What part numbers/suppliers did you guys use in the front LCA?

Kill240 - you didn't weld that housing on with the sphericals in place did you? I'm not sure why you would be having issues with them moving if they're brand new.


Def has a little write up on NRR about making some cheap LCAs.

Here's the link - after searching for it I realized I have hours of reading I need to catch up on at NRR, but part of me doesn't want to read it because I don't want to rip my suspension apart again (right now).

HOW TO: Ultimate budget front LCAs - Nissan Road Racing Forums

i didnt weld it, i had a shop welded it. but he only welded the housing on the arms. then i had another shop pressed the sphericals in.
yes, they are brand new. thats why i dont get why it turned out like this.

i might have to get new spherical bearings and housing because i dont think i can still save these ones i got. ill just have to grind off the welds and start again. ugh

I was going to do the same thing in that write up, but i swear i got the crappiest GS arm, it was so oblong and crappy i just threw it away. I did though cut off the heim joint part and welded it on my stock arm, and also welded in a housing like the above picture, so the stock arms is as adjustable as any aftermarket arm, will have a crappy cell pic later.

hmmm maybe i can just press the sphericals out again and wire brush the inside of the housing. that write up def did is really nice but i dont think i wana start all over again. maybe i will try that one later or just go with PBM

You need to get yourself a caliper and find out what the I.D. of the housing is, and then find out what the O.D. of the spherical bearing is.

The welding process could have warped the housing a little bit to where it is out of round, which would cause the bearing to be tight.

My suggestion is for you to take the bearings out (you can use the socket + hammer method of "pressing" the bearings back out, if they aren't in too tight), then measure everything first, and make sure the bearing cups are still round.

I would say to make sure the clearance is about .002", that should give you a nice easy press fit, to where it still requires a little bit of force to press the bearing into the cup, but it won't take a press; a light'ish hit with a hammer on a socket will drop that bearing into the cup.

With a light press fit, the bearing should stay in place, while being able to rotate freely without the housing holding it in place, which is what's happening to your's.

Oh, and use some grease to help with the "fit". I used wheel bearing grease.

so any updates from pbm, any updates from def on his potential design, any updates from driftworks?

Def said he probably won't do the knuckles anymore, but may go ahead with designing a FLCA solution.

Thanks for the link to Def's NRRF article! Do you have to machine your own bearing cup, or is there an available solution? Def used the original bearing cup that was already installed in a Godspeed LCA, but I'd like to just modify my stock arms.

After a bit more searching I found these cups

Off Road Warehouse - Racing Parts FK Bearings Rod End & Uniball Kits COMH24T Kit - 1.5" ID Uniball Kit

but the kit is $150 per corner! Looks like the bearing is an FK, but the cup part number looks to be made by "H&M". Anybody have any idea who H&M is?

UNI-BALL WELD CUP, 1-7/16" ROD END INSERT - C73-443 at The Chassis Shop

$37 per corner!

The UB machine ones are the cheapest, 13.50 per corner.

Parts Shop MAX arms are at the factory being tooled.

Driftworks G2's look nicer than the old ones:

Driftworks | Christmas has come early. GeoMaster2 now in stock.

This is a good shot that hasn't been posted yet:

http://cdn.driftworks.com/wp-content...s/DSC_0623.jpg

Pretty much zero ackerman from what I can see.

ya thats way too much angle for my 295s up front... the tires would shred to bits n pieces lol... if for whatever reason I were to steer more and not realize it...

Big steering stops are your friends.

I've got a basic roll center question. Ideally the roll center would as close to the CG as possible, and move as little as possible in compression. Lets say we really go extreme with roll center correction and we actually get the resting height of the roll center ABOVE the CG, and then in compression it moves to BELOW the CG. This set-up would of course minimize roll couple at all times, but would it lead to an unstable feeling? Is the IDEAL set-up really to have the resting roll center at (or below) the CG and then let it only move away (lower) with compression?

My thinking is that the force vectors of the roll couple would be changing 180 degrees as the roll couple goes from positive to negative with a path above-to-below the CG. And this would cause an unpredictable feeling. Am I off base?

You're totally right. Having your roll center right at or above CG would definitely be weird feeling as your car rolls.

You ideally want the RC a little below the CG.

It's one of the first questions I asked in this thread, and Def said the same thing. :p

That cup is not big enough.

