length of lower control arms

Speaking of lower rear control arms for a 92 civic sedan, does anybody know which of the aftermarket replacements are stock length, and which are shorter for camber improvement with lowered suspension?

Reply to
z
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you use adjustable upper arms, not lower. readily available. if you want the wheel track wider, use spacers on the hubs.

Reply to
jim beam

jim beam wrote in news:KI- dnY16HM3Qaz_YnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@speakeasy.net:

Which will quickly eat up the wheel bearings.

Reply to
Tegger

how is that?

Reply to
jim beam

Just a wild guess but I imagine moving the weight to the outside of those bearing is going to play hell with them. The axle/bearing assembly is designed with the weight centered on the bearing surfaces. Move it in or out and you concentrate the weight (not to mention the forces inflicted on the wheel by uneven terrain) on the end of the axle. Bad ju ju!

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

ok, but:

  1. the wheel is already offset from the center line of the bearing anyway.
  2. normal spacers aren't going to make a lot of difference - unusual to go much more than 10mm.
  3. it's all relative. the op is lowering and presumably "racing". bearings take a hit in this situation anyway. literally if the car is lowered too much and the car's riding on the bump stops.
Reply to
jim beam

I have heard the explanation, whether myth or fact, that the use of spacers will cause premature failure of bearings. Since the axle flange is always out past the centerplane of the bearing, like you, I dont think it matters too much.

I tend to think this may be another garage legend, but wont stick my neck out on it.

Reply to
<HLS

A load that the bearing is designed to handle.

10mm that is going to move the load out, changing the designed fulcrum of the original geometry, increasing the load on the bearing.

The point of a well designed aftermarket control arms is to keep the suspension geometry correct in the areas that matter.

Bearing load and various wheel alignment tracking angles would be very close to the original design.

Reply to
anumber1

it might have been a "factor" in the old days of bad bearings and positive scrub radius, but now we have good bearings and negative scrub radius... having sealed bearing units that can't be "helped" by the racer kiddie adding more grease extends bearing life significantly too.

Reply to
jim beam

Well so is having fat aunt Martha sitting in the passenger seat, but it is not likely to affect the life of the bearing in any measurable way.

-jim

Reply to
jim

dude, with respect, you're going to get more transient bearing load on a bearing from having suspension lowered too far than you are from spacers.

hardly - all it does is correct camber. it does nothing for the swing radius of any of the suspension components themselves.

by what margin??? the vehicle has a working load in the range of

800lbs. how do you think spee-dee ricer with his 10mm spacers and 90lb girlfriend is going to exert more leverage on the bearings than spec? install an even bigger sub?
Reply to
jim beam

Certainly in older RWD designs where the centerline of the wheel is outside of the bearing, moving it further out by use of wider wheels, spacers, and usually both increases the lever arm of the load on the bearing. If the centerline of the wheel is inside of the bearing, then a spacer has the opposite effect, but of course it does affect whatever steering effect they wanted to achieve by putting the centerline of the wheel there.

Reply to
z

Other way around. I'm not lowering the car, therefore want stock length lower arms, my only goal is to just swap them in on the first warm afternoon and drive off, without having to run around and get new bushings stuffed into the old arms while the car is immobilized. I don't want aftermarket arms sized for lowered suspensions that will throw the rear camber off. Some sales websites identify some aftermarket arms as shortened for lowered suspensions, some don't, nobody identifies any of the aftermarket arms as stock length.

Reply to
z

"z" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@p59g2000hsd.googlegroups.com:

I was in Princess Auto today for the first time. They're only in Canada, so if you're in the US, you'll have to try AZ or Kragen or one of those places. In there I found something very interesting for $20.

What I found was a "puller" that resembles a very big, fat C-clamp. This one takes a hex socket on the screw end. The other end ends in a round hole. With sufficient sockets and spacers, this thing just might budge your bushings without power assist. The principle is the same as those screw- type balljoint pullers.

If such a thing is available where you are, you may be able to avoid the immobile-car syndrome.

Reply to
Tegger

I was thinking of something like that; like I said, since the bearings have been pre-removed for me, it's just a matter of pressing new ones in, so I was thinking just the biggest screw, nut, and washer that would fit; or if that's too weak, as you mention, a big clampy thing with an external bigger screw. I'll go look at the car parts store. I was even thinking of just sandwiching the thing between the jacking pad on the car and the jack.

Reply to
z

Pretty sweet, eh Tegger? Did you find the Ball Joint tool? It was on sale last week for $15.

Terry >> Other way around. I'm not lowering the car, therefore want stock

Reply to
loewent via CarKB.com

question: if it's stock height, why do you want to adjust the camber? the only reason it can be out is either damage or worn bushings. new bushings cure the latter. a visit to the junk yard cures the former. aftermarket control arms are usually the adjustable types so you set to what you want.

Reply to
jim beam

The other way around; I want to avoid Unintended Camber Adjustment by Helpful Aftermarket Manufacturers who think I lowered the suspension, when all I want is to replace the shredded bushings with minimal trouble, and if I can get a set of aftermarket control arms with bushings installed for < $100, that makes them competitive with getting a stock set from a junkyard and having to get bushings installed in them in terms of hassle per dollar factor, and both are miles above having to take the arms out then haul them somewhere on my bike to get new bearings pressed in. or trying to press them in myself in the backyard.

Reply to
z

"z" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@k58g2000hse.googlegroups.com:

If you're the sort who buys aftermarket in the first place, I think it's a safe bet you're also the type who wants to flatten his cranium against the roof by having the suspension bouncily bottom out on gum wrappers and lost coins.

But you're not that type, so...

I think you may be overestimating the problem. Before starting the job, phone around to a few places, and ask them if they'd be willing to push out some small bushings on-the-spot for you when you show up. Should take an hour total for both arms, going slowly with lots of palaver and jokes. (I would advise not attempting to do this at 4:00pm on a Saturday. Ask me how I know...).

With an electric impact wrench, it should take you minutes to sever the lower control arms from the vehicle. And they're small and light, so easily transportable by bike.

Reply to
Tegger

so buy new stock control arms then - they have new bushings pre-installed... or am i missing something?

Reply to
jim beam

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