SPL Parts install
 

Put on the tension rods and lower control arms in the front today. Pretty straight forward, followed the instructions and didn't go too bad.

The driver side balljoint on the tension rods was a sob to get out of the knuckle. The passenger side pretty much fell right out. Pulled the inner fender wells as well as all the plastics on the bottom. Had to do it to access the bolts holding the auxiliary coolers in place.

Just wondering for anyone who's done lower control arms, do we hook the headlight adjuster back up to something or should I disconnect and take it off? Or just zip the it and leave it in place?

Tried to take weights for comparison but my scale is horrible. Tension rods felt lighter for sure, lca's were pretty close.

Tomorrow ill tackle the rear with the toe roads and upper arms

Let us know if you get any noise, popping, rattling. Spherical are known for this and especially if you drive in bad weather, which I don’t—I keep my ZLE in the dry.

After installing full BMR spherical parts in rear to keep alignment by removing all TTY bolts. I got some noise, I applied white lithium grease to the LTAs and it went away for a long time but it will come back eventually. I recommend installing Seals-it spherical boots like these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I will install these on the sphericals of the LTAs during my next alignment and will pack with Lithium which should stay contained in the tight fitting boots and keep them quiet for a long time.

Great idea with the boots, I might try them out.

I'm no stranger to noisy suspensions, I had a long travel tacoma with all heims. I had a bag full of stuff in the back and white lithium grease was in there haha.
Doesn't get driven in the rain so not too worried about much water getting to them.
I have new rears ready to go on once I finish tomorrow. Looking to get an alignment, anybody know any good performance alightment shops in so cal, temecula area?

Once I get her back on the road I'll report back the differences and any issues that arise, including nvh.
Thanks

So cal yes, but Temecula is far from me.

I’m in LA area and the go to place for many is West End Alignment in Gardena, which is less than 90 min from Temecula with no traffic.

I’m in the Valley so I switched to JMP in Canoga Park. They’re great for all performance work including alignment.

I'll have to check them out, Gardena isn't too bad of a drive. Thanks

I’ll 2nd West End Aaron. They’re familiar with ZLEs too.

Question for you: what problem are you trying to solve with these parts. Dynamic toe/inner tire edge wear...easier camber adjustment...adjustable caster...etc? Parts look sick, and obviously give you more adjustment to play with. Just trying to figure out what the end goal is.

I had BMR fully adjustable suspension on my Hellcat, the rod ends started popping and creaking 3 months after they were installed. I used some WD-40 spray gel lube on them and never heard any more noise out of them just over a year after spraying them. I sold the car about 6 months ago and removed all the suspension but was very impressed with the WD-40 spray gel lube. It held up great and my car was a daily driver. I wouldn't hesitate to use this again on spherical rod ends.

https://www.wd40.com/products/spray-gel/

Adjustability and consistency for the most part. Seems since day one the alignment gets out of wack pretty easily on the car. This will hopefully lock it in. Also I watched the tech try to get the rear toe in spec and it was a PITA so it should make it much easier. Last thing is the caster on the front was 6.4 left, 7.4 right. There's no Adjustability on the stock arms and I wasn't really happy with the big difference. Will I ever notice? We'll find out but at least I'll know it's all dialed in.

Right on, I will have to try a can when things start making noise, thanks

That makes good sense. I agree, the rear toe and camber eccentric alignment bolts are a PITA. Really easy to see how easily they get knocked out if you’ve ever tried to align the rear. On the front, I found that dialing in toe is super easy. Camber is a little painful due to having to install alignment bolt, loosen & knock out spindle bolts, then dial in and torque down the bolts again. A tie rod solution would be nice, certainly if you mess with it often.

Ultimately, I think you might be able to dial out the cause of the inside corded tire problem, but you’ve now go so much adjustability, you’ve got a lot of variables to deal with. Looking forward to hearing how they work out for you.

Final note: some MFR’s use a PTFE or Teflon coating in their spherical bushings and are designed to run dry. You might want to check before applying any (or incompatible) lube.

Most of those bushings have teflon linings in them, but my experience at least with BMRs are that the teflon lining doesn't last, the spray gel is incredibly effective and keeps moisture out.

i got the rear end links with toe lockout already installed and got some more goodies on the way! west end wont be doing install but they will be doing my alignment

It is not that the teflon does not last moisture swells the teflon and causes noise. If you daily drive a car with rod ends I would cover them with the seels it dust boots. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sit-rers36pk

How do you mount the brake ducts to those?