SomeGuy25thZ

I ran into a few problems installing my tubular K-member from Spohn.

First, my car was in a bad accident before I purcahsed it - hit in rear quarter and also front fender both on driver side. Anyways, the link below shows a few photos of the install along with other stuff and i'll get some more up later.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/ltx-...ged-build.html


All the bolt holes line up, and the two pins go into the pin holes. I did need to use some encouragement on the frame on the passenger side with a hammer to make it fit perfect.

Every bolt went in just fine except the very front driver side bolt. I am not sure if the threads of whatever is inside the frame that you bolt into got stripped when i pulled the old bolt out but now I cannot get the new bolt it. It goes in just a couple threads then locks up. Its not the bolt caused I tried it in another spot and it went in fine. How do I address this? This thing is in the frame itself and is very loose and as far as I can tell you bolt the k-member through the frame into this tapped piece of metal (probably a square block) which sandwiches the bottom of the frame rail. Does this sound familiar to anyone? What can I do here to get this bolt in? I was almost thinking of leaving it out and just putting a few tack welds at this connection and forget about it... bad idea?

Also where the two middle supports are where you bolt to the frame there is a very slight gap on both sides between the bottom of the frame rail and the top surface of the k-member. Technically everything should site right up to the bottom of the frame but nothing aftermarket is ever perfect. This middle portion does not touch because where you bolt in the third bolt towards the rear of the engine bay that support sits all the way flush up against the frame rail so there is no more room to move up any more to get the middle support to sit flush up to the underside of the frame rail. This happens on both sides and the gap is probably 2 mm or so. Is this going to be a problem?

Pew

As for the bolt i would just run a tap or a thread chasing tool up through and it should clean it out probally just some dirt/rust or possibly just a bur on the threads. The cross member i'm not sure i dont run spohn stuff in my cars i run pro fab. So with out seeing it not sure what to tell you on that one.

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iTrader: (14)

if the little gap doesnt go away when you tighten the bolt, i would pick up some thin washers or shims and shim it. Dont leave a gap, it will flex nuder load

as for the bolt. I will second the tap idea, there is probably a piece of crap or something in the threads. Another idea, is the bolt contacting the side of the mounting hole in the k-member? Maybe loosen the rest of the bolts and see if things will wiggle around a bit a let the bolt go in.

SomeGuy25thZ

Im gonna try to see if I can find a thread chaser to deal with the bolt. The k-member did move up some when torquing things down so I should be alright there.

I am also running into a few other problems now installing the a-arms and coil overs.

I torqued the A-arms to factory specs but now the a-arms are sooo tight that it is very hard to move them up and down. Is this ok or should I back off on the bolt/nut a couple turns? I know with the weight of the car it probably wont be noticed but right now the bushings move with the a-arm as it rotates because it is so tight.

Then when mocking up the coil overs first the Racecraft spindles are A LOT thinner at the strut mount and require quite a bit of washers or some spaces which are not provided. Kind of disappointing to know they dont provide this stuff... whatever, bought a tone of washers so should be good to mount.

After that, I raised the coil over to test mount through the strut tower and the coil spring hits the frame where it bumps out for the old spring pocket. Has anyone every experienced this? What do I do here? Will I have to cut off that hump and if I do will if have strength problems?

I did not mark where the existing upper strut mount was and now have no way to really position the new spohn mount. I sort of just placed it be centering it over the holes to try and avoid the coil from hitting any of the sides. Any suggestions?

Pics attached

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iTrader: (14)

do you still have the stock a-arms? put on in and see if the spring still hits the chassis. IF it does, there is an issue with the k-member or the spindles. If it doesnt, there is an issue with the a-arm. Tha arms you have have rod ends, so you can adjust them out more if you need room.

With the rod ends, you shouldnt have any bind issues with the arm movement. But in the same breath, you dont have to go crazy with the bolts torque. Torque them to stock torque and leave it, chiltons has them at 61 ft/lbs. However, the ball should move without moving the spacers, something seems wrong with the rod ends.

what strut mounts are you using and where are they set? I used to have the coil-overs and never had an issue with the spring hitting the bump out, but i had a factory k-member, spindles, and factory and UMI a-arms at different times

******
i read it again, place the strut mounts centered like you have it so the spring doesnt hit the sheet metal, you will have to get the car aligned later.

