for years ive envied 240sx complete custom control arms that i first saw at superautobacs. later my friend started using nagisa control arms and making e36 tubular arms, and i knew i had to take this step with the 2nd gen.

when the FC is lowered too far, the geometry goes sour. this includes bumpsteer, rollcenter, & camber curves. bad rollcenter makes the car feel like the car is leveraging from points below the surface, causing excessive body roll and loss of grip.

tubular control arms would have a longer balljoint rod to help keep the stock angles at lower ride heights. they would be much stronger, one piece, and have pillowballs.

a guy making e36 tubular arms today said he would make them for the 2nd gen, but didnt know the interest.

if theres enough interest, it could happen for some lucky people on this forum. this would make a serious difference and give a serious edge in turning ability.

much love,

russ

 

I'm planning something a little more radical for my front suspension...

Not a helpful post at all! :-p

 

far out, man..!

 

Depending on the cost i'd be in

 

i wish they were as cheap as 240 ones, trust me i do. im sure theyd run in the 1400-1500 dollar range for a set.

 

Same

 

probably 1500 dollar range

 

Jesus, there's no way I can swing that. Sounds nice though.

 

Honestly, the stock arms are pretty sweet pieces to begin with...

If anything it's the stock knuckles and tie rods you want to modify. You can increase your steering ratio and give more Ackerman steering, as well as steering angle.

Can't you just install some roll center adjusters or do they not make those for the FC?

 

I've never seen a set of rca's for the fc

 

Unfortunately I have never seen any roll center adjusting ball joints for the fc or any kind of aftermarket suspension arms either. I heard ”AWR” is trying to produce roll center adjusters.

 

yay! finally awr doing what this car needed 10 years ago!

 

AWR is prototyping roll center adjustment balljoint replacements! hopefully we can push them into production with interest. these would help the front end move flatly when lowered instead of falling down on itself. next post will be a picture review from a friendly fabber for design improvements.

 

this is how they NEED to be. "double sheer" with side bracing.

 

No they don't, stock ball joint bolts are in single shear.

 

yeah.... I've only ever seen 1 double sheer balljoint ever. and that was double shear on the control arm side.

It's not a big deal.

 

talk to sam dj55b on this forum he's the new owner of re-speed and he was contemplating making new front control arms.

 

thanks! double sheer is much much more rigid and wont flex under load like a single sheer. i talked with tony and he said the reason is for race crashes and accidents. they dont want to bend the subframe. personally, im pretty picky where i put my wheels, and will go through with the extra bracing for performance sake.

 

That's putting a lot of unsprung weight in a very bad place. Don't do this. There is a reason that Mazda switched the steel control arms on the FC prototypes with forged aluminum arms for the production model.

If the bolts are torqued appropriately, then the friction causes the control arm/balljoint connection to act as if it were in pure tension or compression. The bolts then cease being the load-bearing members and will not be subject to shear stresses. Benefits of a double-shear arrangement are therefore lost.

By increasing the rigidity of the ball-joint connection to the control arm, more load will be carried through the arm in a crash and the subframe will be subject to even more damage as a result.

 

there is a pretty big debate about custom control arms on the fc in the drift section.
s chassis guys need them because their suspension sucks.

we basically came to the conclusion (pro drivers alike) that these are unnecessary. if you have bump steer issues then get a bumpsteer kit from mazdatrix. the factory lca is more than adequate for even full track cars like mine. i am running the mazdatrix bumpsteer kit, shortened knuckles for more angle and extended ball joint to move my track out to where i want it. car handles amazing configured in this manner.

also. a 1500$ price tag just to say you have tubular arms that really prove no benefit over the factory is a tough pill to swallow.

 

roll center adjustment is pivotal. going awr joints asap

 

I think the only upgrade from stock would be to produce them in a very lightweight and strong metal, but that would only have gains on fully-fledged track cars that need every ounce gone that isnt needed.

 

geometry>

 

single sheer legit =). maybe a thicker or stronger metal perhaps??

 

The control arms are fine. The ball joints could use some work for lowered cars though.