S14 LCA Mod

[Var]

So i've been wanting more negative camber for a while and i thought i'd try the S14 LCA thing. But i couldnt source them , and i never tried to call junkyards cause i'm dumb like that. Anyways, i called Venus Auto parts and i got 4 LCA's for a good deal. Then i thought, my car doesnt have enough unsprung weight. I'm gonna make stuff heavier for no reason. About this time, my eye caught a glimpse of the welder in my shop. I was like...woohoo.

So it went down like this.

I got the control arms from Venus Auto 4 days after i ordered them. They looked ok. I decided not to press in the ES bushings i ordered cause..i'm lazy and Nolan(Citizen) convinced me not to.

2 are just for backup

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/westboroughpimp/random/DSC01479.jpg


The next step was to remove the s14 balljoint with this press.
This is the press saying hi!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/westboroughpimp/random/DSC01491.jpg

After breaking a socket, and some other noob hardships, i got the balljoints off.

Some supplies from Orchard Supply Hardware helped me kick ass. Like this plate of steel, and this dark red enamel.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/westboroughpimp/random/DSC01489.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/westboroughpimp/random/DSC01490.jpg

I cut the plates with this saw and welded with the welder that you cant see in these pics. The welder is a Lincoln Mig 220v with Argon. He's shy and asked to be left out of this stupid write-up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/westboroughpimp/random/DSC01488.jpg

After some welding and painting, my control arms look cooler than yours

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/westboroughpimp/random/DSC01487.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/westboroughpimp/random/DSC01485.jpg

They are just hanging out to dry and i will be installing these Moog balljoints tomorrow.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/westboroughpimp/random/DSC01492.jpg

My wheels are on order from SPL and my fenders were rolled by Jerry(Heartwork) . I'll post pics again when everything is installed. Thanks for letting me waste your time!

[MakotoS13]

i should have welded up all my arms when i had every single one of em off the car :(

[HyperTek]

wow you bought doom 3!!!

i wonder if those plates will do much..

[MakotoS13]

im sure they will. you knwo how flexible our stock crap is? pretty wimpy.

[HyperTek]

id think tension rods would already brace it from twisting..??

[Ritz S14]

haha that setup rocks!

[Andrew Bohan]

Thanks for letting me waste your time!

you're welcome!!

[Var]

I'm sure they will be stiffer than stock, but i dunno if they will have any performance gains. And i guess i'll never know.

[Flybert]

I plan on boxing in all my LCA's when I have the time. Good work. I like the color. For some reason when I started reading this thread, I thought you were going to make a hybrid LCA that had 2 welded together to get the extra length that you wanted.

[m0rex]

Dont know if they would help but lca are made to break. I dont know if anything would happen if you hit a curb probably break the t/c rod. Like i said... i dont know but it might.

[Var]

Batturo Version has these weld on kits that are length adjustable. Well worth the 185 pricetag if you can weld yourself. i just went with the easiest way with practically no chance of messing up.

http://www.battleversion.com/img/AE86/AE86%20Weld%20On%20Kit/DSC01454.JPG

http://www.battleversion.com/img/240/240weldkit/DSC01466.JPG

[Macadoshus]

The LCA's look good. Boxing them in should definitely keep them from flexing, however, how noticable that difference is might be is hard to tell.

Personally, I am going to make complete replacements for my LCAs. The net result of the battle versions are nice, but when you consider you are paying $185 for a piece of pipe and some heim joints, might as well make em competely yourself IMO.

[MrSkinny]

man. where can i find some LCAs for a good price. im not prepared to whip out 2 bills for a piece of steal. if anyone has any info send me a pm.

[Var]

venus auto

916-386-2286

i dunno if they will ship to canada

[projectRDM]

I've got Cusco front LCAs, there was a very noticeable difference the first time I autocrossed on them. The flex in the bushing and the arm itself is gone completely. You'll love the added bracing.

[blu808]

Var. Its weird that you want more camber when your camber plates arnt even maxed out yet.

Anyways, looks cool

[Var]

Var. Its weird that you want more camber when your camber plates arnt even maxed out yet.

