treeohfive

just a random thought....

what if you grabbed some 1 inch steel tube the length of the LCA and put it on the inside of the U ....drilled 4 holes in the stock lca through the tube....and bolted the tubes in there....

would that help strengthen them up or ...would the 4 holes in the lca cause it to weaked and eventually snap.....

MrDude_1

rather then drill, you could just weld it to the inside of the LCA

and that would strengthen it up.


if you dont have a welder, cut the tube, mock everything up, sand it all clean then have someone weld it for you...


really, thats not a bad idea either....

Sonar_un

<img src="http://elite-fraggers.org/sonarun/fbodtrek/undercarrige/02210023%20(Medium).JPG">

Box them like that. Made a HUGE difference in handling.

treeohfive

you know, i had my doubts about even asking that question....figured someone would laugh at me....or ridicuke for being so cheap as to fabricate such an inexpensive part.

but isnt that what most of us do anyways .....i mean....i can name more than a handfull of things ive done to the car that was ghetto fab ....but worked lol.

but yeah.....i could have it welded..... but eh....i was looking for a *free* way...i dont have a welder....and itll cost me 20 bucks to get it welded......20 total for all 3 pieces... i have the speel pipes just laying around....so thats not a problem there...

i se eyou used flat sheet steel.....how does that hold up in comparison to my idea of putting a tube inside the U ....or perhaps both ideas in conjunction...

what shocks & springs are those??

nolanr0413

my grandfather did that to a friends of mines car , i think he used some type of antenna mast though. And they go the whole length .

treeohfive

this is probably the wrong place to ask but...oh well.....i am thinkigng about buying a welder......now what type should i get for simple projects such as this...or exhaust work....maybe later down the road making some turbo manifolds......

REVLIMIT

in my 1984 Berlinetta it came from the factory with a LCA box kit bolted in. O_o ever wondered why we have those three holes in the LCA? Well on my car it had bolts in them with some metal bracket thing connected them and pretty much boxing it off. Wonder why they stopped doing that...

Tony89GTA

iTrader: (7)

Got any pic's?

laiky

mine and my brothers 84 Z28 both have the reinforcing bracket.

slowTA

iTrader: (1)

I'm pretty sure our rear control arms are the same parts used on the G-bodies. On those cars the sway bar is bolted through the control arms, so the braces are needed to keep the arms from deforming under the bolts. I even think the Hotchkis parts are the same part number for both cars.

caribbean 85

ditto for my 85 Berlinetta - it had bolts through the LCA's and through sections of boxed steel inside the curve of the LCA

I still boxed it on the outside like the photos in this thread

cam-

not that I think it made a big difference but I too had an 84 Z that had that little stampped metal piece bolted in there. No pics. Car is long gone

Jester

Boxing it will make it stronger than just tacking somthing down in the channel. Lot easier too.

pecha

Boxing them sounds like my next mod
Just yesterday I was looking for aftermarket LCA's and I found them for around $80 to more than $200. And this got me thinking about some fabrication
You guys really feel the difference so much?

cam-

I welded the ones on my current ride and added urethane bushings and it made a very noticable improvement. I did the panhard rod at the same time. Much more planted and better stability when cornering. Bang for buck factor is high here IMO. I welded the whole thing into a box though... I see in those red ones there that only the bottom middle section was welded but I did mine right up the front and rear open parts surounding the bushing. I used 1/8" or so sheet metal. Want to prove this works? Try and twist your control arms by hand after you remove them but before you weld them and then try again after they have been welded... you will see clearly then. Good luck!

Blown87

iTrader: (1)

I boxed the factory comtrol arms just for fun after I installed Lakewood traction/lift bars. Here is how they came out:

Blown87

iTrader: (1)

Another look:

SATURN5

Yup... Both F and G's share lower arms. Also, the front sway bar fits, springs, and steering box. You can also use the 5 speed pedals to swap from a auto. BW

pecha

WOW Blown87 that looks like it came stock like that, nice piece of work!

crnsuperduty

You boxed the entire panhard?

cam-

I boxed the entire LCA right around the bushing and all. The panhard rod I used a different idea. I noticed on mini vans and many front wheel drive cars that have a full rear axle use a stamped u channel ( like the panhard rod ) with a solid round rod welded on the ends that runs through the center of the channel. I hope that makes sense. Anyway I used a piece of rebar and welded it at the ends and in the very middle. It sounds strange I know but it works fantastic. Any doubters out there try the before and after twist test and you will see the dramatic difference. Rebar is very tough and hard so it resists compression/expansion extremely well which is the panhard rods only job. I do not have any pics right now but I can get some and post them soon if you wish.

crnsuperduty

I would love to see some pics. I have all of those parts off of my car right now. I need to mod them in the next week if I'm going to at all. I should be putting it together soon.

cam-

I just pulled my car into the shop for the C5 brake swap so I will try and get some pics for you today or tomorrow

TexasLT1

I did too until I made a new one. The factory one I welded a 1" diameter bar into the center of it. Added about 10 lbs to the rear, but you can't get any stronger than that. Over spring break I made an adjustable one. What I did was cut up the factory panhard bar, cut the stock bushing mount off one end and pulled the bushing out. welded that to the end of a 1" pipe I believe 40" long. welded a 3/4" coarse thread nut to the other end. Using the other bushing mount I cut it off the other end of the stock bar, welded a piece of 3/4" all thread about 6" long to it, put a jam nut on the all thread, then screwed that into the nut welded to the pipe. Painted it, put the bushings back in, and screwed the one end in till it was about 1/4" shorter than the stock bar. Works like a charm, no more tire scrape after lowering the car. I'll have some photos next week hopefully.

cam-

Sorry no pics yet. Keep forgetting to take the camera to the shop.

spartyon

i might try to box my panhard like my lcas. but first i have to get some more rebar stock.

