I've gathered a lot of info, but then I've read from a different site that spherical rod ends on the lca's on a street car would wear out fast...do to bumps, etc...Is this true, or ?

I've decided to use Spherical ends on the lca's and panhard and torque arm. I'm also going w/ Polyurethane everywhere else. Del-A-Lums for the front A-Arms too. Would this combo be ideal for the street? I keep hearing good AND bad.

I think I'm going with Koni Yellow's and Eibach Pro Kit for the shocks/struts/springs. I found a combo deal for $699. At first I had Koni Red's picked out, but then heard the Yellow's were better.

Any insight?

 

Good rod ends will last anywhere from a year to two years usually depending on how often you drive and what conditions you drive in.

The Del-A-Lums are awesome but if you don't plan on competiting in AX or RR(where the mod is usually not even allowed or puts you in a very high class automatically) yer just throwing your money away. Poly bushings up front are fine.

The Koni Sports(yellows) are really no better than the specials(reds). The yellows are just adjustable for rebound and have alot more damping in them which is useful for competition. For street use only the reds would be best. There is also double adjustable(compression and rebound) Koni shocks but one front strut alone costs almost $300.

EDIT: Oh and the pro-kit is a great choice.

 

Yep, they'll wear out. How much wear till you have to replace them is up to you. The more wear, then noisier they are. I ran may panhard rod end for 4 years and it was pretty noisey at the end. I replaced it a year ago and its starting to make noise again. I got a QA1 end from Spohn I'm going to try next. They are supposed to last the longest. So if you get the poly/rod combos, you'll have 3 rod ends. At $25 each, thats $75 every few years or so. But their advantage over a poly/poly setup is worth it.

 

What's the major advantage they have over poly/poly besides binding? If they last the longest, why is there a need to change them every few years? Heck, the stock rubber ones like never die...lol

 

I ment to say the QA1 rod ends last the longest of the rod ends. Cheaper ones will wear faster. Both poly and rubber will outlast rod ends. Their main advantage is bindfree operation over poly.

 

Would I notice the binding affect on a street car? What would it do to the handling/feeling/performance?

 

Depends how hard you push it. Think of going around corner fast and having the rear end "skip" over the ruts in the road. Rod ends will follow the road better because when the polys start to bind, they will act like a spring, trying to keep the rear parallel to the vehicle, instead of the road, and by doing so, unload the inside tire and give unpredictable handling (i.e. squirrelly rear end)

 

Thanks for that explanation! QA1's it is!!!

 

One more thing...Rod Ends just for the LCA's, right? How about the Panhard? You can get basically anything w/ Rod Ends...

If anything, I'd do LCA's w/ Rod Ends...everything else Poly.

 

really, the panhard motion is not one where bind is a concern, of course the almost nill deflection of the spherical bearings will help, it is not going to be a big diffrnence. if you want to minimize the number of bearings, and maximize the performance, get poly/rod combo LCA's (2 bearings total) and a spherical mount on the TA, (1 bearing) that gives you a total of 3 bearings, and should eleminate the chance of the rear binding.

 

So, you really don't need double rod ends on the lca's? Which part goes where if it's poly/rod? Rod to the axle, poly to the frame? Advantage/Disadvantage? If it won't matter that much, then I'll just go that way...less parts to wear out I'm guessing.

 

Rod to the axle, poly to the car.

-Schultzy

 

So, there would be not that much of a "noticable" difference from going to poly/rod over rod/rod lca's? Right? It's a few bucks cheaper, and less bearings to go out!

 

there is a 'hair' more deflection, but for what you are doing, it would be fine, having the poly on the body side will help keep the noise down.

 

Sounds good, Sounds good...thanks for making up my mind