LCA Questions

[NastyEllEssWon]

I'm ordering a set of LCA's from either spohn or umi. i trust either brand so thats not the question. my question is....




What would be best for my application.


Right now i have a 9'' rear with relocated lca's for now. i wanted to pick up some tubular lca's and have noticed two styles...Spherical Rod/Poly Floor Board Mounts....or Double Spherical Rod Ends. The way im understanding by looking at them would be that the spherical/poly mount would be for more of a streetable car and the double sphere ends might be a little too harsh for the street. either way im getting the adjustable lca's but just wanna hear some opinions on the differences in the ends.



discuss/elaborate???

[DevilDougWS6]

best for driveability would be poly/poly, installed properly they wont squeek or make any noise. for best performance get the spherical rod end on both ends, they tend to make noise and be a little more harsh.

for the middle of the road, you can get the poly/rod end combo. adjustable is good to get if you are hardcore racing.

[sweetbmxrider]

pm paul, hardcorez28, he is a spohn dealer. i would suggest poly/spherical if you are that concerned. otherwise spherical all the way! chromoly too!

[MonmouthCtyAntz]

Love my hotchkis here....

[sweetbmxrider]

also, get adjustable. especially with relocation brackets. those are welded right?

[MonmouthCtyAntz]

Bolt here

[sweetbmxrider]

thread locker?

[NastyEllEssWon]

yeah i think i can deal with a little bit of road noise and grab the double sphericals. 40 bucks extra for chromoly isnt bad. hell i paid 50 for my adjustable panhard...i guess i can swing it.





anyone else with some testimony?

[WildBillyT]

I wish WS6ZXR was still up. Kelly Drown had info on just about every type of control arm up there that he ran autocrossing. I think the poly/poly setup was worse than stock because of binding.

[Jensend]

For maximum adjustability and versatility on and off track the totally spherical LCAs are probably your best bet. Chrome moly for safety and longevity. However, don't underestimate the amount of noise that they will both generate and transmit to the car's interior. They are loud and telegraph every expansion joint and bump you hit. I've had my Spohn units for 5 years and they work well for HPDE or autox. They are, however noisy enough that I have to warn people who ride in the car that the noise is natural, not a mechanical issue. If you value comfort and quiet more than performance, spherical LCAs are not for you.

[BonzoHansen]

No testimony, just a few thoughts. I’m not familiar with these particular parts and I’m not looking them up, so I am speaking in general terms.

I don’t see how spherical bushings would ride worse than poly bushings. In fact based on their improved range of motion compared to the inherent bind issues with polyurethane bushings, I might think that spherical bearings might ride unnoticeably better. Plus it isn’t like polyurethane bushings isolate vibration any better than solid bushings, you are fooling yourself to think otherwise. Spherical bushings may wear out much faster unless they are sealed. Road debris might eat them up fast. If they are not sealed and it is a street car I’d think three times about spending money on spherical bushings.

I like adjustable stuff, but that can be a double edged sword – they need to be properly adjusted. In the wrong hands adjustability is a curse.

I don’t know if the chromoly is required. Do the ‘regular’ ones fail?

Also, IMO, given the application, ride quality should not be a concern. If it is, put the stock stuff back in and spend the money on stickers & audio.

[NastyEllEssWon]

No testimony, just a few thoughts. I’m not familiar with these particular parts and I’m not looking them up, so I am speaking in general terms.

I don’t see how spherical bushings would ride worse than poly bushings. In fact based on their improved range of motion compared to the inherent bind issues with polyurethane bushings, I might think that spherical bearings might ride unnoticeably better. Plus it isn’t like polyurethane bushings isolate vibration any better than solid bushings, you are fooling yourself to think otherwise. Spherical bushings may wear out much faster unless they are sealed. Road debris might eat them up fast. If they are not sealed and it is a street car I’d think three times about spending money on spherical bushings.

I like adjustable stuff, but that can be a double edged sword – they need to be properly adjusted. In the wrong hands adjustability is a curse.

I don’t know if the chromoly is required. Do the ‘regular’ ones fail?

Also, IMO, given the application, ride quality should not be a concern. If it is, put the stock stuff back in and spend the money on stickers & audio.




ride quality is not a concern. im just covering all my bases before i spend the money.


im just open to hear different voices about whats going on. some good stuff so far. anyone else?

[sweetbmxrider]

No testimony, just a few thoughts. I’m not familiar with these particular parts and I’m not looking them up, so I am speaking in general terms.

I don’t see how spherical bushings would ride worse than poly bushings. In fact based on their improved range of motion compared to the inherent bind issues with polyurethane bushings, I might think that spherical bearings might ride unnoticeably better. Plus it isn’t like polyurethane bushings isolate vibration any better than solid bushings, you are fooling yourself to think otherwise. Spherical bushings may wear out much faster unless they are sealed. Road debris might eat them up fast. If they are not sealed and it is a street car I’d think three times about spending money on spherical bushings.

