Difference between - rear upper control arms - types

[Master Chief]

Hi to all.

I saw this Rear Camber Arms Toe Caster FULL Set ,on Ebay - http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...sting

I guess it is a very good price for what you get there - 400$.

The question is, will this fit the S14 (1996 model) ?

My main concern is the UPPER CONTROL ARMS.Even though the seller says it will fit the S14, i cant help wondering.

What is the difference between a "full circle" Upper Arms (like above), and a "Half circle", as other manufacturesrs like CUSCO have ? Will both type fit the same on the S14 ?

Allso, has anyone heard of this SPEEDTEK ?

Can i go wrong here, or is it worth the money ?

Thanks,Dany.

[Exar-Kun]

You get what you pay for.

There are large differences between companies like that crap you're pointing to, and others (like SPL, cusco, Apexi,) in the following respects:

-bushing type and strength-Arm material and design-Build quality-Fitment

Don't trust your car and love for it to half-assed stuff. Do it once, do it right. It's much better than saving a few bucks and having to redo it all over again..

-Chet

[Master Chief]

Thanks.

What about Alex Pfeiffer's Battle Version's stuff ? Any good? Sure not cheap.

[Master Chief]

Hei, i found another one. Now this one is really tmepmting.It uses PillowBall and so on....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...=WDVW

And another one :

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...=WDVW

Please help !

I want to buy something good, but i dont want to pay an arm and a leg for it !Can there be such a big difference between some pieces of metal ?

Thanks !

[chmercer]

all 3 of the products you have linked are crap. if you want somthing good, then save up. buy a quality product that has been lightly used if you want to save some money.

if you care so little about your cars suspension as to leave it with some chinese arc welded porous metal hardware store bushing control arms, when why even upgrade from stock? why not just paint your stock control arms red if that is all you are after?

also, let me ask why do you want to upgrade these arms on your car? have you lowered the car to a point where the rear camber can no longer be set at reasonable spec? is somthing tweaked on your chassis and cannot be alligned properly with the factory eccentric bolts? are the bushings in your control arms rotted out and in need of an upgrade? if so, then by all means continue to shop for suspension components. buf if not, dont go blindly buying suspension components just because ebay has them for cheap.

dont short change such a crucial area of your car with cheap parts. Not to be a hippocrite, many of my choices with my car have induced unneccesary bump steer, bearing load, and premature tire wear, and I accept this. But i know that my control arm will not hairline fracture on a pothole and eventually shear off and send me flying off the road. if you want to cheap out on somthing, do it on the body kit, stickers, shift knob, etc. You wouldnt buy a woodgrain steering wheel and then buy some 20 dollar pistons for your motor would you?

here are some links if you are interested in buying quality suspension products.

http://www.splparts.comhttp://www.raret ... rtrend.com

ps - did anyone notice the link with the "drift king" control arms is selling a rear caster arm? i thought that was funny.

[Master Chief]

Well first of all thanks for the reply.

Now , a few facts. I am not looking for Cheap components, i am looking for good components.I have TEIN FLEX on my car, and the Car is very low. I have 18" on the car, and the rear Camber is way to much.

Basicly i need the rear UPPER CONTROL ARMS to fix the exess camber.

Now i saw these at about 350$ from knonw manufacturers like CUSCO and TANABE .....When i saw that for the same price, i can get all the other susspention parts, it was very tempting.

Because the items look identical, i cant know exactly what is the difference in quality.

I dont want to buy crap, on one hand, but i allso don want to pay too much, just because its a BRAND name.

Can somone recomand on the above items from experience , and tell me what and where to buy ?What to stay away from, cuz i am very new to this area.

Allso, what did you mean about :"ps - did anyone notice the link with the "drift king" control arms is selling a rear caster arm? i thought that was funny".

I am realy clueles apperantly.

Thanks !!!

[chmercer]

here are some links if you are interested in buying quality suspension products.

http://www.splparts.comhttp://www.raret ... rtrend.com

rear caster is non existant. moving the wheel forward and backward in the rear well only affects track and bumpsteer, and caster has to do with steering.

it seems like you really want to buy the ****ty ebay control arms. myself and chet have pretty much given you all the information you need to know that they are junk in comparison to a quality piece, but if price is the only thing that drives you, nothing I will say will stop you from buying thoes arms. im done with this thread.

[Master Chief]

You are pretty hostile, and i really dont get why.You dont want to help, dont , but dont talk to me like iam an imbecile.

I explained that first of all i want to buy something good. If price was all i cared about, i wouldnt have TEIN's on the car.

But what to do.... Money is an object, at list for some of us.

I wrote : "Can somone recomand on the above items from experience , and tell me what and where to buy ?What to stay away from, cuz i am very new to this area."

