Hey BRISZ....thanks for the info on the local supplier here in S Africa....yes I will fit the kit myself and do as you suggest using spacers if they are out of the range of adjustment. This kit to me looks as tough as the oem setup. Now to contact the local guys and see how much they are going to rip me
OK enough of the BS lets start taking positive action that will help everyone involved on BOTH sides. What needs to be created is a database of the cars fitted with these arms, the info required for the database should include as much relevant information as possible IE: Brand and model of shocks, springs, type of bump stops fitted, ride height (if adjustable) damper rate (if adjustable), how many Kms since install, who fitted and adjusted them, wheel alignment specs incl camber, toe & caster settings, wheel size and tyre brand+size, any other mods that could have an effect on the arms (strut bars, caster arm mount supports etc. Only when you have a decent sized database in front of you with all this info added (more if you think it's needed - location, type of roads driven on, driveway access etc) will you be able to see the common trend. There should be one as some arms are fine and some are not, I know I had a similar problem years ago with similar arms but did not go in to why I just replaced - with a UAS supplied product that is going fine by the way. You will only be able to take action towards fixing the issue when you know the trend that is creating the problem. A couple of theories: Ride height, I bought this up before and it is VERY relevant. What happens when you have lowered springs on stock struts with stock bump stops then hit a large bump at speed? Answer: the strut very quickly runs out of travel and comes to an abrupt stop, the momentum of the car is then transferred at a much higher rate to the suspension components. The "J arm" has a bearing at the bottom joining it to the knuckle and the shock mount at the back side of the arm - waaaay off the centre line for the forces (it's mounted from the front but is actually nearer the back), the knuckle has a ball joint at the bottom and the wheel axle mid way. SOOOOO big bump = components move up (relative to chassis), hit the bump stop, now to much force for suspension to deal with - weakest point becomes the victim = adjustable top arm, the arm bends to absorb some of the impact, it bends according to the force applied to it and that is towards the rear. Those of you who have standard top arms but lowered springs and standard struts may have seen front caster arms mounts breaking (usually the chassis) why? same thing really except the top arm doesn't give so the bottom arm tries to move forward and loads the hell out of the caster arm mount = cracked lower rad mount etc. Tell me I'm talking shit or what ever you like but waiting for results from the database might be wiser
How very consistent that comment is. Oh, the word is "ulterior" BTW. Why don't you shove your accusations up your arse? This subject has been known and discussed several times since the last Nationals at Warwick(two years ago). Some weird sort of "cover-up"! BTW, virtually EVERY style of "aftermarket" front Upper Control Arm for the Z32, has proven to be less than satisfactory(depending on individual usage and fitment). I should know, I've had most, if not all of them, during the past 10 years. During all that time, what was the most prominent subject discussed on this so-called "enthusiast" site? The Great Cotter/Cottle-pin saga("Bum-Fluff" at best, "Witch Hunt" at worst). Was there any accusation of "ulterior motives" from your keyboard, during all of this? Sorry, but you're NOT going to win this debate![TIS]
I think the problem was identified early in the thread, On cars that are lowered over a certain amount too much of the thread was exposed thus subjecting it to the bending forces Mungyz mentioned, Wasn't that why there was a modified arm produced that exposed less of the threaded section.
Camber Arms Guys I'm not going to get involved in this thread beyond suggesting that anyone who is actually experiencing problems with these contact John at Unique Autos on 02 9620 9000, business hours, monday to Saturday. This is the same advice I gave Bonezx two weeks ago when he contacted me regarding the problem. Assuming he has done this I have every faith that his problem is being rectified.
UAS has been contacted and yes john is more then willing to help. i just have to wait till i get the car back so i can get some information for him and then we will go from there.
didnt I say that earlier ?? EXACTLY Mungy !!! Application rather than faulty part. There are some things that are out of the control of the manufacturer. Stupid low is just, well, STUPID. The only reason the OEM top arms survive is the rubber bushes can give in 3 planes when subjected to vertical, twisting and longtitudinal loads. The UAS arms can move in twist and verticle loads ONLY. Move them back and forth and THEY FAIL. No if's or buts. Push them backwards, THEY WILL FAIL. I would estimate more than 60-70% of these where fitted with rubber tension rods. Its just a matter of time till we see many more.
Almost, The shorter arm was for track/semi slick style camber where extra thread wasnt required to set close to zero camber.
Yes you did more or less The key thing here is possibly "Application rather than faulty part" Sometimes part A will fit the car and work flawlessly Sometimes part B will fit and work flawlessly But if you try to use part A + B together you create an issue and ultimately some form of failure. IE: 17" tyre fit Z32s, 18" wheels fit Z32 but lets see ya try and use them together = fail. It might be that lowered springs on standard struts with these arms will work perfectly so long as the bump stops are replaced with a lower profile item OR the car only sees near perfect roads (aint going to happen in NZ). I actually had an extra groove cut in the struts on the front of mine to raise the car up by 10mm when using King springs, I knew from experience that the front would sit very low otherwise and throw up all sorts of issues. My TT slicktops original shell had done around 180000kms when I got it and it had lowered springs etc that looked as though they had been there for years. The front left strut tower was cracked on that car in about three places and had to be repaired, the bushes on the top arms were rooted and the caster arm bushes were stuffed as well. Super low 300ZXs WILL throw you more maintenance issues I can assure you of that no mater what brand suspension components you have OEM or not.
Its not about spelling, its not about winning, its about safety. So why don't you go down to the local school with a bag of lollies and challenge the kiddies to a spelling bee, I am sure you will be able to impose your geriatric unmedicated piss weak attitude there.
super low will cause problems, no doubt about it, but in my opinion the target market for this product are people with very low cars. Mine has 85mm of front bumper clearance on a stock bar, so its very low. I have stock suspension apart from the springs and shocks. and ive had no problem with bushes or cracked suspension turrets or anything else. These arms may not be suited to super low cars, but dont blame the car or the owner, make the supplier should make that clear and the consumer should not buy them. The nature of the z32 suspension design is that the top arm will be subject to fore and aft loads, thats the way it is. So these arms are only suitable for a car that has a set of rose jointed tension rods(crap in my opinion) and are not super low in the front which is also the main cause of excessive camber. In the case of BoneZx car who is the original poster here, he does have a very low zed, but also has solid tension rods fitted.
I have seen OEM arms with cracks in them. I think they have failed because the car had after market shocks and was lowered.Prob.through bottoming out!I replaced with new King springs & KMeck arms with the same socks,after 4 years no problems.
yeah, we're on the same page, when i say solid tension rods, they dont have a rubber bush, rose joints,spherical bearings whatever you want to call them.
The 300ZX adjustable arms are the ones I'am using. No problems after 4 years with urethane bushes.[As shown above].
The UAS arms I have are in perfect condition... I use them to cover up a patch of my carpet in my room.
