View Full Version : Noise from powertrix/ebay/c-tune RUCA?
anthony240
10-17-2004, 11:58 AM
anybody who has these rear uper camber arms (s13/s14 don't matter), notice a lot of noise from the rear suspension? I've had these arms on my s14 for about 2-3 months now, and it just started creaking about a month ago. it would go away, but not for long. this happens also on my buddy's s14. if you bounce the rear it squeaks and creaks like hell. we think it's the RUCA's, my buddy sprayed lube where it connects to the subframe and it went away, for a while. I think it's at that point because it's metal to metal contact and the RUCA pivots at that point, probably a design flaw? how about RUCA's from other companies like JIC/Tanabe/Cusco/Kazama? Is this noise a result of the pillowballs, or just poor design?
Dousan_PG
10-17-2004, 12:12 PM
my spl ones never made noise
my kazama ones never made noise either
shouldnt make noise.
proj240sx
10-17-2004, 12:25 PM
i believe its you pay for what you get, i havent heard anything good about the power or c-tune, lots of complaints of cheap manufacturing.
anthony240
10-17-2004, 12:27 PM
SPL (cusco)
http://www.splparts.com/Parts/S14/Suspension/Multilink/CuscoRearUpperArms.jpg
Powertrix
http://www.powertrix.com/S14RUCA.JPG
I'm not saying all RUCA's make noise, i'm saying my powertrix (as well as my friend's) is making noise, concluded because our cars never made this kind of noise before the install of these arms.
looking at the pics, the SPL's pillowball has a bigger "housing" (hell it's a bigger everything!) I guess this is a case of you get what you pay for. I'm waiting for someone to chime in who actually has these arms to confirm.
S14DB
10-17-2004, 12:42 PM
The SPL arms have a dust boot to keep them lubed and clean. A good White Lithium Grease or Redline CV-2 should keep them fresh. You did lube them with grease when you installed them? They prolly have worn by now and you're screwed unless you get new endlinks.
420sx
10-17-2004, 12:46 PM
the ruca is not making that noise.
its ur worn out bushings in the rear joints. replace them and noise will go away. ball bearings if lubed, have nothin to do with noise.
dvdevo
02-02-2005, 03:34 PM
yeah i have some ctune ones and they make loud ass creeking noise too. Just grease up the part where it can pivot.
red240
02-02-2005, 06:12 PM
I have the powertrix RUCA's, been on for a year no noise?
J
thx247
02-02-2005, 09:52 PM
You do not lube hemi joints, it will just collect dirt and wear them out faster.
phanzy108
02-02-2005, 10:29 PM
DUDE IT JUST STARTED ON MY CAR AND ITS DRIVING ME NUTS!!!
I'm getting Kazama or Cusco ones soon....
North240
02-02-2005, 10:56 PM
DUDE IT JUST STARTED ON MY CAR AND ITS DRIVING ME NUTS!!!
I'm getting Kazama or Cusco ones soon....
Heim joints with Zerk fittings that you have to re-oil shouldnt be on cars
kazuo
02-02-2005, 11:34 PM
Those ebay-ish arms are garbage.
You get what you pay for...
the grease fittings means that the rod end is hollow.
been looking into making these and the race shops that i went to said that is not a great idea and that i should go with a solid heim w/o grease fitting.
i have noticed that my TC rods make some noise.
also, if those power trix ones are the ebayish ones that are made in china it is crazy hard to get new heims for them
the ones i have uninstalled have a course thread metric thread pitch
not easy to find in the US.
if you can change them over with SAE pieces it would be cheap as hell to simply replace the Heim every year.
you could do that twice a year for 10 years and still be cheaper than the cusco's.
i dont understand the "you get what you pay for" on this one... that is just a cop out.
it is literally a couple pieces of metal welded together with a different rod-end / heim on it.
the material of the arm wont really make a difference, battle version is aluminum which is likely weaker than the mild steel ebay ones. they also use average Heim's (battle version does) and by that i mean they arent anything nuts like the cusco ones which look rubber almost..
aluminum might be lighter and resist corroding better than the mild steel though.
i guess what i mean to say is that these pieces are not rocket science, if it fits then use it...
frig you can add more material to the ebay ones to make them stronger if you are afraid.
but again, the ebay ones (not sure about powertrix) use wack-ass heim joints that you cant get in the US, and that middle piece is a complete whore to find.
i have the powertrix complete set. it is the same as the ebay ones. mine started to make some noice about 1.5 months after instal. i took them out cleaned them and greased the up. not alot. just a bit. the noice is gone and it is working great.
i'm with Bing;
i don't mind buying these china parts for the suspension or exhaust. but turbo manifolds,turbo,piston etc i will have to get brand name.
KOUKI KA-T
02-03-2005, 08:29 AM
I bought the powertrix RUCAS, TC rods and Toe arms last summer. I installed the TC rods only and 2 weeks later they were creaking and popping like mad. If I grease them it goes away for a day then right back. They have crappy heim joints and for some reason mine bind under hard braking.
I ended up selling the RUCAS before I even installed them to go for the Cusco ones. I still have the TC rods on my car but they will come off as soon as I get the SPL ones, I don't know what I'm going to do with the toe rods yet, they are still in the box sitting on my floor....
projectRDM
02-03-2005, 10:21 AM
I have the full rear set on my car, all three arms, and zero noise in nearly six months. Proper install and lubrication make the difference I believe.
