I know this should probably be in the suspension, but I know this section gets more travel so I wanted to post it here too. My lakewood lifter bars just broke. I was just wondering if anyone knows if they warranty this item. They are closed I guess until after the holidays and I was just trying to find out. If they are not warrantied, would I be able to weld them back together, or would that not be safe. Could I beef it up and weld it back. And also, since it is just the bottom where the lifter bar is, is my car safe to drive like that for just a little while, since the upper bar is attached and in good shape??? Thanks in advance, Jason
PICS BELOW

 

 

 

Dont forget this side. This motherF*%#@% is starting to crack too. D@mmit!!!!!

 

Those lakewood lift bars are JUNK. Take them off and throw them away. I have no idea if they have a warranty or not, but even if they do, the next set WILL break too. They are famous for cracking exacty as yours are.

 

Do those things serve any purpose that better LCAs and LCA relocation brackets can't fix? Judging by the pictures, it seems like those are nothing more than an aid for the stock LCAs, and at a lower angle to reduce wheel hop. Better LCAs and relocation brackets should accomplish that without breaking.

 

SO, is my car safe to drive if I just take the lifter bars off, since there is support there?? Or, is that enough support???

 

take that crap off and slap the stockers on for now. it's better not to take a chance and ruin your nice looking Z. atleast till you can get some good Quality LCA's.

 

whoa sweet where can i pick up a set?!?!?

 

Get some Spohn LCA's, and i've heard the hotchkis one's are good as well.

http://www.spohn.net

 

I would just take off that funky "lift" bar or whatever it is if you can. the rest is just a standard Lakewood LCA which is a good piece, and yes it will be fine to drive if you can get that hanging piece off.

 

Fat chance, these are considered a "track or race" yea I know No warrenty on items like these. I would still call and complain though they might do something you never know.

 

Wow..thats really crappy. At one point I might've considered those for my car...thats before I decided that with its current motor there's no way it'll hold its own on a dragstrip, no matter what's done to it..so it's gonna autocross or something...but...I remembered this part and did a little scanning.. Makes you mad doesnt it??

 

As taken from:

 

I thought about those too but, decided that they would offer little gain. I got nittos instead and all I can say is they must be the perfect match for 200,000+ mile suspention I come off the line like you would not belive.

 

So, if I cut the lifter bar off. (circled) The rest of the bar (arrow) will be plenty sturdy enough to hold it. If I just take the other side off too, would my car be fine as long as I dont do hard launches and stuff. WOuld it be just like having the stock bars back on it???

 

I wouldent drive it like that.

 

I don't see why it would be a problem. the physical LCA is just a plain Lakewood boxed steel LCA with the added mount in the front for the "lift" bar to bolt to. Does the lift bar bolt on to the LCA? how is it secured on there, its hard to see in the pics. If it is just bolted on, simply unbolt it.
As long as you don't cut into the LCA you won't make it any weaker than a regular Lakewood LCA (and that is ALOT better than a stock stamped LCA). So however you take it off, just leave the main arm (the black one) untouched. And then you have basically what I have, normal Lakewood LCAs.
I run them and launch plenty hard on them and have for some time now with no complaints or parts breakage what so ever.
I would take the other side lift bar off as well, especially since it looks like it may break sooner or later. Then you're good to go.

 

You do. Every day. Cutting off that lakewood POS just leaves you with the stock setup.

 

Well, I took the lifter bars off last night. The lca's hold fine. I really cant tell any difference. I even launched pretty hard, and It seems like it does just as well, maybe even a little less wheel hop. If I do replace them, it definately wont be with lakewood pieces of sh*t. I am going to call lakewood and see what they say.

 

I'm glad it worked. You shouldn't have to raplace them, and yes they will hold fine. Like I said you now have a normal set of Lakewood LCAs which many of us run. They will take alot of abuse and hard launches as good as most other aftermarket LCAs, it was only the funky add-on lift bar that was crap, not the LCA.
Still maybe Lakewood can restitute with you for the parts that broke.

 

I see now, I thought he took the stock setup off and just had the "lacking possibly made from wood" LCA's on.

 

Lakewoods products just aren't with it. I would recommend the SSM (South Side Machine) lift bars. I've seen these things do wonders for traction. The only thing is that you have to buy the subframes and driveshaft loop with em. But maybe you could call them up and order just the lift bars. Anyway, good luck and happy holidays.

 

Ya, I appreciate you guys easin my mind. When I was looking at it I thought it looked like it should be fine and that it looked like those add-on lift bars were worthless. When I took the other side off, I figured it would have a load on it, but it didn't. I loosened the passenger side, and it just fell right down, didn't have to tap the bolts out or anything, they just slid right out by me pushing them. The nuts were tight as a mother though!! I had to use the two wrenches together for leverage game. You know, it actually seems like I get less wheel hop without those bars when I spin.

 

Just for my piece of mind that I didn't get you to take out your lower control arms and you are driving like that, (not that I see how you could) but.....
You did only remove the lift bar and not the main LCA right? Those bolts you tapped out sound like the ones that bolt the LCA to the subframe and the rearend. Those and the actual LCA NEED to be in place to keep the rearend located.
Please say you just removed the lift bar and not the LCA

 

Here you go man. THanks

 

Make you feel better.

 

ok now you see those cylindrical shaped tin containers
that the nice men come by and empty once a week?

Lift the lid and place that junk in one of them. replace the lid.

Don't do that again.

 

You can say that again. I will never buy lakewood again. Well, actually they came with the car, I never bought them.

 

Hey everyone!! I have great news. I called lakewood today and told them about my broken brackets. They told me that they would send me a new pair. They said that they were using a kind of metal that was prone to breaking( of course they were unaware of this) and that they have now switched the kind of metal they are using. They "say" that these ones are better and I should have no problem out of them. They also said anyone whoever calls in with this problem that they will ship them out the new brackets for free. So, since they have switched the metal and these will be replaced for free, I think I might go ahead and give them a try. What do you guys think. I mean they are pretty much having a recall on them and replacing the brackets, so do you think they will be better now????

 

Yeah, have them send you a new pair, then sell them on EBay.

 

I say go ahead and try it out. You really have nothing to lose but time. It sounds like they admitted there was a problem with no excuses and are willing to resolve the issue. It could be worse, they could've just totally not admit to anything wrong on their product and tell you tuff ****. If anything happened like that to me, I like to give the other party a chance to resolve the problem before I tell everyone else how much they suck. I know if I were a vendor, I'd like the same chance. As we all know **** happens, it's how you handle it that makes a lasting impression.

I'd say Lakewood's customer service is doing the right thing (so far). Just gotta try em out and see how they hold up. Good luck with it!

 

is that a dollar on the ground in that picture?

 

lol.. breathment has his priorities straight.

 

You know man, I got money layin all around the house. Hard to keep track of it lol.

 

AHHHHH HA HA HAAAAAA!!!!!!!! Man...I needed that laugh.......