Installing Front Camber Arms And Radius Rods? R34

[V28VX37]

Hi all, I need some more negative camber in the front of the R34 and got some adjustable upper control arms and radius rods:

The control arms are eBay brand (nice eh) and the radius rods are SRI from Just Jap.

I'd like to know the following before I start pulling the front end apart:

1. I think the OEM upper control arm is just one part whereas the replacement is in two parts. The straight bits have this 'diagonal cut' on the side - any idea which one goes on which side of the car?

2. I understand that the radius rods are the ones right next to the front swaybar, correct (see pic below)? It looks like the OEM rod has this massive rubber bush whereas the SRI pillow ball looks very small in comparison. Is this going to cause any issues?

3. Lastly, what's the best way to keep the original alignment? Just measure the original arms and rods & try to adjust the new parts as close as possible?

Thanks guys!

Here's some photos of the stock suspension:

[34GeeTeeTee]

You can eyeball it and get it close but you will need an alignment...

The caster rods are correct, you fit them up and they work fine, one again will need adjusting when aligned...

Not sure about the camber arms as I used the bushes!

Nice BC's by the way how u find them?

[V28VX37]

Nice BC's by the way how u find them?

Thanks! Yeah very happy with them. I ended up going lower-than-normal spring rates (F:6 and R:5, they come in F:8 and R:6 as standard) together with larger sway bars and they work great. Good control yet very compliant ride. Oh yeah and it's a 4 door GTT.

[34GeeTeeTee]

Yeah I kept 8/6 but have the same set ready to go in I'll check back in soon and hopefully someone sheds some light on the camber arms, I haven't don't them before so I can't help

With that part... The caster rods are pretty easy they are solid so you'll notice a bit of harshness compared to the rubber ones but it's nothing major....

[boostn0199]

Curved part of arm goes on sides towards front of car. But when you take stock out youll see one side is curvy other is more straight so you essily figure it out.

[V28VX37]

Curved part of arm goes on sides towards front of car. But when you take stock out youll see one side is curvy other is more straight so you essily figure it out.

Thanks boostn. Any idea which way the 'cut outs' on the straight bits go?

[boostn0199]

Thanks boostn. Any idea which way the 'cut outs' on the straight bits go?

Cut out part should be facing on the inside, its cut out to give some clearance for the arm from the wishbone as it can get pretty close.

Edited September 15, 2012 by boostn0199

[V28VX37]

Finally got around to installing these, wasn't too bad. Cracking the nuts and measuring the original arms/rods & setting up the new parts to match were the hardest parts. Good long breaker bar is your friend.

One tip for anyone doing this is to keep in mind that the LCA and wishbone drop really far down without the front coilover in place. Therefore only tighten the top front bolt properly after the coilover's back in. Otherwise the original rubber bush will be under a lot of tension when the car is dropped down.

Here's how the arms look installed:

Adjustable front upper camber arms (from this skylineowner.com thread):

Adjustable front radius rods/tension rods (from this skylineowners.com thread):

Adjustable rear camber arms (from this skylineowner.com thread):

Hope this helps.

Edited April 27, 2013 by V28VX37

[V28VX37]

Quick question - since installing these (together with 20mm spacers) I am experiencing slight knocking/jarring at full lock e.g. when shuffling around to park.

I have done a quick check of clearances, the tyres don't appear to touch and I can't see any marks anywhere ... Has anyone else had similar, I wonder what it could be?

[V28VX37]

I ended up zip-tieing the plastic inner guard lining in front of the wheels and it's much better now, no more jarring. There's also a little plastic 'ridge' on the rear side that you just push in for a tiny bit more clearance.

I'm still getting a slight knock/clunk from the front, typically when maneuvering at slow speeds (stop/start). I'm guessing this might be the radius rod ball joint, which has close to no bushing compared to the massive rubber bush in the OEM rod, does this sound right? I knew that aftermarket arms & rods are meant to be noisier, but how noisy is too noisy?

Another question too: The bolts connecting the aftermarket radius rods to the LCAs are maybe 1mm smaller than the holes in the LCAs, so they're not snug. The bolts came with the kit and fit the holes in the radius rods snugly though, so they're the right part. Could this cause some additional NVH?

[KiwiRS4T]

Did you get a wheel alignment? Presumably you don't want the stock alignment. Too much negative camber will chew out your tyres pretty quickly. More castor is good - anything up to 6 - 7 deg.

The pillowball joints are not ideal for road cars as they will not last as long as the stockers.

[V28VX37]

Did you get a wheel alignment? Presumably you don't want the stock alignment. Too much negative camber will chew out your tyres pretty quickly. More castor is good - anything up to 6 - 7 deg.

The pillowball joints are not ideal for road cars as they will not last as long as the stockers.

Yeah mate full alignment, castor in the 6.5-7 range and neg camber about -1.25 rear/-1.6 front. I'm happy with the settings.

I've heard that ball joints won't last as long but are they meant to be fairly noisy brand new, too?

[34GeeTeeTee]

Yeah mate full alignment, castor in the 6.5-7 range and neg camber about -1.25 rear/-1.6 front. I'm happy with the settings.

I've heard that ball joints won't last as long but are they meant to be fairly noisy brand new, too?

No. Noisy means they are generally loose! Check to see if the adjustment part is locked up tight?

[V28VX37]

No. Noisy means they are generally loose! Check to see if the adjustment part is locked up tight?

Ok thanks. I have gone through everything previously (cos it was noisy) and made sure everything was super tight, but will check once more.

[V28VX37]

Oh well the clunking/knocking in the front is really starting to s__t me now. I have checked everything again and it's all tight.

It's noisy at slow speeds when braking and accelerating, a very clear knock when changing from one to the other. It's not noisy at bumps. All I can think of is that the radius rod pillowball joints are somehow stuffed.

Is there any way to work out whether it's the camber arms OR the radius rods, without starting to pull stuff out??

[V28VX37]

I think I may have found the culprit ... pulled out one of the rods last night and turns out the front bolt is tapered, a bit thinner at the other end. This means that it wasn't sitting tight through the ball joint.

As a temporary fix I put some electrical tape around the thin end of the bolt and it finally silent. I'll post some photos later.

Has anyone else had this problem with aftermarket radius rods? Where should I look for straight (non-tapered) replacement bolts?

[GTSBoy]

Have you thought about the original bolts?

[V28VX37]

Have you thought about the original bolts?

Yep I'm using original bolts, that's the issue. The original bolts are thinner at the other end (with a respective narrowing inside the bushing of the OEM radius rod), however the hole through the aftermarket joint is straight so the bolt is not snug at the other end. The rear bolts were supplied with the new rods but not the fronts.

[GTSBoy]

I'm using the original bolts with Tein caster rods. So it should all be the same same as what you have. Yes the bolts are slightly tapered just before teh thread, but they are the correct diameter through 90+% of the crush tube of the rose joint, and as such they don't make any noise. I'm very surprised to hear that you can pack yours out with tape, still get them back together and have it silence the noise. Perhaps you should put up a picture of one of the bolts. It may turn out that the ones you have are not original after all.

[V28VX37]

Ok, here's some photos. You can see that the second part of the crush tube is unsupported by the bolt about 1/3 of its length, and some play is quite clearly evident.

You can also see my electrical tape hack job in the last photo (no issue sliding those in) - unfortunately it seems that it didn't fix the noise issue fully either

Next up I'm going to try to find some new bolts, however this may be tough as the OEM bolts are different diameter at each end - I wonder if the bolt holes are different sizes too..?