Shawz1102

iTrader: (1)

Hi guys,

I took my car in to a shop to do tire flipping and the mechanic (who specializes in aftermarket cars) said my front stock camber arm needed to be changed out. I can't recall the exact reason, but it was one of the reasons below, or both:

1.) Front stock camber arm is a little bent due to having a lowering spring installed. It wouldn't have been a problem if I had coilovers installed instead he said.

2.)The bushing on the stock camber arm needed to be changed because it's a common problem for the bushings to have a short life, even when the car is on stock suspension.

I'd like to ask those knowledgeable or have had similar experiences if lowering using Tanabe GF 210 springs (1" F, 1.5" R) or any springs in general will cause premature wear on the stock camber arm. This is the first time I've heard that lowering springs would cause this problem on our cars..... To prevent this problem, the mechanic recommended aftermarket camber arm in which the bushing is not rubber but steel as well, but it would cause a lot of noise on the road.

Is the mechanic just bsing me to get $$?

Mcutali

iTrader: (10)

id want to see the arm, it is aluminum though, so anything is possible, i ran springs on my z for over a year and no issues. now im on a agressive drop with coilovers, and yes it is smart to change out bushing especially lca's. if you want to go low, invest in a set of aftermarket spc, spl front control arms, you will need them eventually to get your alignment back into spec. toe kit and camber kit in the rear will be needed as well. cheap used sets of coilovers are all over. check out conceptz for great prices on parts. i would steer away from anything ichiba suspension wise. dont mind there spacers... but there is better out there ahem.

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

The LCA arm bushings are probably blown, very common , look into Whiteline bushings. The Compression arm bushings are probably blown, very common with lowering, look into SPL or maybe whiteline. Nothing is really going to bend up there unless you take a really good hit, coilovers VS lowering springs willnot make a difference.

Front camber arms are nice, but with a 1 inc drop you are probably running -1.5 to -1.8 front camber, that is out of spec but perfectly acceptable for the street. Taking the camber back to OEM at -0.7ish may cause you to rub, your tires will last slightly longer if you don't drive aggressivly, and it won't handle as well. I actually run -2.8 up front, track setup and my front still last over 20k miles.

Shawz1102

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys. The arm the mechanic showed me needing to be replaced was this shape:



So i'm guessing it's the lower control arm and not the camber arm?

And the image below is the camber arm?



Question:
1.) The upper arm is the one required to be able to adjust camber while the lower arm (compression arm) is basically, well, just a non adjustable arm?

2.) I assume Whiteline bushings are made of metal? And if so, according to the mechanic, metal bushings will cause road noise but guarantees that they will never need to be replaced again unlike the OEM bushings?

3.) Is there aftermarket LCA? The mechanic showed me an "aftermarket" set he had and it looked identical to the OEM, except the bushing was metal... I did a google search and could not find aftermarket front LCA?

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

The first pic is a compression arm, the LCA sits forward of that. Both are actually Lower Control Arms. The second pic is the UCA Upper Control Arm and the one you can buy to make camber adjustable. SPL Parts makes the metal bushings, look them up, SPL offers the UCA with metal bushings.

Replace the compression arm bushings with SPL metal bushings, the LCA bushings with whiteline and align the car. Unless you took a really freaking hard hit, or you have a bad balljoint, that is all that is needed.

Shawz1102

iTrader: (1)

Thanks. If i took a picture of the compression arm, would you guys be able to tell if it's bent/damaged?