Custom lower control arms official EOI. Do it!!

EF ECTIV · Post by **EF ECTIV** » September 1st, 2010, 1:10 am

when the time comes and theyre available for EF/L I'm in.... would love a set of big 6pots on mine... mad props
for looking into doing this shit on your own....

apoc · Post by **apoc** » September 1st, 2010, 9:32 am

mmm big brakes. Nice work, will be good to see how these go.

If they all work sweet I reckon you might have a bucketload of orders

TROYMAN · Post by **TROYMAN** » September 2nd, 2010, 8:21 am

i was just about to consider doing the au k frame into my ed,
but this option is something im now keen on.....

donno · Post by **donno** » September 2nd, 2010, 7:45 pm

If you manage to get a marketable product make sure you patent that shit. Would suck to see some aftermarket mob buy a set, copy them, mass produce and undercut you.

superhuS! · Post by **superhuS!** » September 5th, 2010, 5:51 pm

donno wrote:If you manage to get a marketable product make sure you patent that shit. Would suck to see some aftermarket mob buy a set, copy them, mass produce and undercut you.

agreed. DO IT NOW

superhuS! · Post by **superhuS!** » September 10th, 2010, 11:28 am

btw, get these done already. i need them to airbag my LTD

Rollin · Post by **Rollin** » September 11th, 2010, 12:35 am

I'm working on it!!

Rollin · Post by **Rollin** » September 13th, 2010, 6:10 pm

OK gentlemen, I've just recieved an email saying that my first test set of lower control arms are ready to go. I've transferred the money (which has to be done in two lots because it goes over my daily account limit.....the things I do for you people!!!!) and should see the arms next week at the latest.

I'm slightly terrified at the moment, to date I could have bought 1367 mint condition EAs for the same amount of money as it has cost to get this one set of arms made

LUXO_8 · Post by **LUXO_8** » September 13th, 2010, 6:25 pm

Great news man. Looking forward to seeing the finished result!

ed40 · Post by **ed40** » September 13th, 2010, 7:29 pm

Awesome news brother! We are hanging over in the west for these!!

BBQBurner · Post by **BBQBurner** » September 13th, 2010, 8:18 pm

nice job rollin

braad · Post by **braad** » September 13th, 2010, 11:29 pm

EF/EL i'd be interested in

well done rollin! definitely patent the hell out of them, assuming they work, you've basically opened up a recently untapped market to AU+ brakes, suspension and wheel upgrades! any smart engineering place would love them

EF ECTIV · Post by **EF ECTIV** » September 14th, 2010, 1:44 am

well done rollin, usually people just sit around and bitch about their problems... very few actually go out and make
a product to solve them....

superhuS! · Post by **superhuS!** » September 14th, 2010, 8:53 am

rofl @ Rollin's sig.

sdoylie · Post by **sdoylie** » September 14th, 2010, 11:18 am

rolling, im keen as a pedo at a pre-school. iv got an xh. not sure what control arms they run. if you need some funds to get it happeneing, let us know.

Rollin · Post by **Rollin** » September 17th, 2010, 6:54 pm

Righto - Got the arms today

They look pretty sexy, are beefy as fcuk and are much lighter than the steel one that I made as a test piece. T6061 FTW.

I still have to organise bushes and ball joints and then I'll test them on the Fairlane to see what happens. If that's promising then I can probably start taking deposits. I'm going to try find an EF/EL to have a look at and see how hard it is to make them fit that, I believe there will only be spacers needed but that will mean they will cost a little bit more than EA-D ones unfortunately.

I also can't give an actual price until I have actual numbers, because the more we get the cheaper it will be, but I'm hoping they'll be around $1300 at the most if we get a decent group buy happening They will come with new bushes and ball joints pre-fitted of course.

P.S. Don't whinge at the price! I've spent just under 5k in cold hard cash to get just one set, plus hours of thought and design and stuffing about in the garage and a million emails and discussions with different shops, and I'm never going to get it back. You're getting off lightly!

superhuS! · Post by **superhuS!** » September 17th, 2010, 7:08 pm

bank acc details? how much deposit?