I would call racecraft, they should have provided spacers, washers are not the ideal solution.

SomeGuy25thZ

Ok, so I couldnt put in the old a-arms because the spacers were seized to the bolts and would not come out. I got one out with a 12 lb sledge hammer but these things are sooo bad rusted it wasnt even worth it.

I tried it again and with more patience I got it to fit. The bigger problem is that the Racecraft spindle has a MUCH thinner upper mount for the strut. So there are massive gaps and they dont come with spacers so I packed it with washers for now. To get extra clearance I needed to offset the mount to one side (see pic - 5 washers on one side and 1 on the other).

I also had to move the strut mount out further so I can get better clearance. I am not sure how much turning radius I will have yet but if I turn the spindle the springs hits the frame bump out at some point which I think is very close to full lock turn.

The spring also hits the side of the upper strut mount at full lock when the spring is hitting the frame bump out. I may try to adjust the a-arm length but they are the exact same length from the mounting bolts to the ball joint as the factory a-arms so i didnt adjust them yet.
The struts are Koni Yellows. I will try to speak to Racecraft on Monday.

Any ideas/suggestions from here?

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iTrader: (14)

its hard to tell by the pics what exactly is happening. the spring looks kinda funky where it goes into the strut mount.

Only thing i came up with, i see you dont have the steering linkage attached. I would put the linkage on and see what happens. You may just simply be turning the spindle further than it ever would be turned with the steering installed, and hitting the frame because of it.

I would definitely talk to racecraft, there should be provided shims, for that matter im pretty sure i have seen the shims before. 572rat, or something similar to that, is using there spijndle too, maybe PM him and ask if he recieved spacers

SomeGuy25thZ

Ok, i'll look into it, Worst comes to worst I can just get some aluminum spaces made when I get the roll cage installed.

I am going now to adjust the a-arms a little so they come out some more - maybe a couple threads on the tie-rods. How much would you think is the MAX you can have the tie-rods out of the a-arms. I would think no more than half-way out.

I will call racecraft this week as well.

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iTrader: (14)

you mean the rod ends? i wouldnt mess with them until you attach the steering linkage and see if there even is a problem.

572_Rat

The racecraft spindles are supposed to come with 2 aluminum spacers per spindle, one for each side of the strut

SomeGuy25thZ

Yes I mean the rod ends. Thanks


I called Racecraft today and they said Mark would call me back but never did. I will call back again tomorrow.

MonkeyWrench

once you get it at ride height (weight on the tires) i would think the strut would move away form where it is hitting.

SomeGuy25thZ

Ok, so mark sent me the proper spaces for the struts. The car is on its wheels now but it sits very low. I probably just need to adjust the ride height. I was expecting it to be like the factory that when you remove the engine/tranny the whole front end sits up a few inches higher. Right now it sits lowwww like the k-member is only 3 inches or so from the ground. I bounced on the k-member as well (only weigh 155) and it didnt move much at all. so I imagine this will be a nice and stiff front end.

572_Rat

I found it to low as well, in fact I could not get a jack under the k-member, I had to drive the car onto 2 x 4 scrap wood, so I went to a taller tire 27.5 and now it sits perfect

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iTrader: (14)

a set of ground control weight jacks and custom springs would be a nice addition to the drop spindles, would allow you raise the car a little if you need to as well

SomeGuy25thZ

I have spohns front coil over kit so I will adjust the ride height a bit with that. I think that will get me the extra clearance i need.

I H8 WWD

iTrader: (5)

How did everything work out? I'd like to see the finished setup and stance.

SomeGuy25thZ

in the end i would say everything worked out great. I have a lot of pics posted on my 383 lt1 supercharger build thread under the LTX forums. check it out there.

You will see Spohn's manual rack installed as well. I did keep the k-member braces and just notched the driver side brace as instructed. I do not have a brace installed yet for the steering arm but that will come soon. right at the U-joint there is some play so that can simply be eliminated with a brace welded to the frame rail.

Let me know if you have any questions.

dust3r

iTrader: (1)

Are the Racecraft spindles bare steel, or are they coated with anything to keep them from rusting?

SomeGuy25thZ

They are powder coated.