BlueSQ

I've been doing a lot of research into adjustable front upper control arms. Read just about every thread on them I can find. Generally I like to go with the middle of the road option so as to not cheap out but also not to go overkill. However, these two points have me hung up:

1) I've seen murmur that anything besides the SPL brand is poorly designed, specifically that they're dangerous. Basically I've read that every single adjustable front upper control arm on the market has failed in one way or another except SPL brand. All the manufacturer reps say "oh we fixed it and are releasing an updated version" yadda yadda yadda but it all just sounds like forum sponsor BS. I don't need these things failing on the freeway after a professional installation.

2) Will -2 degrees of camber feather a new set of tires? Is it worth the time and money of an adjustable FUCA to get the front camber back into spec (-1.3 to +0.3) if tire longevity is an issue?

Let me elaborate on #1 because I think there's a lot of feelings revolving this.

Kinetix:
Z1 Motorsports: "Wanted to report I have had a ball joint failure on drivers side. Luckly I was slowing down for stop sign and was almost at a stop hit a small bump and SNAP!"

SPC: "it has everything to do with the physical design of a loaded in shear bolt. It's a structurally inferior design to a loaded in compression design like the SPL's. Having seen SPC's snap at the track and causing thousands of dollars worth of damage to a car, I would not run a front camber arm from any mfgr with that physical design period."

Megan:

Anyway, the list goes on. Any unbiased opinions on this? The post that caught my eye was a rant about many cheaper FUCAs being unsafe by design because it puts too much shearing force on the ball joint which eventually leads to the threads snapping.

RENFRO

iTrader: (1)

Honestly, SPL is the way to go. I have been running their V3 arms for 5 years. Couple track days. Plenty of visits to the dragon. Never an issue.

Buy once. Cry once.

Just my advice.

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

-2 for street, I would be perfectly happy. That's what mine was aligned at for a long time as a daily driver. Then the last year of daily driving it was at over -3.

Funny seeing Megan mentioned, mines were on for well over 60k miles with tons of track abuse. Then transferred to a friends car and still in use.

Boss155

jhc

I have the Z1s. Interchangeable bushings for street/race and grease fittings. My tech hated dialing these in bc the uc arm bolts need to come completely out and back in for adjustment. Also, I didn't give him spec and the pass side was super noisy. Torqued down to 35 and all good.

I would not buy these again, the simplicity of the SPL makes adjustment far easier.

BlueSQ

I'm sure anecdotally they all work with varying amounts of tinkering and I just want to reiterate I'm not trying to beat up on the brands that make these. I see a lot of long time members, mods and track guys have these after market arms I mentioned.

It's the safety and reliability I'm concerned about and after lots of research I'm seeing the design of most of these actually shears the ball joint threads or allows the locking nut to unthread. Even the middle road, SPC, had lots of complaints that they have to be tightened down way past spec to keep everything aligned for any long period of time otherwise it'll loosen itself up.

That's reason enough to go with the SPL albeit the most expensive option. I want a set and forget product.

Then again I don't want to spend $1000 between the arms, install and alignment to pull the wheels in just one degree of camber. That's the cost of two sets of front tires which a 137,000 mile car may or may not even see.

BlueSQ

I edited my lazy "do a search" post with some actual dishonorable mentions for Megans FUCAs. You seem like someone who has the skill and know-how to identify pretty much any issue and fix it properly. Unfortunately I don't have that skill set so I'm looking for a set of arms I don't need to keep an eye on.

guitman32

iTrader: (15)

My Z1 FUCAs are still fine, a few thousand track miles later. Definitely need to keep an eye on the ball joint retaining nut, which can loosen requiring re-tightening. And keep in mind that it is best to apply loctite and tighten after alignment.

guitman32

iTrader: (15)

I will add that with the Z1 FUCAs it can be difficult in some cases to adequately tighten the retaining nut due to the angles and space involved in the wheel well, depending on the "default" position of the retaining nut in the assy. This also could contribute to the increased failure rate of FUCAs with this style ball joint.

CK_32

iTrader: (1)

Yea I’m also in the market for both front and rear camber arms my self. But I can’t get past any threads that don’t have guys pushing SPL.

But I’m not going to buy SPL arms and links for $900 because the chose to over kill and use the most expencive and lightest metal used aka titanium. I’d love to run them But I’m not buying titanium parts when standard steel would easily suffice.

I’ve learned this lesson the hard way with my sport bikes in the past. It just looks good for build sheets and build threads. Past that it’s literally a waste of money.

But at the same time I don’t want to go running ebay crap and regret going too cheap and hate my kit. I’m really hoping I can find a kit less than SPL but not complete ebay crap and just be a basic kit that won’t rust on me, can do basic adjustments and not be made up **** NASA uses for missions to Uranus.

