BLACK ICE

They are tractor top links They appear to be extermly strong and stiff. The ends are forged. They are a perfect length and are even adjustable. I think that with a proper bushing setup they would work. What do you guys think?

Shagwell

as long as the length is right and they're heavy enough, they'll work fine. Several guys have used the 3/4 swedged tubes and regualr rod-ends(heim joints) available from many speed/chassis shops.
- out of experience, non-poly ended lca's don't hook as well for drag racing on street tires. They hit too hard. W/o a little cushion, it's hard to plant street tires.

BLACK ICE

I need to eliminate wheel hop as it is real bad on my car. As long as it does that it is all that matters as it is not a drag car and is used for a daily driver that I sometimes stoplight race

Shagwell

wheel hop? bushings/shocks are usually the problem with wheel hop. The LCA bushings could be the issue, but so could the tq arm mount, the trans mount, the shocks, the springs(old/soft).....

BLACK ICE

Hmmmm... I didnt know that. What purpose does the control arms serve then? I always thought it was to control up and down movement of the axle.

blyth18md

Shocks/Springs and bumpstumps primarily limit your travel vertically.

Torque arm and LCA's place your wheels centered in the wheel well.

Panhard bar keeps the rear end centered under the car side to side.

All have other characteristics but those are a few of there "locating" characteristics.

BLACK ICE

then how do aftermarket LCAs give you better traction? wouldnt poly bushings on stock arms be better do to their lighter weight if their main goal is only to keep the wheel centered in the wheel well?

waltersb

Do a search, this has been discussed to death, and there's many diagrams about the location of LCA's in relation to the car and the axel etc....

blyth18md

new lcas dont neccesarily give you better traction..old stock stamp U-channels with a ton of miles and abuse could be tweaked or have bushings that are shot...in which case you would see traction increase by replacing them....With enough power you could flex the U-channels to an extent even with them being good..but the are pretty strong in that direction.

LCA relocation brackets seem to be the rave with helping the car hook hard and increasing traction. they may or maynot be of help depending on your current LCA angle...search for "LCA angle" and im sure you'll get a ton of info.

Shagwell

LCA's transfer the forward momentum from the diff/tires to the car. The more traction you have and the more power you put to it, the more flimsy stuff starts flexing around.

BLACK ICE

ok thanx for the lesson on LCAs knowing what i know now i feel safe in using the top links as LCAs as soon as I find an appropriate poly busing setup for them. I will also search this matter more before i choose bushings to help me in my selection. Special thanx to shagwell for being patient and explaining this stuff to me! people like you make me proud to be a member of this site

tony1784

I saw those at Farm and Fleet the other day and was thinking the same thing. I'm going back this weekend to take some measurments and see if they would work.

BMmonteSS

I wouldn't mess with those, the heims that are in them are NOT of a quality that I would trust my life to. No you won't snap them the first time you get on it, but they will fatigue and wear out much quicker than race heims. You can get the swaged tube from coleman or speedway motors for less than 10$, and the heims are only 15-25$ a piece. You can build a set of control arms for less than 150$ and have the piece of mind knowing you have quality parts under you car.

BLACK ICE

yea thats where i saw them too on sale $14 a peice! so bmmonte you think they would be too weak? I kinda wondered the same myself but the forged thing made me feel a little better. btw since me and tony both saw them and thought the same thing has anyone acctually used them? they are perfect length if anyone was wondering.

BMmonteSS

I've seen the most beautiful pieces of scultped metal snap like twigs just because the heat treat wasn't right, or the base material they were made out of was junk. I know for a FACT that those heims are made of cheap material, I wouldn't trust my life to them. Yes they are probably strong enough, but they will fatigue and they will eventualy break. The trick is going to be replacing them before they kill you.

I think you guys are getting in over your heads with heim ended control arms. They will be noisy and expect to replace them very often. You may only get 5 to 10K miles out of them. With cheap heims they may loosen up in a few hundred miles. Unless your building a race car I would just get some cheap poly ended arms. I think it's lakewood that makes a set for 80$. If your into auto-x or road racing then maybe look into making a set of arms with some Johny joints to avoid bind.

BLACK ICE

yea this is a street car so I think I will take your advise and just save up money for real ones thanx for the concern monte