The O.D. of the AIB12T bearing that Def and I used for our modded GS arms is 1.5000", and the YPB12T bearing that I wanted to use has an O.D. of 1.5625", and I honestly have not found any readily found bearing cups on the market that will accommodate the 1.5625" O.D. bearings, so no go there...

im thinking your right, the cup probably got out of shape from welding it on the arm.

anyways i remember the shop that pressed the bearing in said he used 10,000 pounds. so i have to go back there and have it out again.

Who is this friend and where can I meet this friend lol

I'm currently in the same boat trying to find a cheap solution to adjustable roll center.
Any additional info on the Godspeed setup on low cars would be great. Specifically about the outer spherical possibly binding.

Check this find out manual rack in the works and there will be a column mounted EPS option too that will be like an s2000 (turns off at higher speed -- also a programmable version):

http://www.atomicrex.co.uk/downloads...lhd%20assy.jpg

Interest Check: Performance true manual rack for s13 and s14 : 240sx General Discussion - Page 5

Been taking a while but I suppose some of you guys could put some feedback in there although this is still in prototype stages.

RX7 guys loved theirs.

his last name is welder, and he can be found in lots of peoples garages.

Why would you want a manual rack?

be more specific lol.

Why would you want an ancient slush pump rack lol.

wont the wheel hit the tension rod on those DW knuckles?

I'm saying weld some big-boy tie rod stops onto your LCA's. Excessive lock problem solved.

Because I like to be able to turn in parking lots. And I don't want my thumbs broken off when I let the wheel autosteer and go to catch it while drifting.

Maybe. That's what spacers are for.

And if it does? Smooth tension rod meets smooth wheel or tire. Can't really do much damage.

PSM lower arms have the tension rods moved in farther btw, so that would help.

This is for whoever asked, i think 95ka-turbo or whatver!

Outter LCA point

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...1022001118.jpg

Inner LCA point


http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...1022001117.jpg

Tension rod.

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...1022001116.jpg

lol build some forearms man... plus a car is meant to be driven not parked ;)

Haha, have you ever tried to catch an autosteering wheel without power steering?

It will definitely wreck whatever's in it's path.

Plus I don't like to have to struggle through high-speed sweepers. You should be focusing on how the car is reacting, now how hard you have to push/pull the steering wheel.

You don't want roll center right at CG and definitely not above it. It will move(vertically and laterally) when you corner. You don't want a huge percentage change in roll couple as the car goes into a corner. It'll give it an odd feeling as your total roll moment shoots way up as the car rolls(and makes it want to roll more etc.).

A larger static roll couple gives you less percentage increase as the roll center migrates. But you don't want to get a huge roll couple all the time. As with most things with suspension, there's a compromise on setting the car up.

So the larger your initial roll couple, the less (percentage wise) it will change in cornering?! Crazy... I never knew there was even a slight advantage to a larger roll couple!

meh i weight lift, i dont have hand strength problems. Most people who drive my car with a 330mm thought it was 'heavy' but I find it too light still ha ha ha ha... Driving 'regular' cars on the other hand feels like paper that I can rip into pieces lmao

Sounds like a personal problem to me.

I just got back from the gym hahahahahaha feels good doing it >:D

I wouldn't call it an advantage so much as a side effect of a larger(to an extent) roll couple. Believe me, there really isn't anything good about a roll couple a few feet below the ground like most cars on Zilvia.

Plus when arm angles start getting really severe the roll couple starts moving a TON under cornering(mostly laterally). So there's definitely a sweet spot where the percentage increase is small enough to make the car consistent, but the overall roll couple is still fairly small. It never involves the roll center a huge amount away from the CG.

Got half of my front suspension put back together. I still need to deal with the driver's side and the brakes.

The new spindles are cut better then the first ones were, and I was able to get all of the holes done at my friend's Dad's machine shop, who told me I could get stuff made for super cheap if someone designs something worthwhile enough to be actually produced.

http://i52.tinypic.com/2a7v4ee.jpg

No over-centering if I recall the information right. I was also able to clearance the LCA so the rotor no longer hits it, I think I may have taken enough off to put the 10mm spacer I had made in it, so I am going to try that out.
http://i55.tinypic.com/b86xrb.jpg

Yeah, I didn't clearance my FLCAs enough, apparently, as I kept hearing rubbing noises when I would turn the steering wheel.

This is what I saw last night.

http://sosideways.files.wordpress.co...5831.jpg?w=800

Oh well.

At least the rotors (this happened on both sides) rubbed the arms and gave me a clear idea of where they were rubbing, so I was able to take off more material in the places where they rubbed.