I’ve been looking at Godspeed and TruHesrt but again any and every thread everyone only talks about SPL and it’s more than happy to spend $1,000 a set of control arms and almost offers not feedback on anything else accept the stance kids who haven’t even opened the box and are happy to talk about their $50 camber kit off eBay still sitting in the packaging and how awesome it is.

jhc

Don't get me wrong, the Z1 rears are super-easy to install DIY, (remember to get Toe-Bolts), The fronts aren't bad either, it's just that the fronts are a PITA to get lined-up. If I had it to do over I'd get used SPLs.
02...

CK_32

iTrader: (1)

Yea from what I’ve read aside from all the SPL love was the Z1’s were really over priced for what they were. They were on point with the lower priced sets but I can’t get a lock on which lower priced kit is worth it. The $80-150 range is all over the place with complete junk or fairly decent. But like I said every thread I dig through always turns into a “just get SPL’s” and no other info is ever shared after that.

I’d like to, I’d drop money in a heartbeat beat if they were titanium and titanium only. It’s literally a waste of LOTS of money for my application. Money in which I could really use for other mods I can’t afford either lol if they had a steel option for less I’d be dropping money no problem. Hell even a stainless option or something. Idk why SPL wouldn’t at least have an alternative option to capture both high and mid range markets.

As for used, I’d never. I’ve been burned on too many blown coils and bent components before. Suspension is the only thing I can’t trust to buy off someone. In my experience the only reason people REALLY sell suspension is when it’s damaged or already blown. Which like I said I’ve learned the hard way.. a couple of times. And sometimes it’s impossibly to even find until you’re already on the alignment rack and they come to tell you one is way off or won’t even go into adjustment.

BlueSQ

Yeah I just can't get past it. I mean imagine if you had to 'make sure' every part of your suspension didn't unbolt itself straight from the factory? Peoples cars would be falling apart left and right. I feel they're unsafe and same with every design like it.

I'm just going to ride on -2 degrees of camber in the front like terrasmak suggested. Why drop $1000 on SPL arms, install and alignment to pull it in less than a degree?

CK_32

iTrader: (1)

Tho I agree.

I will say if you’re not using that camber aka the entire surface area you’re not only losing grip and tire contact. But you’re going to save $200 now. But waste $200 every few months from eating your tires.

I just bought a new rear because the old azz tire I had on there was on treads and only contacting on the inside patch. I just put a new tire on Thursday night and drove 150 mile trip and it’s already showing signs of wear on the inner tire pattern.

I agree spending that cash for the SPL kit is retarded IMO. Even more for the fact they use titanium which is more than half the cost just due to how god dam expensive that metal it self is.

But I think rears are a MUST. Fronts seem like a bit of a luxury for most people. If you can I would. But I don’t think I’d call them CRITICAL like the rears are being the damage and ACTUAL safety risk they pose.

When I saw that tire off my car I honestly was MILES from a blow out and possible totaling my car.

I’m personally looking at the SPC rears. $185 for the set (2) + hardware. I’ve got them in my cart right now but just trying to shop around to see if I can find them any cheaper from another vendor. Those seem to be the best arms aside from the SPL’s.

guitman32

iTrader: (15)

Aftermarket definitely has its drawbacks for sure, but let me tell you if you are running sticky tires that extra degree+ makes all the difference. On the street you will probably never notice, but on track all the difference in the world, for both grip and tire life.

jhc

Not to put to fine a point on it but I ate 2 rear BS tires bc no camber arms. Inside 1/3 wear, the Michelin Pilot Super Sports I replaced them with are over $300 each.

Driveability and tire life, I highly recommend camber arms to get in spec if you're lowered.

CK_32

iTrader: (1)

That’s exactly where I’m at right now.

$350 a piece for my RE71r’s and the fact they’re on 10.5’s is just going to make the wear worse. My OEM tires were on treads on the inner wall when I replaced them. So I’m not touching my track set until I get that sorted.

I used the iPhone level app and (if I did it correctly) my rear camber is -4.1 on the driver side and -3.3 on the passenger side. And I’m not even low anymore I raised my coils to 3/4 in height. Got my SPC rear kit ordered should be here this week.

$175 shipped is way better than bad camber and $150 every couple months for tires.

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

It’s actually Toe that murders the tires. Any slight change in ride height and tie changes drastically with our cars.

BlueSQ

$1000 difference on the street? That's kinda the whole issue, there's no cheaping out here on the FUCAs. I can always have the tires dismounted from the wheels to rotate them side to side.

The rears are within stock spec, I had camber arms installed back there. The only issue is the front at -2.0.

I'm having a brand new set of Pilot Super Sports installed right now so I'll be able to keep a sharp eye on them. I got 20,000 miles out of the last set without even rotating. Got them for about $200 each, I think they're being discontinued and replaced with some other type, I think it's the Pilot Sport 4 S.

guitman32

iTrader: (15)

I was coming at it from a track perspective (more camber = better), but for the street I agree just run -2 up front...the front of the Z does tend to align asymmetrically for camber, so the arms also have the benefit of allowing you to even it out, but I agree definitely not worth the money and the headache if you arent a weekend racer/autoxer.