LUXO_8 · Post by **LUXO_8** » September 17th, 2010, 7:12 pm

i dare say he'll wanna test em before taking deposits...

post some pics yo

superhuS! · Post by **superhuS!** » September 17th, 2010, 7:16 pm

+1 for pics.

but seriously. how much? i've got cash sitting here for a respray which id much rather spend on massive brakes.

bigdell · Post by **bigdell** » September 17th, 2010, 7:52 pm

Rollin wrote: I also can't give an actual price until I have actual numbers, because the more we get the cheaper it will be, but I'm hoping they'll be around $1300 at the most if we get a decent group buy happening They will come with new bushes and ball joints pre-fitted of course.

superhuS! · Post by **superhuS!** » September 17th, 2010, 8:02 pm

bigdell wrote:
Rollin wrote: I also can't give an actual price until I have actual numbers, because the more we get the cheaper it will be, but I'm hoping they'll be around $1300 at the most if we get a decent group buy happening They will come with new bushes and ball joints pre-fitted of course.

I can read. I believe that's in relation to the actual price of the unit. NOT the amount for the deposit.

bigdell · Post by **bigdell** » September 17th, 2010, 8:30 pm

And as the price of a deposit is often a percentage of the price of the unit.

superhuS! · Post by **superhuS!** » September 17th, 2010, 8:40 pm

not necessarily.

ed40 · Post by **ed40** » September 17th, 2010, 9:25 pm

1300 bucks is FUCKING CHEAP.
All you need to spend is 100 bucks on a set of 2nd hand ba xt brakes and u have a cheap twin piston kit!

NUT347 · Post by **NUT347** » September 17th, 2010, 9:36 pm

ed40 wrote:1300 bucks is FUCKING CHEAP.
All you need to spend is 100 bucks on a set of 2nd hand ba xt brakes and u have a cheap twin piston kit!

And AU offset!!

sdoylie · Post by **sdoylie** » September 17th, 2010, 9:53 pm

make a set that'll fit the xh and the money is as good as in the bank.

Rollin · Post by **Rollin** » September 18th, 2010, 3:39 am

AFAIK XH is the same as EF style? I'm looking into it.

I'm still not keen on posting pics, I know it's probably not going to matter but I want to make sure they're right first. Also, even though the idea is well known, I'm unaware of anyone that's actually done it, so I still don't want to give any dirty copying bastards a head start before I'm ready to sell these.

I'll give you a teaser though so you know I'm not full of crap

I'd expect to run this with 3 payments to give people time to save - First one will be $500, second one maybe two weeks later another $500, and then the balance the next payment.

As I said above, I can't give accurate prices at the moment, but work on ~$1300 and cross your fingers.

I think I'll open a new bank account specifically for this operation so I can track things more efficiently.

Also - anyone got any hookups for new rubber bushes for ED LCAs? I have used poly stuff before and it lasted <6 months, so rubber is the way to go. Let me know...

BI6TIM · Post by **BI6TIM** » September 18th, 2010, 7:01 am

Mackay rubber is the only rubber to use! Made in Australia and top quality!

As for polyurethane, what brands have you used that only lasted 6 months? There is Pedders urethane lower inners in my old falcon that have been there for 6 years and still working.
I had customers at City Suspension that have had SuperPro polyurethane all through their eseries falcons, including trailing arms, and have been working without a problem for years also. One set of EL trailing arms I pulled out of a car had superpro in there fitted at City Suspension 9 years earlier, still working fine.
I don't know how you had such a bad run, unless you were using Nolathane which is the worst shit in the world, no one should use it.

Misterel · Post by **Misterel** » September 18th, 2010, 9:07 am

+1 for superpro, doesn't squeek

Rollin · Post by **Rollin** » September 18th, 2010, 9:19 am

Not sure what brand/type, don't remember. Before:

Front shock bushes after:

Punched straight through to the metal...replaced them with stock ford bushes a couple of years ago now and just swapped the LCAs into the Fairlane to continue their long and distinguished career.

67rce · Post by **67rce** » September 18th, 2010, 10:56 am

Rollin wrote:Righto - Got the arms today They look pretty sexy, are beefy as fcuk and are much lighter than the steel one that I made as a test piece. T6061 FTW.

I still have to organise bushes and ball joints and then I'll test them on the Fairlane to see what happens. If that's promising then I can probably start taking deposits. I'm going to try find an EF/EL to have a look at and see how hard it is to make them fit that, I believe there will only be spacers needed but that will mean they will cost a little bit more than EA-D ones unfortunately.

I also can't give an actual price until I have actual numbers, because the more we get the cheaper it will be, but I'm hoping they'll be around $1300 at the most if we get a decent group buy happening They will come with new bushes and ball joints pre-fitted of course.

