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LCA Options?

jeffreylyon

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#81
It doesn't show anywhere what the weight savings are either. But, the manufacturer makes camber plates for the FiST, and I haven't found any others yet so that's exciting.
You mean the rear shims? I think that I need a set of those for winter wrenching, too!
 


RAAMaudio

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#83
Best part they have is the rear camber plates, wish it was so back in 2014 when I changed by rear camber by cutting and welding the axle flanges where I wanted them to be which took a few tries to get just right, around 20 hours of work!

Reason I changed mine was to balance the front to rear angles since just changing front when having little in the rear would of made the car unstable on high speed turns on track(my car was built for VERY high speed cornering) and it also allowed fitting the 15x9, 12.8 lb wheels I wanted to run with just fender rolling and pulling a bit.

With just the rear camber change, BC coilovers, front sway bar bushings, drilling new holes in the top of the strut towers to set the front camber where I wanted it, all the Powerflex bushings front and rear, ride height set as low as I could yet maintain proper geometry, 225 RA1 tires...my car was fast enough through the Attitudes at then called MMP where the ST school is held....my buddy in the then national champ NASA ST1 Vette, track instructor, ST school instructor, came up to me after one session and said he was shocked he could not gain on me in that section and practically runs over most race cars there.

Now I have the Swift springs and no other changes besides aluminum steering rack bushings, no stiffeners, no tubular suspension bits, no rear sway bar and none needed, if they were they would of had them, I would of built my own tubular control arms, etc....I have had all that stuff on other race and street race cars where needed, spent $15k on suspension on a $100k 95 M3....been playing with this stuff for many decades...

That said, many parts simply are not required unless certain specific situations call for it, almost always better to spend the time and money where it matters the most, taking off weight and or moving it to a better place.

I would take a very serious look into some of the parts being offered for this car and what I am building it for and how well it works with what it has before buying anything just because it is available and I love cool parts as much as anyone so have bought many of them of course, for situations that call for it only and skipped all the really unneeded stuff made just to sell for a profit to those not versed in what really matters.

Hmmm, tubular control arms, sure sound sexy, tempting I have to admit:)
 


Sekred

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#84
Expect some noticeable change in NVH using these control arms because of the spherical bearing design.
 


RAAMaudio

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#85
They look like very nice parts but are not giving enough needed information.

1) Less weight but not how much they weigh or the fact that only half the weight saved would be unsprung weight.
2) Geometry changes designed in, more positive castor and if they are a bit longer would increase track width a bit the best way to do so usually.

Being adjustable would of been a very useful feature for dialing in the setup.

Nice looking parts but one needs to know exactly what they are doing to ensure maximum improvement for the money spent.

I really hope they fit the needs of some owners and do the job well, hold up, etc...they do look quite nice:)

---------

I used the Powerflex rear bushings which have some adjustability and are some sort of hard plastic but do not recall, perhaps delrin or something similar that is strong enough to hold up, no problems with 21k miles on mine so far. If any very little noticeable NVH issues but I only drove my car about 5 miles around town before redoing everything so no baseline to go with and done in 04 as well, not that being 66 has anything to do with my memory:)

---------
 


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Mount Dora
#86
I bought 2x of these Moog K500255 ball joints and they look like they fit when I compared them as they fit the Fiesta S, SE and Titanium.

I haven't had to fit them yet, but I can take some photos with measurements if anyone is interested.

Measurements are from the website

Height: 1.550 inch
Outer Diameterr: 1.650 inch
Inner Diameter: 1.510 inch
Length: 1.550 inch

http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=7182212&jsn=3
Any chance you've installed these to confirm fitment?
 


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#90
Thanks for the update! Ended up buying a set of LCAs off someone local for a good price, but this is great to know for the next time I need to replace them. Probably keep my other LCAs and swap in new ball joints and bushings
 


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#91
Reviving this thread ā€¦..

So, as of right now (December 2021), if you are suffering from the ripped ball joint rubber, the options are:

1) OEM control arms
2) DNA control arms ($600!)
3) Buy the Moog ball joints and have them pressed in.

Did I miss anything?
 


Last edited:

Dpro

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#93
old news Ron @whoosh sells DNA stuff . I personally would not buy their control arms at that price because like RaamAudio pointed ouT above. I also feel there are overkill unless your car is full time track machine. One is better off just getting the all the front control arm bushings and putting them in. Its not that hard.
 


ronmcdon

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#94
I really like the DNA arms a lot and have been wanting to get them forever.

I think at least one of the two DNA models offered seem to use spherical bushings instead of polyu. I don't know of any other way to get spherical bushings for the front lca for the fiesta. Would want to do it for further response with the way the car drives and doubt there's any meaningful performance gains.

I'm not entirely sure this would be a track only application. Going from oem to powerflex polyu LCA bushings, DNA rear spherical bushing and Alex the Machinist aluminum steering bushing I really couldn't tell NVH and ride quality were in any notable way diminished. My Fiesta actually has better ride quality than my civic with koni yellows and swift r springs and no other mods. Going from polyu to spherical bushings up front, I am doubtful NVH would be harsh enough to make bad for daily driving, although I think it's one of those mods many would not care about if they don't value steering response as much.

what makes me skeptical of getting the DNAs is not knowing a shop specializing in suspension that could set that up well. In the Southern CA area there used to be West End Alignment but as far as I know they left their old location and its up in the air when and if they'll be back.

Further as Raamaudio mentioned, there's not a lot of info on these. I think Ron sells them but I don't know what feedback it's getting from users out there
 


Last edited:

Dpro

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#95
I really like the DNA arms a lot and have been wanting to get them forever.

I think at least one of the two DNA models offered seem to use spherical bushings instead of polyu. I don't know of any other way to get spherical bushings for the front lca for the fiesta. Would want to do it for further response with the way the car drives and doubt there's any meaningful performance gains.

I'm not entirely sure this would be a track only application. Going from oem to powerflex polyu LCA bushings, DNA rear spherical bushing and Alex the Machinist aluminum steering bushing I really couldn't tell NVH and ride quality were in any notable way diminished. My Fiesta actually has better ride quality than my civic with koni yellows and swift r springs and no other mods. Going from polyu to spherical bushings up front, I am doubtful NVH would be harsh enough to make bad for daily driving, although I think it's one of those mods many would not care about if they don't value steering response as much.

what makes me skeptical of getting the DNAs is not knowing a shop specializing in suspension that could set that up well. In the Southern CA area there used to be West End Alignment but as far as I know they left their old location and its up in the air when and if they'll be back.

Further as Raamaudio mentioned, there's not a lot of info on these. I think Ron sells them but I don't know what feedback it's getting from users out there
I actually have the name of another place for corner balancing that my wheel and tire guys recommend. Considering my wheel and tire guys are straight up track junkies and a lot of track junkies use them I think it would be worth checking out. The tire guys are R Compound USA and there are other local members here that go to them as well.
 


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Birmingham
#96
Reviving this thread ā€¦..

So, as of right now (December 2021), if you are suffering from the ripped ball joint rubber, the options are:

1) OEM control arms
2) DNA control arms ($600!)
3) Buy the Moog ball joints and have them pressed in.

Did I miss anything?
I just put in Hardrace extended ball joints and Superpro bushings.
 


jeffreylyon

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#99

TyphoonFiST

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