Hopefully this time I took off enough material to not rub anymore... but if not, I'll have just to wait and see where I'm rubbing still.

Hahahahahha, it's like wheel fitment.

"Yo bro, so I was trying to get my FLCA's real flush the other day, but I kept having to grind them because they would rub at full lock."

95KA-turbo, that looks like a decent amount of overcentering to me. The side of the ruler pointing in towards your car should be on the other side of the tie rod.

Like this:
http://www.gtfactory.jp/cms/e107_fil...2_p1070360.jpg

they said to scribe where it hits, not machine ;) just teasin!

I didn't even get to full lock and it rubbed lol

I think actually, it didn't rub at full lock, but it did rub on the way to full lock hahaha

Yes. 95KA-Turbo, you have mad overcentering. You should notice it when you go to turn the wheel to full lock via the steering wheel, while the car is in the air, and when you try to turn it back towards the center, you'll feel like it's kinda stuck there, unless you give it a pretty good tug, then it kinda feels like it goes over a notch and you can turn it smoothly again.

I'm working on my new line of weight reduction Z32 rotors, seeing as they're heavy as hell ;)

lol if ONLY that would be the new standarrd of 'flush fitment' on zilvia...

[zilvia]hey, if the car can continue scraping around town with a groove machined through the rotor, then it didn't need to be there in the first place[/zilvia]

Ah shit...I didn't realize that picture was on the other side of the tie rod.

It felt pretty smooth turning it back and fourth. I only have one side together right now though, so I am going to get the other side together and make an assessment as to what is going on with it....I will probably have to make a bump stop or something.

Can you move the rack forward? Also you might find once you get it all done your tire may rub the frame and or the TC rod. If I remember correctly you have some pretty aggressive offsets so it may not be an issue.

How much lower/higher are we talking? One inch or like a few MM's?

That's probably because raising the front made the roll center come back to less than 5000ft below the earths surface, thus improving performance.

I am running a 25mm spacer on my 10+7 up front, so it is a 10 -18 effectively, so I have plenty of inner clearance.

The old knuckles bound a little lock to lock, but it was only the last little tiny bit of a turn that would do it. With the one side on it didn't feel like it was binding, so I will see how it feels when the other side is on. I still have 7mm spacers on the inner tie rods, so I will take those off first before I do anything else and see if that helps.

Iirc nakamura raised his front end 10-15mm. Although he didn't say how much rake he was running before.

95ka-turbo:

In the pic it looks like the rule is in line with the ends of the studs, not inline with the balljoint centreline. If the lines are projected through the balljoints properly, by my eye it looks like its just overcentring at that point. How much caster do you run?

From pics I've seen of Nakamura's S13, it appears that he runs a 17/18 stagger and is higher in the front by more than a few mm's. The stagger makes it hard to tell how much though. Could be an optical illusion. It looks like he has a good amount of reverse rake in drift as well.
http://public.bay.livefilestore.com/...nMebzxTA/6.jpg
http://public.bay.livefilestore.com/...ofNS0kjg/1.jpg
http://www.roadsterdrift.com/home/wp...d05_no009b.jpg

It's also funny because Nakamura could care less about suspension geometry.

Fix your front roll center, and you won't have to run ghey reverse stagger. Save that for the JDM fanbois.

LOLLLLLLLLLL

This is most certainly true. I'll never understand some's fascination with these japanese drift guys...they hold them to such a false podium it's almost sickening.

^ werd..........

I am not sure exactly how much caster I am running, but I have like 1/3 of an inch of thread showing on the heim joint side of my cusco tension rods. I might shorten up the arm a few more turns.

I drew a line through the center of the bearings rather then through the studs, and it is definitely a different angle.

http://i53.tinypic.com/148zs76.jpg


I will be messing with the other side tonight, so I will get it all even and see how the steering fees.

It really does not matter if its centered or over center, either way its not good.

Its pretty much in a straight line which is bad, wait till your car's weight is on it and you initiate at speed and you hit max angle - its gonna be hard as hell to turn that out of its steering lock, and its gonna completely screw you up.

Whats the story behind the green knuckle that angles the end joint into the LCA?

i'm pretty sure the key to backwards entries are pink crocs...haha so awesome

My friend made the knuckles. Are you saying I could get the same angle, but have proper alignment with the tie rod if I had a different angle on the tie rod pick up on the spindle?

