I installed a set of Global West LCA's on my RS last weekend and I've had a headache ever since...

Bang... Bang... Knock... Knock... Bang... Knock... Bang!!!

Good lord these things are NOISY! I expected them to make some noise but SHEEESH! It sounds like the rear is gonna fall out of the car, especially on the drivers side.

Is this normal???

 

yes for full bearing road noise is going to be very noticable.

hey but at least they are bind-free

 

NO...No bang noise on mine...But I used "GOOD" teflon rod ends...regular rod ends are Noisy... Only thing I noticed with mine are I can hear my Rear gearing where I could not before...But thats it....ID MAKE SURE that the HOLE in the rod end is CLOSE to the size of the bolts used....I had to machine Spacers for mine to take up the slop....MAybe that was the difference...

 

I had a set with the rod ends installed. Lasted four weeks before they came off. Car handled and rode great, just sounded like a 1 gallon paint can with a handful of head bolts in it being banged along the road under the car.

(Edit: The noise was from play in the rod ends, not transmitted road noise).

RBob.

 

Which is WHY teflon ones are QUIET... You can always unscrew the cheap rod ends and add QA1 teflon ones...that will keep things quiet..

 

I just may do that (please note that we posted at the same time). I did like the way the car rode and handled with the rod-ended trailing arms.

Can you suggest a place to get the QA1 teflon rod ends?

RBob.

 

i beleive summit and jegs both sell QA1

 

Correct...summit and jegs....I believe even speedway and others have them too...If I remember correctly speedway is a little cheaper...

 

Even with quality QA1 or similar teflon rod ends you will still get some clicking noise from the the shifting of the arms when going over uneven surfaces, I do with the double rod end LCA's and PHR in my '94.

 

My 97 SS used to have the Herb Adams/VSE (still sold through Moroso I think) LCAs with rod ends on both ends, and a panhard set up the same way. It was a little harsh, and definitely noisier than urethane, but it wasn't something I couldn't live with on a daily basis. The rod ends weren't teflon lined I don't believe; maybe they just fit tighter with the stock bolts than some others. As long as I kept them greased, it wasn't really a problem. The panhard is now on Redraif's car, with no issues...I've yet to hear it make any noise.

 

*** hope I dont say the wrong thing here...But

I dont have any clicking...BUT what I did was the hole in the rod ends were larger than the stock bolt...So I machined a spacer out of tool steel to Tightly Locate the Arms Almost an interference fit.. ....A lot of the noise is usually the slop thats in the joint and between the bolt and the rod***look into a stock setup and you see divets on the spacer that hold the bolt in tight...*** anyway mine have never made any noise****** BUT they are still harsh as already stated..

 

Mine were always noisey. The problem I had was that the LCA rotated so it was banging against the spacers.

 

So far***not to say in the future it wont hapen....MY rod ends are tight...If I set it straight it stays straight....The teflon seems to add enough friction to hold it in place I guess???

 

Can use short sections of heater hose over the spacers. This keeps the rod end from rotating too far. Just need to do one end of each trailing arm.

RBob.

 

I'm using rod ended LCAs and a PHR from these guys:

http://www.unbalancedengineering.com/Camaro/

They are high quality units and use high quality teflon lined rod ends. I've had them on for over almost a year on my daily driven car. No problems/sqeaks/rattles. Those along with GW del-alum bushings on my front control arms give me a surprisingly smooth ride, even with 800 lbs/in springs up front. The guys at Unbalanced are active racers in NASA and supply a lot of the locals with their quality parts.

 

OK, it's never easy is it?

I found Jegs carries two different types of QA1 rod ends with a teflon race. One is just teflon while the other is teflon/kevlar. Are the ones with the teflon race what folks are using? Or it is worth the extra cost, or required to use, the teflon/kevlar race'd rod ends?

$18 vs $29 each.


Heavy Duty Economy Plus, Self-Lubricating
Ball: 52100 Steel, Heat Treated, Hard Chrome Plated
Body: Alloy Steel, Heat Treated, Black Oxide Coated, Rolled Threads
Race: PTFE Self Lubricating Liner
Static Pull: 3/4'' Size - 21,400 Load Lbs.

Extra High Strength Chrome Moly, Teflon/Kevlar Race
Ball: 52100 Steel, Heat Treated, Hard Chrome Plated
Body: Alloy Steel, Heat Treated, Increased Cross Section, Rolled Threads
Race: Self Lubricating & Self Sealing Teflon and Kevlar Race
Static Pull: 3/4'' Size - 28,081 Load Lbs.

Thanks,

RBob.

 

I'm using Aurora PRM-12T's on the control arms & PNB-12T's on the strut mounts- They are rated at 34,000lb load capacities, the highest availible. However, the cost goes up substancially. You are looking at just shy of $300 for the five bearings in the picture.

Note; I run rear only heims on the LCA's- the 3rd end pictured I fabbed into the front TQarm mount. It replaced the smaller/weaker 5/8" end Tqarm mount.

 

The $29 ones are the "good" ones (teflon/kevlar). We have them in stock.

Steve

 

you might find this useful

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...+your+own+lcas

also, it is almost not worth making your own when you can get them off ebay w/o the trouble for a decent price

the seller is 1badz and just do a search for panhard bar, then when you find that you can click on his other auctions to find the lcas

 

I am gonna see little drag use but want something that handles well and is fairly quiet. I was looking at the spohn stuff to rebuild my whold suspension. If I go with the poly ends instead of the spherical bearings it will still be alot better than stock right? I just been hearin too many bad things about noise with the bearings.