Anyways, looks cool


My camber plates ARE maxed out. On both cars. Black car has -2.8 and pinky has -2.5. I cant go no mo mayng

[Sil Beer S13]

off topic but did you buy that car from a girl? I've seen it at a few events and i met the owner and it was a she.

[Var]

That was me before the sex change...hehe.

it DID belong to a girl. She used to post here as S13Chica.

[infinitexsound]

i swear i need a welder............

[Var]

I got the control arms installed. But it wasnt what i expected, although i SHOULD have expected what happened.

sorry about the big images, i'm too lazy to resize cause i already uploaded them

here are a couple of pics with the LCA's on the car and drew doing the shocker..good plug

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/westboroughpimp/pinky/DSC01495.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/westboroughpimp/pinky/DSC01496.jpg



Now for the problems.


1-the tie rod doesnt line up with the plate on the LCA anymore and eventually the knuckle hits it. Should i cut it off or is this safe to keep it like this. Remember it's for drifting and sometime i hit full lock countersteer very harsh(always)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/westboroughpimp/pinky/DSC01497.jpg

2- the second problem is that it didnt have the effect i expected. Can you say 20 degrees toe out!!!

This picture is with the passenger side wheel facing straight ahead. Look at how much toe out it has.!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/westboroughpimp/pinky/DSC01499.jpg


It didnt really add any noticable camber, but i'm hoping that straightening out the toe will make it more apparent as to where the camber is right now. Hopefully the tie rods have enough threads to make it work.

[m0rex]

Arent the control arms suppose to be the other way around? My s14 dosent have that thing sticking out of the lca i think. But damn that sucks well if nothing works i guess you still have your spares.

[Andrew Bohan]

the thing sticking out is for the end of the tie rod to hit. but since the s14's are longer, the tie rod end misses it on the inside, and the knuckle hits it instead.

var, ard josh says use s14 knuckles. what you think of that?

[citizen]

you forgot to mention that i bossed you around while you was doing that =P

[Var]

the thing sticking out is for the end of the tie rod to hit. but since the s14's are longer, the tie rod end misses it on the inside, and the knuckle hits it instead.

var, ard josh says use s14 knuckles. what you think of that?


i already spent over 70 bucks on new moog balljoints. Plus what's the point of an S14 knuckle? If I cut that stupid thing it wont even be in the way. I was just wondering is it's safe to use as a stopper.

[Var]

OK so..the S14 LCA thing is crap. It extends your front track out by 15mm. And that's about it. I WANT MY CAMBER!! I dont think i have over 3 degrees.



edit: i thought about it a little bit, and the s13 needs a wider front track . This would be a good mod for everyone with an S13 to do, so your pig would stop understeering. DO IT!

[420sx]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/westboroughpimp/random/DSC01492.jpg

My wheels are on order from SPL and my fenders were rolled by Jerry(Heartwork) . I'll post pics again when everything is installed. Thanks for letting me waste your time!

mouse pads are for fags :keke:

[citizen]

OHHHH!!! dis dis dis... ready for realz bouts fighting?

[m0rex]

How about you heat and hammer that shit down? Maybe that would work for full countersteers. Then get an alignment.

[Var]

OHHHH!!! dis dis dis... ready for realz bouts fighting?


considering his last couple hundred posts have been retarded and useless, i 'll let it go.

[floodo1]

sweet. i was gonna box my lca's but then i got lazy. i'll have to do it later. not like its hard to get the lca's off anywayz tho!

good work, even if im not down with red lca's :)

battleversion does seem like a good idea vs hopup lca's since those are so much $$$.

anywayz, the lca's can def use some boxing. i had some curb surfing where i hit the curb pretty sideways in the front end. broke my lca almost in half, and oval'd the tension rod (where the liquid bushing goes). but the lca broke right at the screws for the tension rod. this is obviously the weakest place (perhaps the sway bar mount holes are as weak) on the lca. i would def make sure i strengthened that area. more than likely when i box mine i'll reinforce that area with a u shaped piece of metal and 2 holes so the tension rod will bolt through double thick material, since the bottom needs to be open so that you can get to the tension rod bolts.

and by design the lca's should have very poor torsional rigidity.