[quote1288095519=Martin]
Drift Tengoku, May, 2009. Pg169~175

Tanaka Saimi from PARADE and Nakamura Naoki from BURST are two of the most looked drifters from Kansai(southern part of Japan)area right now. Not only they have been placing in bunch of local drifting contests but ranking high on Msc and D1stree legal. They are team mates when it comes to D1SL because of the same sponsor backing but for MSC and local contests, they are rivals....we decided to take a closer look at both of them and compare their drift cars and their life style.

BURST Nakamura Naoki
age: 27years old
Heights:170cm
weight:75kg
Occupation: landscaping, broker
hobby:just drifting
girlfriend? i'm married.two kids
First time? when I was 15
First drift? when I was 17, my older friend took me to the mountains in his kei truck. I thought it was "cool"
How many times do you drift in a month? 2~3tmes to the mountains in my silvia,2~3times to the track. I also drift kei truck on dirt for 5~6 times a month.
How much do you spent a month for drifting. $600~$700,thats for gas mostly.
What are you good at when you work on your car. changing Exhaust manifolds. I use to change the exhaust every month and use to take off manifold like at least once a month. I can change the stock exaust manifold on the SR in 40min!
First coverage on Drift heaven magazine? summer of 2005. when you guys did the "shakotan special with a~bo~moon"

What do you think of Tanaka's drifting?
Complete opposite of me, he uses his head. when he is on, he is scary good.

Machine check....
"I like s13, because to me s13 is gangster looking" This chassis is Naoki's third one and even the front end is actually been hit really hard and has another chassis's front end welded and strengthen. Naoki believes that s13's weak point is weakness of an old chassis. Adding roll cage, stitch welding the engine bay, and minor support bars around the fire wall keeps his S13 the way he wants. "One year ago I raised his front end about 1.5cm and found out that the car feels better for my driving style, so when people asks for advice I tell them to create a car that understeers. 10mm toe out in the front, 2º negative camber in the rear."

Front Federal RSR 235 40 17
Rear Federal ss595/kenda 265 35 18
D-max suspension
section arms
Risky knuckles
TD06SH-20G turbo


PARADE Tanaka seimi
age: 31
Heights: 163cm
weight: 55kg
occupation: gas station manager
hobby: karaoke,outdoor
girlfriend? haven't had one for 2~3 years
first time? summer of sophomore year
first drift?when I was 19, in ca18 NA silvia.
How many times do you drift a month? I go to the mountains once a month, 5~6 times a month to the track.
How much do you spend a month for drifting? $800~2000. mostly tires and gas. when I have extra, I save it for D1SL.
what are you good at when you work on your car? I can change the diff in 30 min. I've done it at the track way too many times.

What do you think of Nakamura's drift? I don't like it but he is extremely good! his style looks rough but actually a really define driver. He seem to have a really good reflex.

Machine check....

SMS body...(seimi mawaranai system=seimi never spin system) Seimi believes that his old twisted cracks every where body is good for holding extreme angle while drifting. He says that "since my chases is so old and crashed so many times that every time I jack up the car, the car feels little bit different. so when the car doesn't feel right, I loosen every suspension bolts and retightening them,,this helps a lot. I don't even have roll cage in my car." "I believe that when the chases is weak, it acts like big a rubber band,,, giving you more room for extreme angle etc.." He also says that raising the front of the car by 1cm gave him better feelings. "You basically setting more weight in the back for traction and slide the front end more."

Front federal RS-R 235 40 17 (some times ss595 235 40 17)
Rear federal ss595 255 35 18
Dmax suspention
Yanak arms (Toes at 0 Camber is at 1 and a half to 2 and a half depending on the track)
Ryo knouckles
Nismo 6 speed tranny (final gear of 4.1)
T300 turbo+Tomei 265º cams

[/quote1288095519]

Sorry if I come across as a fan boi, but that's just because iam :p haha

I find it hard to believe that he runs that much rake just too look cool, it must be for a reason cose it looks utter shite.by the look of those pics it would appear that he is running a good couple inches of rake, which as stated before probably helps with rc height more than anything else

My car needs 80mm of rc correction just too get the rc at ground level. 10mm correction to place it 70mm above ground. And that would still be 5.5 inches below CofG.

On my car and setup I found that i am further away from going over centre at 6* caster than when I was running 9* caster.

I can get you the length of a stock tension rod if you want an idea where you are right now!!