P.S. Don't whinge at the price! I've spent just under 5k in cold hard cash to get just one set, plus hours of thought and design and stuffing about in the garage and a million emails and discussions with different shops, and I'm never going to get it back. You're getting off lightly!

Nice work! While it's sitting around doing nothing, I could probably get my folks to let you **** around with the EL Wagon sitting here! It will let you know what you need to do anyway!

sdoylie · Post by **sdoylie** » September 18th, 2010, 11:21 am

rollin. red bushes = nolathane = shit dog. rubber is the way to go. urethane is ok as long as you tighten is up in its working position. if not. they get chewed quick. rubber is more forgiving.

private9 · Post by **private9** » September 18th, 2010, 3:27 pm

Superpro for sure for poly bushes. In my experience Nolathane always chews out pretty quickly.

Rollin · Post by **Rollin** » September 20th, 2010, 12:20 am

Spent a few hours at Bipolars today fiddling with his front end. I also looked at the lower control arms on his EL

Looks like it won't be hard to make the current design fit by using spacers, but I'm going to investigate these different bushes that BBQburner reckons repco/bursons etc supply for their arms. Hopefully it will be cheaper to supply them instead of getting spacers made.

BI6TIM · Post by **BI6TIM** » September 20th, 2010, 7:04 am

sdoylie wrote:rollin. red bushes = nolathane = shit dog. rubber is the way to go. urethane is ok as long as you tighten is up in its working position. if not. they get chewed quick. rubber is more forgiving.

Who told you all that? They're an idiot!

You're right that Nolathane is shit, and it's red, but Pedders urethane bushes are also red and have been serving well in my old falcon for years.
Rubber is not always the way to go and if you knew anything about suspension you'd know that.
Also it's rubber bushes you have to tighten up at working height not urethane. Polyurethane bushes have crush tubes that move inside the bush, the tubes in rubber bushes are bonded in so they don't move in the bush, hence why they have to be tightened up at ride height. Again, if you actually knew anything about suspension, you'd already know that.
And finally, rubber being more forgiving is not always best, Rollin wants the car to handle, rubber bushes have too much movement making a good polyurethane bush the best option.

Rollin, I've been using the new Whiteline Plus bushes in the skyline for a while now as a test for one of the suppliers I used to deal with at City Suspension, all good so far, maybe look at what you can get them for price wise.

sdoylie · Post by **sdoylie** » September 20th, 2010, 5:01 pm

haha. forgot about pedders being red. my bad.

the fanstastic crush tubes your talkin about, that dont let you get any grease into the centre of the bush, which is actually where the wearing begins from the get go. yeah, they're tops.... we put them in the pit cars at work, they last a good maybe 3 thou if they're lucky. but you know all about them aye.

cant wait for the final product rollin.

Rollin · Post by **Rollin** » September 20th, 2010, 5:43 pm

Meh, either way, the ones I had were shit and chewed out very fast. The ones in Todds car are that stuffed the car is actually dangerous to drive in my opinion, and I think they're only a few years old, maybe 3? Not sure.

The factory ford ones work fine and along with a good wheel alignment have given me nice even tyre wear for quite a while, with no signs of flogging out at this stage, so I'm going to supply these arms with something that I've personally found to work and not get flogged out or completely destroyed as per the above bushes. Just need a touch more camber to compensate for the alleged extra compliance of rubber compared to poly.

If people want wanky red/yellow/pink/blue/purple/orange or green bushes they can specifically ask for no bushes in their arms and they can sort out their own, but I'm not putting them in even if I'm given them for free.

BI6TIM · Post by **BI6TIM** » September 20th, 2010, 6:11 pm

So be it.

Have you any photo's of these that you're willing to share yet?

sdoylie · Post by **sdoylie** » September 20th, 2010, 6:47 pm

Rollin wrote:If people want wanky red/yellow/pink/blue/purple/orange or green bushes they can specifically ask for no bushes in their arms and they can sort out their own, but I'm not putting them in even if I'm given them for free.

haha. love it.

how's the testing going?

Rollin · Post by **Rollin** » September 20th, 2010, 7:11 pm

Waiting on ball joints to arrive, will order some bushes from ford tomorrow. Not sure when I can test them in the car, will need to organise a day off and book a couple of hours with the wheel aligner at work so we can measure and record the behaviour of the factory suspension as it moves through its range of motion, then put the AU stuff in and do the same thing again.

And I've just realised I have no undamaged AU offset 17s in the garage, bugger. Will need to get a couple of them from somewhere as well.

I hope you lot are saving your pennies