i just put the umi control arms only on my car today. it has the Poly/Roto Joint ends. I didnt notice any change in NVH, but my suspension seems to be a little stiffer. i didnt tighten the bolts until after i lowered the car onto jack stands onto the axle.

 

ok help me out here....how do you align a rod end properlly? i mean mine dont make too much noise over stock and it is definately livable but if i could have them with no noise wat so ever im in.

 

That's not too surprising. Small bumps try to move the axle rearward as well as upward. But the stiffer LCA bushing/joint won't let it move that way as easily or as far. What you're feeling probably falls under "vibration", as that can happen without generating any noise or falling within most peoples' definitions of being 'harsh'. More "firmness"? Yes.

In addition, these stiffer pieces make the car behave more closely to what only the geometry would have it do. Any "mushiness" from soft bushings makes the geometry under load differ somewhat from the nice theoretical geometry calculated from the car-at-rest pivot point locations. People simply adapt to this without realizing what's going on, and these compliances are actually carefully considered during the car's design stage to help produce OE-desired effects.


Not really necessary when you have either poly or some sort of spherical loint in both ends of the arm. But still good practice.


Norm

 

All right, the biggest sins are:
-tightening the poly ends while unloaded

-On the sperical ends, you NEED to use two wrenchs, and you NEED to watch what you do. I would want the sperical ends either loose or out while you tighten the poly. Then when you put the sperical ends in, I have seen a fair amount that looks like one end was tightened down, the tightening was actualy done against the mechanical max of the rod end. Then they went back and tightened the jam nut. Did the same thing, it jams it against the other side.
-The way you have to do it, is have one wrench on the adjuster, and one on the jam nut, you need to apply A LOT of pressure on both against eachother, taking care to watch the sperical end and make sure it remains vertical. The more it rocks side to side as you tighten it up, the less range of motion it will have and the more noise. If it is like most I have seen and pinned all the way to one side, it will be noisy as hell.

-If your still having noise, look at the spacers for the rod end. can you move it side to side in the mount? If there is any space side to side in the mount, again, lots of noise. You can either tighten the crap out of the mount and pinch it onto the arm, or what I would recomend is getting some spacers so that everything between the mount is held solid.

-How is the fit around the bolt? Is the spacer drilled too wide and the bolt is not snug all the way through it? Again, lots of noise can be made there.

-On a side note, is your poly noisy? Most people see the instructions that say 2 to 3 pumps with a grease gun. That simply clears the crap out of the flutes durring maintenance. Drop that end off the car, and keep pumping till you see the grease comes out of the flutes. Bassicaly your priming them. On a new set, your looking at like 10 pumps. Once you see clean grease come out the flutes, put it back together, give it two pumps. Noise should be gone.

Hope this info helps you.

 

This is NOT a sin. Poly bushings permit free rotation between the outer shell (that's captive in the LCA or UCA or axle side UCA ear) and the inner sleeve (that is clamped by friction to the bracket). It can be fully torqued unloaded, as it will find its proper position after the car rolls only a few feet after lowering it. Worst case, there will be a little friction between the poly and whatever bracket that it's being squeezed between if the poly is cut a little long. But it will permit unlimited rotation without tearing between the shell and the sleeve.

It's the OE rubber bushed control arms that you MUST torque in the fully loaded position. That's because the rubber is bonded to both the outer shell and the inner sleeve. Getting this wrong puts the rubber under considerable shear just by setting the car down. When the car is loaded, squats under acceleration, rolls in a corner, or hits a bump - basically anything that moves the axle "upward" into 'bump' only makes the bushing shear stress increase. Eventually the rubber will tear/fail.


Norm

 

Does anyone sell a poly/rod combo LCA that is non adjustable and has zert points to grease the poly ends while the arm is still in place on the car so you don't have to unbolt it?

 

what catagory are the BMR units in?? any tips to installing them?? I put mine in and they made my rear end whine way louder.

 

BMR i will take a pic and post it later. I have a flexible end on my grease gun that i can fit under the car so that helps too. What your looking for is what i run and love.

 

My rear end whine is in a way "louder" yes but in no way obnoxious. If you want a tip on installing them then look at how to align a rod end a couple posts up.

 

Link me please if you can. I've heard BMR had some bushing problems in the past but I'm willing to try them sometime this summer.

Long story short I have steeda LCA and poly/poly ends. The car still seems to have some problems with hop if the conditions are just right. I'm looking to try another type of lower arm and then on to the upper if I still have problems after that.