New Control Arms

[sr20dorifto]

Ok, everyone. I'm looking into replacement front lower control arms for my S13 hatch. Here is where I need help:

The car has a five lug swap. But, it's not an aftermarket. From what I've been told, the swap can be done using s14 front control arms since they already have the ball joint in place.. How can I tell if it's an S14 control arm or just an S13 arm with an S14 ball joint? Would I just be best off buying S14 control arms and calling it a day?

A side question: Does the S13 ball joint not fit right with the S14 knuckle? What makes it unusable with the 5 lug swap?

Thanks in advance for your help

[thang nguyen]

You should double check the control arm itself. Long ago i've heard that the S14 control arm is a bit longer than the S13.....I am not definite on that at all so double check me on that....but the S13 ball joint has a different mount angle than the S14 so it doesn't sit right on the S14 knuckle. So regardless of what arm fits you would DEFINITELY need S14 ball joints. So if S14 control arm fits get that or get S13 arms with S14 ball joints. good luck and hope that helps.

[sr20dorifto]

Ok. I just found out how to tell the two apart.

S14 Front LCA: Observe the 4 holes.

S13 Front LCA: Observe the 3 holes on THIS arm.

[homeslicej2]

Check out PDM racing under their new control arms section in the suspension area. Scroll down the page to the bottom. If you are running an S14 spindle to convert the S13 to 5-lug, then you have to run an S13 LCA with an S14 balljoint installed into it bc the S13 balljoint does not work with the S14 spindle. I'm pretty sure the S14 LCA is longer too, aside from the few other physical differences.

[sr20dorifto]

Check out PDM racing under their new control arms section in the suspension area. Scroll down the page to the bottom. If you are running an S14 spindle to convert the S13 to 5-lug, then you have to run an S13 LCA with an S14 balljoint installed into it bc the S13 balljoint does not work with the S14 spindle. I'm pretty sure the S14 LCA is longer too, aside from the few other physical differences.

That's where I run into problems. I'm not sure if I am or not. I got the car with the 5 lug already done. I think I read something in the past about needing to use the S14 spindles with the S14 hub. Is that correct? I do know it's running S14 hubs all around.

[thang nguyen]

i believe the only way an S13 can do 5 lug hubs is either aftermarket hubs or S14 hubs. And if you are certain that your hubs are Nissan S14 hubs then you would definitely need S14 ball joints.

[gumby74]

Wut Z Hell? If your car is an s13, you need s13 lca with the s14 balljoint. S14 hubs will NOT bolt onto s13 spindles: too big. The s14 lca is also longer as is apparent from the picture (about 10mm longer). Lets review: your s13 needs s13 lca with the s14 spindle to be 5 lug. Therefore you need s14 balljoint to mate up properly. I dont know you, but I also dont want the karma of your car crash on my shoulders.