GK Tech knuckles, other suspension stuff

[hardsteppa]

Haven't done much with, or driven, the R33 lately as I have been busy working on another car, Project X...no wait, Operation White Thunder...yes that's better.

Couple of weeks back though, taking the 33 out of the driveway (it's not steep, fairly shallow and mostly flat) when I hear a crack turning left. Then found the car was jammed, not reversing or forward-ing..looked and found front passenger wheel sitting on an angle I would describe as, not right at all. Turns out it was a broken toe-arm mount on the knuckle. Fk knows how it broke, as I hadn't hit anything, but I'm guessing might have been too much caster, being lowered, using roll centre balljoint and tie-rod joint, that might have been causing binding and stress over time. It was a hell-mission to get it back into the driveway and into the garage though I can say.

Any other thoughts on why this would break are welcome, cos it's a pretty thick heavy duty bit of cast-ness, not something to just snap on a whim.

The welding is from me trying to do a temp fix on it, but that lasted about 3 metres, broke at first turn.

Couldn't find a 2nd knuckle, so bought the GK Tech knuckle set. First thing, they are LIGHT. Weighed in at 3.7kg, vs nearly 6kg for an OEM knuckle. Some pics

 

I've fitted the passenger-side knuckle already; fits just fine for the most part. A few things. They drop the car by 20mm, which GKTech say clearly on their website. My Blitz coilovers don't have much lengthen adjustment, so couldn't raise the car, so have dragged an old set of BC's out to get it back to the correct ride height for me, as they have alot more height adjustment. More on that to follow.

The tie-rod mount is much further out, so you MUST use a longer tie rod, which GKTech also clearly note. More on that to follow.

They have wayyy more angle, so much so that I can't turn the wheel much without the rim grinding and sticking on the sway bar ...sorry GTSBoy 😛 anti-roll bar. I have another set of rims with 3mm more offset so will put them on but it'll still contact I feel. Rims are a 17x9 27mm offset with 255/40/17 tyres.

If you use a bigger brake kit (I use the ATTKD front brakes) the mounting bracket won't fit. I had to cut out a section for the bracket to sit flush on the brake caliper mount. As per these>

Don't think it will matter as there' still tons of reinforcement but, not just bolt-on if you have bigger brakus.

 

[hardsteppa]

For the Blitz coilovers - no doubt they're from the BC factory but they are different. The bottom mount is much shorter than BC's, and the info booklet notes a min ride height of -35, down to -80 or something. No provision to run stock ride height. The shock thread is also different so you can't put the BC bottom mounts on to them. They have different valving; in my opinion they're noticeably more comfy on the street than BC's. Top mount, springs etc all appear the same as BC's.

Mount length difference visible here>

Re the tie rods, here's the GK Tech extended rods vs Stock. I've used them for years, no issues at all, and they've beefed them up since the first set i used. Shown 'ere>

 

[GTSBoy]

3 hours ago, hardsteppa said:

sticking on the sway bar ...sorry GTSBoy 😛 anti-roll bar

I heard you typing that from Bunbury!

[GTSBoy]

Hmm. I've pondered whether it was worth looking at these. I start this thinking at the rear, and it sort of drifts forwards to include the front for commonality purposes. Was aware of the 20mm drop and the consequent need for me to see if I have enough grooves on my Billy B6s to jack them up enough to compensate. Was not aware that there was a significant risk of them sticking out in odd places and fouling on the wheels, etc. Will influence my thinking.

Is that a plastic cap on the kingpin thread?

[hardsteppa]

Yes a soft plastic cap on the kp thread, just for protection and remove once in place ready to bolt up. The install should be done by end of next week and will get a couple of photos up of them fitted. Then, test drive and see what's what.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

On 12/03/2023 at 3:08 PM, hardsteppa said:

anti-roll bar.

good, it's not a farken sway bar.

[bcozican]

Ran these on my track car for years. Good construction etc as you stated and few little quirks to getting everything to fit but are good and solid.

 

One things is I found they chewed tyres because of the ackerman when cornering, this experience is track only related