And i was referring to these :

http://www.splparts.comhttp://www.raret ... rtrend.com

Anyway, can anyone recomand wich would be a good buy, from the Links above, and where to buy all of the parts togheter ?

I see the BattleVersion Rear Camber Arms, are construted from two pieces welded togheter, where CUSCO's , for example, are on piece.Is this crutial ?I am asking, cuz i heared good things about battle version.

Thanks !

[onosqv]

They are just fed up w/ ppl trying to justify buying cheap ebay parts (some ebay stuff is good).

For me... I've gotten both - the ebay crap is crap, works, but still crap -> one thing I noticed right away was that the ends rust realllllly easily, even in sunny so cal. I put the spl & tein stuff on, no rust so far.

For your question about single arm & double arm, single arm is from 95-98 style 240sx, double is from 89-94 240sx. That's factory stuff.

Single will do fine, saves a little weight (which is why some ppl do it, those crazy weight guys), and allows you to clear certain coilovers easier, change out other pieces easier, etc.

If money is no object, I'd go w/ Cusco or kazama since they "feel" the beefiest.

SPL is also very good, especially w/ their new version which is self-lubricating & maintenance free, they are actually running a gb over on zilvia.net.

SPL & Battle are pretty equiv now that they both self-lube, some may arge that spl is even better (& has dust boots, haha).

If you are just daily driving, you will be fine w/ any of those, but please be warned that you do run a slight risk w/ the lower quality items, just as those guys have been saying.

I personally have been running ebay ruca for over a year now w/ no major problems, but have also heard horror stories exactly like those guys described about the ruca cracking/splitting -> entire rear suspension gets ****ed.

Think of it like buying shoes from Footlocker & Payless... or something like that.

[onosqv]

O yea, and all of these arms except the ebay ones are track proven, so they shouldn't fall apart on you, haha.

I'm sure there are guys who run track w/ ebay arms, but they will need to chime in.

I know SPL guys & Powertrix guys (I think it's powertrix running the gb over there on zilvia) use their own parts & track it.

[Master Chief]

Thanks.... This defenetly gives me a direction....

About shoes from "Footlocker & Payless".....Dont reallt know what this is (Good or Bad), but its not really an option, since iam from Israel, anyway - a bit far.... :-)

Anyone else with some experience on the subject will defenetly help....

[onosqv]

Haha, I thought your Location was kind of odd.

It was just a simple comparison I came up w/ in my mind. I'm bored, so I feel like explaining it, haha.

Footlocker & payless are both shoe stores.

@ Footlocker you can get $50-$100 shoes, all of which are decent quality and comfortable and can last 1year+ depending on how you take care of them.

@ Payless you can get the "same" shoes for $10-$40, all of which "seem" decent, until you wear them for a few months & they give you blisters, foot aches -> back aches, spinal problems, etc because the foot is where all the nerve thingies go and can determine your posture -> causing other problems, etc, etc.

I like to reference things outside of cars because a lot of times ppl won't agree w/ eachother on car stuff because of one reason or another and it gets confusing. When you talk about something simpler that everyone can relate to and is no more of an expert than another, it makes things clearer (unless we have a shoe salesman lurking on these boards ).

[Nismo_Freak]

You are pretty hostile, and i really dont get why.You dont want to help, dont , but dont talk to me like iam an imbecile.

Simply put, you are being a bit two-sided in your wording. It seems like you want high end suspension, but for a low-end price. Unfortuneatly that just doesn't happen.

Most people who buy quality suspension do so at higher prices, because it is ... well ... quality. Bigger rod ends, better rod ends, better shaft materials, better workmanship, better finishing, and the numerous other components that go into a quality product all cost more.

I used to work for SPL Parts and honestly this was initially something that bothered me. Why would people go out and buy a lesser quality good where safety and longevity are both major factors? The longer I worked there the more I recognized that people who truely focus on a polished product (their car) tend to buy quality, and spend that extra buck. I am not saying if you buy Ebay arms you are going to die immediately, and your car is going to be a hoopty, but there is a benefit to going with quality components. The only problem is you don't realize that until something happens. That is the large fallacy with the 240 community. The members are generally young, and they are mostly looking to cut corners to get to their goals. Works fine until it all comes crashing down one day.

I personally have never seen any SPL control arm fail as a result of quality, ever, in the 4 years I have known the company. I have seen people break the version 1 tension rods in accidents and with improper installs, but thats about the extent of it.

One of the best things about SPL was working there knowing I'm not selling you a complete piece of crap. We tested everything that ever came out of that place. About the only thing I've ever known to have issues with was the tie-rod ends, but it has since been modified to accomodate the problem.

SPL wasn't about making a buck, it was more about the thrill of building the name as a trustworthy and quality name. I can guarantee you no one sells these cheap arms with the same goal in mind, they are all out to just make a buck.