Hey folks.

I recently purchased SPL parts rear mid-link adjustable control arms and thought they deserved a review.




Those that have seen my Z know how low it is. Normal coilovers like Tein etc would not let me go as low as I wanted. I run a 265/35-18 in the rear so the overall diameter is a bit smaller than the factory spec. I prefer to run the same tire size all around. So because the smaller overall diameter, I had to lower it more than normal in order to make it look right.

I originally purchased the Stance because I was able to change the ride height independent of shock travel and spring compression. Most people think that when you lower a car too much it sacrifices handling ability and comfort but that’s not the case with Stance or any other adjustable true coil-over setup. You are still able to keep the appropriate shock travel.

After running Stance for a while I noticed there was a lot of noise coming from the rear of the car and I blame that on the fact the OEM spindle upper bushing that mounts to the bottom of the shock wasn’t designed to carry the load when the spring is on the shock body. Also, there are numerous threads on this forum arguing that it’s not geometrically correct for the spring to be on the shock body.

Because of this, I really wanted to move the spring to the OEM location but I wasn’t able to keep the car as low as I wanted without the SPL rear mid-link arms. I talked with one of the other members on here that had them and I was pretty much sold on them.

I got the mid-links and also the SPL endlinks for the sway bars which I highly recommend also if you have aftermarket sways. For this installation I was in a hurry so I don’t have any pics to go along with this write up.

This install can be done with normal metric tools. It should take just a couple hours if you had some experience working with the suspension.

Step1: Jack the rear of the car up and put the car on jack stands. You will want both sides off the ground for this installation as it makes it much easier to get under the car.

Step2: Remove the rear wheels.

Step3: Disconnect the rear sway bar.

Step4: Disconnect the lower shock mount on the spindle. Also if you have Stance or similar true coilover you will want to remove the spring from the shock body at this time. Likewise, you should be able to remove the OEM spring now, if you have them.

Step5: Disconnect both sides of the OEM mid-link.



Step6: Another nice feature of the SPL arms is the true toe adjustability. For this I set the length of the SPL arm as close as possible to the length of the OEM arm for alignment purposes. You will have to get your alignment done after you are completely done.

Step7: Use the OEM bolts and attach the inner side of the SPL mid-link but do not torque them down.

Step8: The SPL mid-links come with nicely machined aluminum upper spring mounts, so remove the OEM rubber mounts. You have to bend in the holding metal tabs for the OEM rubber mounts but they can easily be pulled back out if you want to go back to stock. Push the SPL aluminum upper mount in place and use the supplied bolt/nut to hold them up there. (I later removed these bolts because they are not necessary once the spring is compressed.)

Step9: The SPL mid-links also come with light weight Swift springs of your desired length and spring rate. You will need a small floor jack here. It’s very important to make sure the machined aluminum lower spring seat is properly seated before and after compressing the spring. The SPL links come with metal and carbon rings to isolate the springs from the aluminum springs seats upper and lower. Place these rings over lower aluminum seat. Place the carbon ring, then the metal ring and then the Swift spring. Use the floor jack to raise the mid-link into place. Be sure to place the same carbon and metal rings on the upper mount and compress the spring using the floor jack. Use the OEM bolt on the outside of the SPL mid-links.

Step10: Reattach the lower shock mount.

Step11: Torque everything down to spec.

Step12: The SPL links have adjustable spring buckets unlike the OEM so set your ride height using the SPL links by turning the spring bucket. You can use any spanner wrench that came with aftermarket coilovers to do this.

Step13: Once your ride height is set properly, reattach the sway bar and immediately take it the alignment shop.

I am very impressed with the quality of the SPL mid-links. They are very well machined and the instructions posted on their website are probably a little better than mine. Everything was fairly straight forward on the install and I didn’t run into any snags. Best of all the car handles amazing and no more knocking noise from the Stance.

I highly recommend these to anyone tired of the noise from the true coilover setup or just need the adjustable toe. You can purchase them at www.splparts.com.

 

Thanks for the review.

Nice at least one of the guys having noise issues with a truecoilover setup find a solution.

