Convince me why this is an important mod to compliment lowering springs..

 

I put on LCAs because I was getting a lot of wheel hop and it is annoying. I havent gotten wheel hop since, but i have only had them on for a week. I think I will do UCA next b/c I have a random clunking noise in the rear and I think maybe its the stock UCA. I havent really noticed any traction benefits from the LCA's though.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

The UCA/LCA are important because they position the axle. If the bushings are soft rubber, the axle has more ability to squirm around during acceleration or cornering. I imagine in very high horsepower applications the control arms themselves could flex.

So eliminating wheel hop is not improving traction?

 

I just havent had a chance to play in the rain with it yet, and the rain is when i got the most wheel hop. I got on it today on the dry road and expected the tires to spin good on the 1-2 shift like usual, but they just slipped for a split second while continuing to accelerate me, then regained full grip. This is only one occurrence, but from what I can tell, they actually do help improve grip. I have the poly ball J&M LCAs that I got from lmperformance.com for $110 shipped. American muscle has them for $115 shipped, but they are out of stock. I did a drift/grip event last weekend and was unable to get any "snap oversteer" no matter how I threw my car into a turn.

 

If hooking up and controling wheel hop on hard launches is your concern then stiff LCAs with poly bushings are a great mod.

If handling performance is your concern then these would be way down on the list - rubber, wheels, springs, dampers, PHB are far more important.

Personally I think an aftermarket UCA is a waste of money. I've been there, done it and regretted it as my hard earned $ did next to nothing except increase NVH.

 

great feedback thank you.

 

If the LCAs help to keep the axle positioned correctly- this apply to every driving situation; not just drag racing.

 

What kind of UCA did you have? I'm about to install the steeda adjustable street UCA.

I think LCAs help in the handling department, well at least accelerating out of turns. I felt an immediate difference when autocrossing. Now I can launch out of the gate w/o terrible wheel hop too! That saves me time.

 

I don't think the brand matters but it is Spohn adjustable chrome moly. The quality is good, thats not the issue. IMO this mod is very low bang for the buck, it just does not make a significant change to handling for the cost and hassle of install. Plus it makes the road noise louder (note its a rod end but Poly will do that to).

Regarding LCAs - to each his own I suppose. I ran a majority of last season with stock LCAs. This included lots of AX and Track time. Late in the season I put in a set of Spohn adjustable chrome moly LCAs and then went and did more track time (probably not AX...don't remember). Could I feel a difference...maybe, but it was small if anything. So to me LCAs are a low bang for the buck mod *if* your reason for installing them is to improve handling. If you are installing for other reasons then this might not apply.