i've been having a problem with the bushings on my LCA's flexing too much and making my tire rub the fenderwells.. so i'm looking into a set of LCA's with rod ends..

my question is: expensive chrome-moly or cheap aluminum??

chrome-moly = $219
Aluminum = $159

car should be in the 10's by end of summer or ready to by next year..

 

anyone??

 

I don't know much about your setup but it sounds like you might be having another problem. Is your wheel clearance that close that bushing squish is affecting it?

Is your axle setup correctly to center the axle and provide the correct angle on the panhard? I see you have a 9" back there. How did you fab up a torque arm?

 

tires are perfectly square.. from the inner front of the tire, i have about 3/4" of clearance to the well.. after some strip runs last year, there was rubber on the well.. i checked the bushings and can see the grease pushed away from it flexing.. from what i can see, its giving off a little less than a 1/4" of flex on each side..

the 9" is from currie and has the bracket to hook up the torque arm.. panhard is level at ride height..

oh forgot to add that my exhaust which exits about 1.5" from the tire has gotten a scuff mark with rubber on it.. 1.5"!!!! and i know my tires dont grow from a size 28.5 to over a 31" at only 115mph..

i'm getting scared that i might pop the tire one day..

 

you can move the axle back a little if you have some adjustment. Just check your driveline on the output shaft before you do it. Your new axle may have the brackets not perfectly OE spec which could be causing your problem. 28.5 is larger than stock by almost 2" though. That could be another problem. Also, your slicks could be going egg shaped on you. This would cause the tire to build up extra rubber behind the contact patch as well as directly across from it at about 2-3 o'clock when looking at the passenger side tire face. Is this where its hitting? 3/4" isn't much and might be hitting do to all the factors involved.


I would get the chromoly LCA's. Just make sure they have length adjustments and are of decent quality. Then center your wheel in the well and see what happens.

 

i would say chrome-moly. the price difference also probably reflects a higher quality of rod end as well. where are you getting the aluminum ones? hotpart?

 

all the aluminum ones ive seen use "cheap" rod ends.
look for FK, or a brand that is teflon lined.

im going to say the problem isnt with your lca's at all. could be wrong. show me.

 

sounds like i'll get chrome-moly.. i just dont like the idea of the bushings flexing.. the 3/4" is infront of the tire, on the inner fender.. its where the tires would usually rub.. i would just feel better to get away from bushings..

i used to run 275/50-15 mt radials but those never did rub.. those never did hook either.. the problem only started with the new tires..


yes, the aluminums are from hotpart.. and chrome-moly from UMI..

 

UMI may be doing another GP soon, so maybe get in on that and save a few bux

 

We use only the 3 piece precision Teflon lined rod ends from FK. We stopped using the QA1 several years ago when production and quality went to China. We could save a lot of money switching back to QA1 but the quality just doesn't hold up to our standards.

 

i still dont see how your bushings are allowing that much movement. have you unbolted them and checked?
i can understand if they are all cracked and look like beaten boiled eggs, but i doubt they are in that bad of shape?

 

what exactly does beaten boiled eggs look like?

 

ok i think we are getting off topic a bit.. my post was about what material i should buy not a debate.. i can think of anything else thats giving my tire soo much travel.. so i'm just gonna get some LCA's with rodends and see what happens.. leaving it alone will solve nothing.. if the swap actually does nothing, then at least i'll have LCA's with solid mounts since i was gonna get some anyway.. at that point, i'll just cut out the fenderwell and do a minitub.. solving the rub on the exhaust is as simple as cutting the pipe..

 

The guy I spoke with at hotpart STRONGLY recommend AGAINST aluminum in a non-level drag race application. He said he does not feel confident the aluminum can hold up to the compression load that will be placed on them. As far as rod ends they use the same ends on both materials.
JUST FYI.

 

I think we all agree that you should get the chromoly lca's. However, since you posted this in a camaro forum with lots of camaro people, we have all noticed that you may have another problem. Could you supply a picture from the side of the car with the larger slicks on? It sounds like your wheel is not centered in the wheel well. Also a picture of the axle and especially the axle bracket for the lca would be handy.

 

Truth be told the calculations show them good down to around a .6 to .7 60 foot time before yielding. That is without a safety margin so we tell everybody a 1.2 60 foot time.