Not that I'm entirely on topic, at this point in the discussion, but I thought I would add some pictures of the bump stops I've added to my flexes. I'm running the higher rates (8kgf/mm front - 7kgf/mm rear) and am not quite as slammed as some of you. I'm still working on the setup but the car has a good alignment and is quite controllable at high speed cornering and braking

The Tein bump stops are under the dust boot. These extensions are 2.5" long and have an interference fit with the strut so that they stay at the top. I have ~2-2.5" of travel in the rear with a 245/40/18 on slightly pulled fenders. I'm running about -1* rear camber - 18x9.5 +20

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...-245_40001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...install009.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...install005.jpg

This is full compression, sitting on the stops with about 3/8" clearance with the inner fender
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...install002.jpg

All together
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...install011.jpg

Here you can see the rubbing I was talking about. It only happens when I three wheel to traverse an entrance or something.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...install013.jpg

So why did you do that? Just because the tires are rubbing?

And are those metal?

Metal bumpstops = really bad.

Not only can it do damage to the damper, when you hit it, your spring rate will suddenly go to infinity, possibly causing you to lose control.

Looks like the wheels will compress like an inch to inch and a half before hitting those bumpstops...

Argh...

Please tell me there are poly bushings between your shock body and those stops!

What you need to do is pull the springs, wrap a zip tie around your damper shaft and see what the highest point the shock body travels to on compression before it hits the wheel well. Then buy some micro-cellular polyurethane bump stops. and stack/trim them down to stop the shock body movement at the point that was located by the zip tie.

As was mentioned before the point is to have a controlled progression of spring rate as you bottom out. Not to go directly from 7k to Infinity. You will loose control.

These are cheap:

https://www.circletracksupply.com/pr...1&cat=0&page=4

Also, if you're 3 wheeling, you are running too much anti-roll bar on the end of the car that's lifting.

He still has the Tein bump stops underneath the dust boots.

What you should really do is get a big hammer and pound the wheel wells. No sense in reducing suspension travel just to solve a little rubbing.

In that case, clean solution.

Air-Hammer FTW!!!

really....? translucent metal?

some body was reading... still confused with your first comment though.

you obviously didn't read that I have the Tein poly stops under the dust boot.... they are actually softer than the poly we're used to in control arm bushings. Please don't suggest I randomly created the length of my stops... why do you think I put the assembly back on the car without the spring...?

I only three wheel when I traverse an uneven surface. My suspension has much more travel than most of you guys; at the ride height you're showing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZxkbEBwKQ0

Haha, nice vid.

But like I said. Just get a hammer back there and beat on the inner fenderwell a bit.

Rubbing solved. Still have full suspension travel.

if you consider the length of the exposed shock shaft and the height of the bump stop under the boot, you would almost have to be at stock height to get those to bottom out; that or run smaller wheels. Plus you would have to jump the car, to bottom them out.

I did that video to prove to a Jeep guy that a clutch type diff can provide a full 100% lock... He assured me it wasn't possible. I felt an example was in order.

I know it only rubs when you three wheel, but I'd rather have that travel and not use it then limit the travel and have something happen where I needed it.

Do you just not like the idea of the hammer?

Your suspension don't have THAT much travel, although compared to most guys on zilvia, yeah, sure.

Get some tender springs and and you'll get another two inches or more droop, and your wheel would be touching the ground there, on both sides.

they're not but like I said its not very often I would ever rub unless I was traversing uneven surfaces. Not to mention this is ONLY a problem with a 245/40 and not to mention, I'm only running ~-1* of camber in the rear. This is far safer than bottoming out the tire on the wheel well. You don't think a stiffer setup would hope too? I've chosen a more stable arrangment than those who become air born when cresting small bumps....

I know but its quite a feat to get into my garage. I think this is more than acceptable when faced against such a change in surfaces.

Then why slam your car? These are the sacrifices we make with a lowered car, I think you've actually said that before in here. I've limited travel, as compared to when I would rub, by only an additional 3/8" for tread clearance; this is not a huge sacrifice. Besides, that part of the fender will not stretch well and could cause the outer skin to buckle. The clear solution is over flares, and to just remove that area. We all know there isn't that much room back there. The problem is that I prefer sheet metal back there encase I blow a tire. I use this car for drifting btw...

most aggressive driveway angle entry i've ever seen

^ tell me about it... If it didn't involve me spending a few thousand to fix, I would have done something about it. At least I can get in and out without dragging. Just have to do it just like that.

Because a low center of gravity with a corrected roll center is awesome.

I would rather have my chassis scrape the ground then my suspension bottom out.

Heat it up. Hit it with a hammer. It'll stretch.