I like adjustable stuff, but that can be a double edged sword – they need to be properly adjusted. In the wrong hands adjustability is a curse.

I don’t know if the chromoly is required. Do the ‘regular’ ones fail?

Also, IMO, given the application, ride quality should not be a concern. If it is, put the stock stuff back in and spend the money on stickers & audio.

i believe the poly absorbs the road noise to a much greater extent than the spherical rod ends. its basically metal to metal with a spherical rod end. maybe compare it to solid motor mounts vs poly vs stock rubber. it isn't that extreme but comparable. my poly's are rather noisey when its cold out though, not terrible just more prevalent.

[NJSPEEDER]

It is really about personal opinion.

Having poly at both ends will provide the best ride quality going down the road.
Having the bushing on the body side and spherical on the rear will give the solid suspension response but still ride good
Spherical at both ends has the best articulation and the most direct suspension response you can get but tends to be noisy and a bit bangy while driving.

Peronally, I have no problems living with spherical bearings at both ends. Drove my 91 RS around like that for years and as soon as I have money to upgrade the suspension on my 99 I will be doing the same again. The spherical ends do require a little more attentive maintenance to keep clean and lubed

[BigAls87Z28]

Im surprised no one has done anything regarding delrin bushings.

[KirkEvil]

I remember seeing poly spherical rod ends when I was in the market for LCAs. They were advertised as the benefits of metal spherical ends with the noise reduction of polyurethane.

Delrin is a nice material for some bushings, but it is brittle and does not do well with oil. It would not hold up the stress and grime a car would put it through. Polyurethane may be slightly less efficient, but it is durable and chemical resistant.

[DevilDougWS6]

poly end will NOT bind if installed properly. people tend to torque the bolts down before putting a load on the rear and that cause them to bind. i have polys on mine and zero problems whatsoever.

[WildBillyT]

poly end will NOT bind if installed properly. people tend to torque the bolts down before putting a load on the rear and that cause them to bind. i have polys on mine and zero problems whatsoever.

So your suspension never creaks?

Alternatively, if you have servicable poly ends (with zerk fittings) then it shouldn't be a problem.

[sweetbmxrider]

i have grease fittings on my poly ends. they are pretty good but will squeak when very cold.

[KirkEvil]

I also have the poly with grease fittings and I have not had a problem. grease them up about every 5k miles and they should last without making noise

[Frosty]

I had poly bushings on a lot of my fbodies and if installed correctly and greased correctly I never heard a peep out of them.

[camaroAL]

I had poly bushings on a lot of my fbodies and if installed correctly and greased correctly I never heard a peep out of them.

same here!

[Batman]

I agree with everything above, especially how noisy double rod ends are. If you can take the noise then i guess they are the way to go but I had them for 2 weeks and wanted to throw them in the garbage. I'm running poly/poly now and am cutting 1.4 60Ft times at the track with no issues, so for all but the most hardcore racer poly should be more then enough for you.

[NastyEllEssWon]

I agree with everything above, especially how noisy double rod ends are. If you can take the noise then i guess they are the way to go but I had them for 2 weeks and wanted to throw them in the garbage. I'm running poly/poly now and am cutting 1.4 60Ft times at the track with no issues, so for all but the most hardcore racer poly should be more then enough for you.




your car must be auto?

[Batman]

It is now, used to be an M6 but I got tired of replacing clutches and transmissions, still cut 1.6's on the M6 though

[zuuhlsT/A]

I have the UMI LCA's with poly/poly and zirc fittings. No squeeks, rattles or anything. Quite pleased actually with them. Car handles and launches hella better now.:nod:

[creeper]

Car handles and launches hella better now.:nod:

i had poly/poly lca's for a while. they definitely help with wheel hop and help the car stick better. feels much more solid overall. they're supposed to actually hurt handling though due to bind. i autox'd on them once and didn't notice any decrease in performance in hard turns; of course when you're 17 with otherwise stock suspension, cheap street tires, and a happy right foot you're used to the rear coming out pretty easily.

since i got more into suspension/handling though i switched to poly/rod. i have the old style spohns with the huge nut in the middle. they do their job very well. they make a bunch of noise probably mostly due to their age(specifically the rod ends) but i really don't mind. kind of just sounds like something is loose or bouncing around in the rear. i've had people tell me it sounds like my car is falling apart, but since i know exactly what all the noises in my car are i really don't mind.

i think i read somewhere that a single rod end eliminates 94% of bind or something, i'll see if i can find the source. unless it's an all out race car i don't think you really NEEEEEED rod/rod. i'm perfectly happy with poly/rod.