Camaro_Guru16NY

I thought this was pretty interesting and if they are as good as they are said to be they would make a great alternative for a race type set up and be around 100 bucks less in the end. Does anybody a have any input on these?


http://www.crystalridge.net/cars/index.html

I think that I might give this a try over the winter and see how it turns out.


later,-john

Severous01

yeah, there's a guy on ebay that sells them for about 15 bucks more than it costs to make them yourself if you dont find you have the time, they're on all the time. i have the phr from the guy, i polished it up and it looks really nice. the ends are nice and i've had it on for about a year now with no problems (like the phr really takes a lot of stress any ways).

97FormulaWS-6

I built them myself.. It costs more like $200 if you get a deal on the QA1's.

I used the Seals-it seals, QA1 3/4" x 3/4" rod ends (Off ebay for $160 shipped for 6), the Bars from Coleman Racing (I Think that's where I got them from). Machined the spacers and bushings, and they work great.

It seriously solidified the rear suspension, I will warn you, it is a Heim-jointed setup and my car no longer likes rough roads; there is the small clunking and banging from the solid-type setup. But on smooth pavement; I have UNBELIEVABLE traction and handling from the rear suspension (I also have the BMR TA).

I give it a 4 on the 1-10 difficulty scale mainly due to the sizing of the bushing thickness; it can be a royal pain in the ***. Basically something you can do in your driveway with hand tools, minus the bushing thickness which could be done with a hacksaw if necessary.

I will tell you to measure the spacing for the spacers though, my LCA ones were close to what he stated at 1/2" thick, but my PHR spacers were closer to 1/4" thick.

Camaro_Guru16NY

Severous01- i looked on ebay and couldnt find them anywhere, do you remeber the guys name so I can search it. I figure I will atleast make my LCAs but ill probably just buy the PHR because I want an adjustable unless they make the componets i would need to make my own adjustable PHR. And Ill make the Upper PHR bar as well just to make everything look good.



Do either of you guys have any pics of the Fab process or them fully installed???

thanks,
-john

johnny o

http://www.jonaadland.com/Z28/Mods/L...minumLCAs.html
http://www.jonaadland.com/Z28/Mods/PHB/AluminumPHB.html

Camaro_Guru16NY

Good Stuff, very good stuff.
-john


Thanks

Severous01

i dont remember his name for ebay, but the previous reply has all the same pictures the guy uses in ebay. the guy sells the LCA for i think 150, and the phr cost me 89 to the door. my roomie made his LCA for his 95 Z and they look amazing. he has chrome wheels and you can see the arms through the wheels...so he polishes them when he waxes the car. i think with the qa1 ends and all the aluminum he needed it was right at 140-145 including shipping and bay rental for installation and cutting all the AL to specs.

nape

I did it as well.

I followed Jon's tutorials and it wasn't that hard other then sourcing rod ends locally because I was told by one shop that they had them and they didn't have the LH thread versions.

Mine cost me about $240 to put together the LCAs and PHB with bushings and rod ends. They polished up very easy with some Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish.

One word of caution though. Don't order the bushings and think they'll fit right together like I did. Both the outside of the bushings and the inside of the rod ends were .500". You need to turn the bushings down a bit on a lathe or spend hours trying to make them fit using sandpaper and a file.

The ride is definately harsher, but the car feels so planted it's scary and I'm on a 186k mile 15 year old WS6 suspension.

97FormulaWS-6

No No No.... those bushing are supossed to be a press-fit into the Rod-end; I did mine with a flat plate in the vice. They are an oil-impregnated bronze and will press into the QA1 rod ends with zero issues.

nape

Oh, that makes sense.

Well, I didn't take much off to make them fit and I only did it to the bushings on my LCAs. I used the old bushings from my old PHB which were a different style.

Definately something to remember for the future though, thanks.

I didn't use QA1 rod ends, not like it would've made much of a difference. I used some 3-piece Aurora rod ends from a local circle track fab shop. I don't drive the car a ton so they ought to be fine. He said they were the best available except that they weren't teflon lined.

Severous01

hey, i've been looking for something similar to the rod end, but i want a bushing end instead so i can make the end that connects to the frame a bushing like spohn does. has anyone seen any bushing out there that will fit? i'd like to get a rubber bushing in there, but if i have to i'll get poly. i dont know where else to look, i've contacted several rod end manufacturers and sales reps to no avail... any help would be just that...help

97FormulaWS-6

That's something you have to fab. It's basically just a piece of threaded rod, welded to the proper size DOM/Chromoly tubing; then powdercoated/painted. Find the proper bushing (Contact ES or similar) buy the bushing, then find the proper tubing and threaded rod size.

bruecksteve

I would just use rod ends on both ends, it's a whole lot easier.

Once I changed my rod-ends out to QA's, it's been totally silent. A panhard rod shouldn't add any stiffness to the suspension so it shouldn't make it rough. It might be a little noisier if you have all rod ends but not very noticeable.

I think a guy named Kevin (trackbird) over on www.frrax.com might still make those. The guy that originally designed those is also over there.

Ryan94ZA4

I am pretty sure their user name is slotcarracing

Ryan