I should take a picture of me wheel wells...

shit is amazing. LOL

and doesnt that 3 wheel jazz also happen when you run a bunch of preload?

I remember when i first got my coils a few years ago and i had no idea how they worked i gave them a bunch of preload and i would 3 wheel going up the smallest thing lolol

now i have 0 preload and that shit stays on the ground like always. and its the car in my sig lolol

I can see that, but there is a limit and I would prefer to have better ground contact and more suspension travel than bounce all over the road. We'll agree to disagree on what should hit first. I'd rather not hit the chassis on the ground. More clearance isn't necessary, this is a compromise I've made. You have yours and your car will act uniquely different than mine. :kiss:

this is 3rd gear on a slanted bank, and I still wouldn't bottom out. Like I said, the car is quite predictable responsive.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...og/Lanier1.jpg

5mm... Just as Tein outlines.

as you can see our Super angle knuckle kit points the tie rod end in the opposite direction as yours, which lowers ackerman, lowers your chances of over centering and for sure we achieve alignment albeit with a longer than average tie rod.
http://www.gtfactory.jp/cms/e107_fil...4_p1030156.jpg

That's how mine is too.

After experimenting with the stock knuckles, I have come to the conclusion that to achieve more angle while reducing the chance of over centering, you need to move the tie rod end pickup points OUTWARD from the stock location, that way it will achieve more angle at the wheel, but at the same time increase the angle between the tie rod and the steering arm on the knuckle, thus reducing the change that they will line up enough to cause over centering.

*oh I see what you mean

The angle compared to the ball joint appears to be the same direction as mine - you just don't have the bend in the knuckle that I see in my picture...and yours looks to be angled more. Am I looking at the wrong thing?

http://i56.tinypic.com/huontl.jpg

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/m...1/IMG_2373.jpg
Just did a bit of modification this week, corrected it as much as I could by messing with the Godspeed hardware.
I replaced the inner rod end with some QA1 bearings, but the outer ones are the stock Godspeed ones.
The outer bearings are pretty stiff though, do you guys think they'll work themselves looser as I drive it?

Maybe I should just replace the outer bearing and use a bolt as well...

It might loosen itself, it's hard to tell.

What you can do, is press those bearings out, measure their O.D. (I have one sitting in front of me right now, but chances are, these things are so shitty that they're not the same O.D. batch to batch, so you're better off measuring your own, plus I don't have my caliper in front of me right now lol), then soak them sons of bitches in PB Blaster over night.

Then measure the I.D. of the bearing mounting cup. You should find that it's so shitty that it's out of round. Then from there, just try to open up the cup a bit, to within .0002" of the GS bearing's O.D., that way the bearing will pop right in with a very light press.

Once the bearing is back in, just take a breaker bar, or an extension for ratchet/sockets, and just work the bearing around.

Part of the issue with these bearings is that, they're in such an undersized bearing cup, that is out of round, that it's literally squeezing the bearing's race, thus preventing it from moving freely. That, and the bearing themselves are a little bit stiff to begin with as well.

Yep, my chinapseed arms were so much of a press fit the cheap steel of the bearing races actually "smeared" as they pressed it in with a 30T press or whatever. They only came out with lots of cursing and lots of heat. Snapped my bench vise in two as well on one of them... Grrrr...

Opening up the cups a bit definitely helps the bearings at least sorta rotate.

Hmm, that was my sneaking suspicion since the guy that made his own arms had problems like these when he pushed his bearings in.

I guess I'm gonna mess with this some more this weekend!

Using a harbor freight 1.5'' wire brush actually opens the chinaspeed arms really well since the metal is so soft. Try that.

oh snap really? i paid $30 for some metal shaving bits from sears.

I used the 60 grit replaceable sanding drums for a Dremel at 8000rpm.

Small enough to maneuver and small enough to really work on one spot to bring it back to round. You can also go all the way down to the bottom of the cup with it too.

the reason why i like the wire brush is because its easy to get a round hole, and it takes off metal slowly, took me about 3 tries to get to 1.498''. Worked good for me and coster like 2 dollars.

Meh... either way.

So are your's seriously in the dumpster but still sitting around? Or have they been picked up by the trash people already?

I'm asking because I want to see if those cups can be opened up for the bigger bearings that I wanted to run without any ill effects, or if it will make the cups too thin, and thus dangerous to do so.

If you still had those arms sitting around, I was gonna see about taking them off your hands for this purpose.

Yep, it's slow material removal with the wire brush, that's how I did it. Gives a nice circular hole.