OK, so I'm seriously considering going to this style LCA-

http://www.umiperformance.com/catalo...roducts_id=105

The car is a street car, but will see track-day and Time Trials duty.

Questions-

Will these be noisier than the double-poly LCAs that I currently have in there? If so, how much? Note that I do not notice much, if any. noise that I can attribute to the LCAs currently...

Will this style significantly "free up" the axle movement under roll? Will I need more rear bar to compensate? Currently I have 34H/21...

What kind of longevity should I expect from the rod ends? I'd prefer to use the rubber "rod end seals" (http://pitstopusa.com/c-131804-rod-e...end-seals.html), but I'd assume I can't since the spacers are built into the rod ends...

Any thoughts?

 

I would assume the noise would be the same as the poly bushing goes on the chassis side which is what you currently have. Your bar sizes should be fine. The rod end eliminates the binding in a poly bushing that has a tendancy to cause unpredictable handling when the bushing suddenly "unbinds". And as for the seals, I don't know personally if they fit but the spacers are two separate pieces that have a step machined into them that you install from either side. You might be able to get them to work. If you do let us know, as I have the same control arms and would like seals as well.

 

Just my .....

I have double rod end LCAs & a double rod end PHB, 17" wheels/35-series rear tires on my daily driver & no complaints about a stiffer ride from me or any passenger.

 

Thanks for considering UMI.

Anytime we remove rubber and go to poly or rod end, there's potential for increased noise. Street driving without an abundance of potholes seems to provide acceptable life but of course a pounding can make them noisy. It's hard to quantify though.

I don't anticipate the need for you to change roll resistance.

Seals-it are the industry standard and work well. You may have to mill the washer thickness off the aluminum spacers we include to provide the 2.400" bushing width.

ramey

 

Do a search on aluminum diy lcas using coleman parts and qa1 rod ends. Can't help you on tbe handling q. I made so many changes so quickly that Ididn'notice a change specifically due to the lacs. Technically, single rod end lcas will still cause bind if you want to split hairs. I would go double rod end myself.

 

I put single rod end from founders on my car recently and have been autocrossing with them. I did a lot of other changes at the same time so I can't contribute handling improvements to any one thing. However I can say that I do not hear these rod ends at all currently, and I have been driving them pretty hard at autocross with zero bind issues.

I always know exactly when the car is reaching it's limit and even the times that I've pushed it past it was really easy to recover.

 

For these requirements the delrin lined rod ends would be best. Free motion, quiet, last a long time. It really is the best of all worlds.

UMI calls them Roto Joints

 

I use the double rod end UMI offset LCAs. It was unbelieveable at first how they did not make any additional noise. After a year or so of daily driving now its horrible. On a race car, no big and UMI does say it will make noise from day one so I am not complaining. I am going to buy new rod ends and use SEALS-IT to see how it works out. Guess I just pack them in grease?

 

I forget what rod end size you use on that, I think they are 3/4" x 3/4"" bore with step down inserts to 1/2" if I am correct. please confirm and Ill show you which rodends to buy and why. You do not need the sealsit ends, the rod ends will go bad just the same as the other did on street driving in warm Texas roads with no road salt or snow conditions/ nor mud conditions

 

i researched it real quick ont he mount width. it is 2.4". A 2.425 will still work perfectly fine, those tabs are flimsy on the chassis and the axles, or you could simply jit them with a sander or flat file and easily take .0125" off both spacers (its very small amount, about as thick as a human hair) so no need to.

The best rod ends you can buy are QA1 part # HML12HT for left threads, and HMR-12HT for right threads. These are a massive 55,692 load rating as opposed to the crap 28,000 load rating ones you are using.

These are 3/4" shank, but also 3/4" bore. This is a far better choice for strength. TO use these, you will need two (2) step down spacers for each rod end you purchase. These step down washers insert half way on each side into the 3/4" bearing bore and step it down to a .500" or 1/2" bore as needed. combined with both step down washers, the overall width of the rod end and both spacers inserted is 2.425" thick. This is perfect and the absolute strongest money can buy for Rod end use on standard 3rd gen aftermarket LCA's.

I generally suggest to everyone to use a rotojoint on the chassis side, then use one of these rod ends and spacers ont he axle side to isoloate gear noise transfer of the axle housing into the chassis. You WANT the roto joint on the chasis side, NOT the axle side.

The QA1 spacers are part number : SG12-812

They sell for about $7.50 each

The Rode Ends I listed are jsut shy of $50 each, but will last you a lifetime.

 

Here is a pic of those same rod ends. I is for a different vehicle of mine, but I used the same HMR12HT/HML12HT's on my 3rd gen years ago. vehicle installation. The right side is an example of the insert step down spacers, but these are narrower then the ones I listed above for a 3rd gen application.

 

this is my favorite option. Roto joints!