the ball joint should face down (they can be installed with the angled part facing up just as easily, but that is the wrong way, so they say). No torque spec given.

But I am not that happy with the install. There is some slop (play) in the ball joint part where it inserts into the upright. The stock piece fits perfectly with no movement since there is a cone that fits inside. Also, there is a cotter pin at the bottom of the stock piece so that the nut cannot come off. The ny-lock nut seems too big (you can see in the picture above) and doesn't seem to engage enough threads to be as secure as I would like (as in the picture, no threads poke through the bottom). The bolt that inserts into the upright is a slightly smaller diameter than the upright hole, so the fit is not quite snug enough for me. I tried to tighten it VERY securely, but there was still too much play for me. I decided to put the stock A-arms back on.

I plan on running my Z in the next Nevada Open Road Challenge in May at speeds up to 155mph and there is NO WAY that I can accept any play in the suspension like that.

To answer Ovayahead's question, the pieces look so-so. The A-arms are made from simple tubes and stamped steel welded together. The welds do look okay, and the bushings look good. But they can't hold a candle to the 350evo pieces. Those are like works of art. Of course, they are more than twice the price of the Kinetix arms. I guess you get what you pay for...

Any body wanna buy mine? I'll let them go for a good price. I only installed them, then took them off again. I didn't even ever put the wheels back on before I took them off, so they have never been driven on. All the parts are in great condition.

 

thanks SJ for the picture and knight for the feed back. Rather it's commuting or driving at the track, all the parts should fit right. Part of driving is to have total confidence in the machine and not have to worry in the back of your head that a part isn't perfect. That would bug me knowning that there's some play in a suspension piece.

so I guess I have to come up with the extra money for 350evo's. Are the cusco's modifiable to get more postive camber?

anyone selling some 350evo's? I'm even willing to trade B&M short shifter +$300. even though I just got my shifter adjusted perfectly

 

See the brake caliper, near the bottom right side of the photo? This shot must be of the right-side, or passenger side of the car.

 

do you guys know the size of the washers? or perhaps can i get a pic of them? i bought these used and didnt get washers.

 

...

 

Cusco's

and no need to modify them - I am dropped 2 inches (25.5 inches from center line of fender to ground) and the Cusc0's can get me down to stock levels if I want (I run slightly more negative camber than stock - pays big dividends in turn in response and no negative effects on tire wear after 10k miles)

 

Wow, this is an old thread. Man, I sold my Z about 5 months ago but I miss it like hell. Trying to race motorcycles so it was a sacrifice I had to make!


As for these arms, really easy to install. Yeah, no instructions but they work as they should and pretty self explanatory once you get your front wheels off. I didn't really race my Z, just for looks. Good enough for the money and won't be disappointed.