NEEDforSPEED

how so, whats drifften about it? i was thinking of useing steel tube, or just boxing mine... whats the pros and cons of both?
i would tend to think the stock box ones wuold have a tendice to twised ?

cam-

If you weld them up like those red ones they dont twist at all but I would also swap to urethane bushings or at least the "high durometer" GM ones.

laiky

The problem with torsionally stiff lca's is that they cause binding when the rear end shifts, that is ecacerbated by stiff urethane bushings. The flimsy stock ones twist easily reducing that bind. I know that the only ideal solution is heim joints although they tend to loosen over time and cause noise. For strait line though boxed/poly combo should be good.

cam-

I swapped all the bushings in the car to urethane at the same time so i did not experience this problem. I have since upgraded to an adjustable panhard rod with heims and I did notice more stability and predictability when honking the turns. Yeah they wear out in time but if you want to go faster its never cheap or comforterable

bnoon

Here's where I got all of my parts to make adjustable LCA's and panhard rod...

http://www.colemanracing.com

I got mine in aluminum tapped tubes with wrench flats already cut into the ends. All you have to do is measure then order what length you want...

Aluminum stock for spacers I ordered from here http://www.aircraft-spruce.com/ and cut to the length you need.

Rogue86

I welded a 3/4" piece of square tubing down the center of my stock ones and used them with the stock rubber bushings last year. This year I added a set of the solid aluminum bushings. Should be about as stiff as it will ever get.

Maximus

I have a question, I had my LCA's installed and didn't have them coated. They now have rust on them. If i don't coat them, is that dangerous? Would the metal get weak and snap? I plan to coat them, but I"m in no rush!

Why is my pic not posting? Is there something wrong? I've always posted w/ no problem?

cam-

Rust is the evil enemy that is seldom conquered. Once its there its very hard to remove all of it. That being said its not like they will rust away in a year or two. It takes time for new steel to completely rust away to dangerously thin in most cases that is. There are always exceptions though.

For now I would recomend you just spray paint them with some Tremclad or equivalent until you are ready to have them coated. If there is rust already starting they will need to be sand/bead blasted prior to coating or the coating can in fact be detreimental by holding the moisture to the rust speeeding up the rot process. To tell you the truth I am not a big fan of powder/plastic coating for that very reason. I feel good quality urethane ( single stage or base clear ) is better protection from corosion and its plenty durable too.

kickass92z

SAW WHERE YOU GUYS WERE BOXING IN YOUR CONTROL ARMS. FOR THE SAME TIMA AND PROBABLY MONEY YOU CAN BUILD A SET. I BUILT MINE AND A PAN HARD BAR IN A LITTLE OVER AN HOUR WITH SOME 1" O.D. PIPE....

groundrat

iTrader: (3)

Kickass92z, what did you use for rod ends?

USMC3782

bump, interested still....

PhLaXuS

When I rebuilt my suspension, I went to Home Depot and got some Schedule 40 1/2" and 1" pipe. I took the panhard bar and one of the LCAs in and the Home Depot guy cut the pieces to length for me for free. Then I had the pipe welded in and it works GREAT! Considerably more tight feeling over stock. I also went with a polygraphite bushing set front & rear, so that helped, too.

laiky

Black Iron or Galvanized??

Oh yeah, are you nuts??

PhLaXuS

Galvanized. I ground a healthy bit into the pipe and into the LCA where the welds were going. I put three welds down each side (6 total) on the LCAs and 5 down each side (10 total) on the panhard. I think it was AC welded, if I remember correctly. Doesn't look too pretty, but it's strong.

laiky

Nevermind i miss read, i thought you MADE the phb and lca's from pipe.

KenV

...Am I the only one who did a triple-take on kickass92z's picture? Maybe it's my lack of sleep but to me that appears to be tubing welded directly to the bushing shells.

cam-

lol it kinda looks that way to me too... might wanna reinforce those units there...

TomP

Hey you guys that boxed your own LCA's and track bar (panhard rod), how'd you protect the inside from rust? Or, didn't ya?

All I can figure is I'll leave a gap in the bottom for water to drain...

That's all that's kept me from doing this, for, oh, 5 years?

PhLaXuS

I'm just running steel pipe -- I didn't fully enclose the LCA. Driving a bit dries them out; but then again I drive the car every day. I'd put a little more thought into it if it sat for days at a time.