product review - adjustable rear lower control arms

[hardsteppa]

product review - adjustable rear lower control arms

I'd  been looking at the no-name chinese made adjustable lower control arms for the R33 gtst (ikeya ripoffs by the look of it) and haven't seen a lot of info out there about these so, when I saw a set fairly cheap through Tas Autosport (Great seller, Hamish is great to deal with and very well priced) I grabbed a set to see what they're like.

First thought was, Christ they're heavy but weighing them up they came in just on 3kg and the stock arms were 2.54kg so not THAT much heavier, and they're wayyyyy more solid. The finish was good, welds look decent enough. Outer end looks to be a forged piece? Inner bearings have a rubber cover but outer ones (spherical bearing rather than ball joint) don't, although neither do the top-brand ones that I could see. These will be on a road car so grabbed a set of rubber boots from repco to fit over them rather than leaving them exposed.

Fitting them to the car, the inner bearings are too short (around 5mm) to fit snugly inside the subframe mounts so you will need a few washers to put at each end to make up the distance. Not a big deal but make sure you have some handy when fitting. Otherwise they fitted just fine, and the swaybar mounts are in a better position if you're using an adjustable swaybar as I am, with the stock arm mounting points not quite lining up properly.

Will update after doing some real driving on them but initial thoughts after a quick drive; as you'd expect from such a solid piece compared to stock there's a real firm and direct feel when weight's transferred to the wheel when cornering...although I've found words don't really cover the feel of the car, it is just that, a feel you have to drive it to appreciate.

These were $220ish delivered, and on the stock arms I'd replaced the ball joint and fitted superpro inner bushes so would have been close to this price already. I'm assuming the weak point of these will be the bearings (outer ones are easily replaceable, held in with a c-clip) so will see how they go over time and after some more extensive driving.

The open design also makes it a lot easier to work on (refitting swaybar links were a breeze).