I had Cusco RUCA on my s14 and they made noise about after 2 months of driving. Although I could never be 100% sure it was from the RUCA. So far I havent heard anything on my C-Tune RUCA, although I havent driven it with my SPL coilovers. In my experiance, its been the Coilover + RUCA combo that end up making the clunking noise.
CoasTek240
02-03-2005, 11:38 AM
I had Cusco RUCA on my s14 and they made noise about after 2 months of driving. Although I could never be 100% sure it was from the RUCA. So far I havent heard anything on my C-Tune RUCA, although I havent driven it with my SPL coilovers. In my experiance, its been the Coilover + RUCA combo that end up making the clunking noise.
agreed, ...
cusco comp 0s and ebay RUCA's for me and a lil clunking on the side. I'm prolly gonna spring for a set of SPL or cusco RUCAs soon.
KOUKI KA-T
02-03-2005, 11:54 AM
I have the full rear set on my car, all three arms, and zero noise in nearly six months. Proper install and lubrication make the difference I believe.
If these things have to be lubed weekly to prevent noise than they are garbage...
projectRDM
02-03-2005, 11:56 AM
If these things have to be lubed weekly to prevent noise than they are garbage...
Lubed once, upon install. Never again since.
nightwalker
02-03-2005, 12:24 PM
so you guys use grease on the ends?
Or are you using the oil nipple (zerk fitting) I can't find something to attach to that stupid fitting. How are you guys doing it?
I'm getting creaking from my powertrix toe arm too.
Wei240
02-03-2005, 01:45 PM
haha,
i think i'm experiencing the same thing w/ my ctune ruca,
annoying creak sound, usually when i'm decelerating off gear at really low speeds, then again i haven't had time to check if it's the ruca,
it's cheap, but it works fine for me,
unless it starts cracking...
blu808
02-03-2005, 02:48 PM
the pt rucas and arms req frequent greasing every 7-10K miles. this will be the case with any control arm with greasable ball joints. Most people make the mistake of using the wrong grease, or they do not pack the grease well enough with a grease gun.
It is very important to use a grease gun and inject until grease comes out the sides, then rotate the ball 180 deg. then repeat the process.
Power trix arms are awsome when installed properly.
theronin
02-03-2005, 03:50 PM
i just greased mine to holy hell. noise is gone. thank you search function.
publicenemy137
02-03-2005, 06:13 PM
hmm what RUCAs should I get? I Have powertrix rucas and I had the defective noisy D2s, I definetly don't want anymore noisy squeaky problems.
publicenemy137
02-03-2005, 06:14 PM
the pt rucas and arms req frequent greasing every 7-10K miles. this will be the case with any control arm with greasable ball joints. Most people make the mistake of using the wrong grease, or they do not pack the grease well enough with a grease gun.
It is very important to use a grease gun and inject until grease comes out the sides, then rotate the ball 180 deg. then repeat the process.
Power trix arms are awsome when installed properly.
hmm, do you think it will need to be lubed again though to reduce the noise?
rainier
02-03-2005, 06:25 PM
yeah i was running some wheel adapters and i thought that they fucked my HUBS so i changed it out. then after i changed them out i drove aroudn and still heard that damn cracking from something. yeah it was the powertrix RUCA's but all i hadda do was grease em real well and they were fine.
DRFT180
02-03-2005, 08:16 PM
I have the Tanabe RUCAs and no noise from them
SilviaDriver
02-03-2005, 08:57 PM
i knew those PT arms were the same as ebay ones since day one, only difference is coating.
if you look now, ebay arms are now blue to try and be "different" i guess the people who bought PT arms could of saved about 30 bucks if they bought ebay arms
raceonusa now has ruca for s14 as well in chrome
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7951583850&category=33583&sspagename=WDVW
looks juss like PT chrome line
publicenemy137
02-03-2005, 11:25 PM
I have the Tanabe RUCAs and no noise from them
how long have u had em on for?
nightwalker
02-03-2005, 11:37 PM
other than the creaking, I don't have a problem with the arms. ...the coating does suck balls too though. But they do what they're intended for (haven't lost a rim yet) and cheap enough to replace.
...so the question is, HAS ANYONE FOUND A FITTING FOR THE STUPIDLY SMALL ZERK NIPPLE?
who cares about a bit of creaking... so long as they do the job...
i find that the problem is that you cant get replacement heims for them because of the coarse threading and metric pitch...the china rod ends are not good.
but the gear in general is not bad, metal is metal for the most part.
havent tried the SPL stuff but i love what they have.
theronin
02-04-2005, 04:27 PM
other than the creaking, I don't have a problem with the arms. ...the coating does suck balls too though. But they do what they're intended for (haven't lost a rim yet) and cheap enough to replace.
...so the question is, HAS ANYONE FOUND A FITTING FOR THE STUPIDLY SMALL ZERK NIPPLE?
a 8 dollar grease gun i bought from autozone had the fitting in the actual flex pipe it came with. i win.
nightwalker
02-04-2005, 11:50 PM
a 8 dollar grease gun i bought from autozone had the fitting in the actual flex pipe it came with. i win.
THANK YOU!
98sr20ve
02-06-2005, 07:39 AM
who cares about a bit of creaking... so long as they do the job...
i find that the problem is that you cant get replacement heims for them because of the coarse threading and metric pitch...the china rod ends are not good.
but the gear in general is not bad, metal is metal for the most part.
havent tried the SPL stuff but i love what they have.
What is the Pitch and Size you need. List both the thread and the hole, but they should be the same.
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