 

Thanks for the write-up.. I think this is the same kit that they sell with their coilover kit, which is on my wish list. BTW how are you in Austin and I don't know you? Ever go to Texas World Speedway, or hill country drives, etc?

 

Don't you mean toe adjustment?

 

Can you describe the knocking ? when ?

 

Ah Sorry, yes you are correct. I corrected my post. I also have the SPC Camber arms.

 

The knocking usually is audible at slow speeds over gravel or small bumps in the road. I would describe the sound as if something wasn't tightened down correctly and had maybe a mm of play. Very annoying.

 

I haven't been to Texas World Speedway yet, but I have been on a couple Hill Country drives. Those people get a bit crazy on public roads so I don't go too often. lol.

 

I wanted to update this thread with some pics.

 

Hey Tony, great review! As always, another great SPL product!

I thought you were going to sell your Z? I guess you're keeping her after all. BTW, time to paint those door handles black to match the rims! lol

 

how much do these go for?

 

I am interested in getting a set of these but was wondering if you get some noises from the springs transferring thru those aluminum upper spring hats into the chassis?

 

Nice write up, OP.

We have been running these SPL adjustable lower controll arm (mid-link) for almost a year now. They are very nice and do not seem to transfer any excess noise. The adjustability on them makes corner ballancing much easier.

 

I think they are just about 600 bucks by themselves.

I also wanted thier coilover setup never seen someone running it.

what damper are you using in the rear if you converted to a divided setup from the stance? can you adjust the camber and toe with this arm while installed?

 

Tony is using the dampers from his Stance coilovers, with the springs removed. There should be no difference in the performance of the dampers, as the motion/velocities seen at the shock should be similar regardless whether the spring is mounted on the damper or at the mid link (with equivalent spring rates given the motion ratio difference).

 

+1

We run these mid links with the Stance true coilovers, as well. We just took off the rear coilover spring and placed one in the mid-link spring purch.

 

I have been running the KTS coilovers for about 2 years now, and with
the SPL midlinks for about a year (my car was the test vehicle for
both). This has been a great system for me for street, track and drag
strip combined use.

When I went drag racing, Kuah setup the car with softer springs
(8kg/mm), and 0deg camber and 0 toe (which was possible with the
adjustability of the SPL camber arm and midlink). That setup gave me
alot of traction (so much in fact, that I had to increase the tire
pressure to avoid bogging my NA) that was when I ran the 12.8 @ 108mph
(currently the fastest non-built NA time):

https://my350z.com/forum/drag/235021-new-na-bolt-ons-time-12-8-107-8mph.html

When I got back to road racing, Kuah put on a stiffer spring and made
appropriate adjustments to my alignment. The car handled great, I was
consistently running with the fastest cars at the track despite being
relatively under-powered and under-tired. Here is a writeup and some
videos of a recent event I attended at Texas Motor Speedway:

https://my350z.com/forum/event-photos/322300-texas-motor-speedway-running-the-roval-at-night.html

To me the best thing about the coilover and midlink setup is that it
rides pretty well on the street, yet is very tunable for the track.
I can easily change spring rates, rear ride height, toe and camber (to a
much larger range than with toe bolts) to my needs.

 

Hah well I still plan on selling the car but not until the end of this year now.

 

I meant besides you Sfarrah but I am very glad for this write up. I figured they were great for the track at the minimum but wondered about the street setup.

making me want these again

 

FWIW, many of you may remember that these coilovers were on our website for more than 2 years, we were happy with the performance of the shocks (as we had expected after our experience with their coilovers for the 240SX and 300ZX), but we never released them because we were not satisfied with the ride height adjustability on the rear. That was a big problem with most coilovers that use the stock rear spring setup. As Tony mentioned earlier, that was the reason he went with Stance coilovers in the first place, to get the rear height low enough for his needs.

We only released these coilovers after developing our midllinks. In that time alot of coilover options have come to market, so it is harder for us to get people to try another option. However our setup is the only one with complete control over rear ride height and spring rates without resorting to a coilover setup, and also offers complete control over rear toe (unlike eccentric toe bolts).