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Bimmerworld et. al. sell a CAB/lollypop that are like an eyebolt sort of thing with a relatively thin rubber bushing inside. BW calls them “solid offset mounts”, but they aren’t solid metal, it’s just that the thickness of rubber cab is reduced from 3" to maybe a half inch. These are legal, correct?
9.3.8.8. Suspension bushing material replacement is permitted.
3.5. “Replaced” means that the item may be replaced with items meeting or exceeding OEM specifications.
Are you talking about the rogue engineering ones? They look legal if you want to win the most expensive fcabs in se30 contest. I think as long as they use the standard lollypop mount they are legal no matter what they are made of.
If you are referring to the Treehouse eyeball CABs, based on previous discussions, they are not legal. Search lollipop for the discussion. Mostly related to bushing material being replaced, not the entire stock arm.
Ed
So this is legal?
http://store.bimmerworld.com/ground-control-e30e36z3-delrinalloy-front-control-arm-bushings-p594.aspx
Fully legal yet way to expensive. You could probably get a machine shop to build you a ball bearing mounted inside of a spherical bearing that surrounded in poly for that price.
before you say hey thats a good idea like I did after I posted it. I don’t actualy think about what I’m posting. You should consider the dampening caused by the bushing. I’m a fan of the solid delrin because it’s cheap and it won’t break you’re suspension. The damping is of course cumulative between the shocks springs and joints/bushings. The stock bushings grip and twist causing the most dampening effect. Delrin or a bearing would cause very little. Aluminum bushings would eat themselves and just be a bad idea all around. You can do the calculation’s about the dampening of front suspension and the ratio between the front and rear and share with the group. I don’t think I know enough to try to calculate any of it.
I’m pretty leary of some of the low cost companies out there offering FCABs and lower control arms, but this is a pretty good deal and the company “appears” to have a solid reputation. Anyone ever use anything from them?
[quote=“RRhodes” post=62734]I’m pretty leary of some of the low cost companies out there offering FCABs and lower control arms, but this is a pretty good deal and the company “appears” to have a solid reputation. Anyone ever use anything from them?
http://www.fcpgroton.com/product-exec/product_id/14079/nm/BMW_E30_Control_Arms_and_Poly_Bushings_Kit_1985_1992/category_id/590[/quote]
There’s no indication of who made the part. FCPGroton is just a bargain reseller, they don’t actually make anything.
I’m a major cheapskate, but this might be the wrong place to look for saving a buck.
I’m a major cheapskate too. That’s why it’s a debate instead of a no-brainer. I can save almost 2/3 of the price of a set of front pads on another consumable. On the other hand, I could just befriend someone with a ball joint press and stick with the stock arms. That’s a big savings, just a time consuming PITA over bolt up.
Thats about the same price as the no-name ones on bimmerparts. Those yellow bushings look like throw aways.
Given how critical control arms (and tie rods) are, I think it is being “penny wise and pound foolish” to skimp on those. And they should probably be replaced pretty frequently, like maybe every other year.
Would you consider a simple ball joint replacement skimping? I agree with you that the arms/ball joints are a maintenance item.
Yes i would. There is the possibility of stress induced structural failure of the arm. The way I see it OE or equal control arms are the only way to go.
Sorry to revive an older thread, but I’m looking to replace bushings pretty quickly in advance of an alignment. The rules say that eccentric/offset bushings are permitted… are they desirable?
Because they increase caster, they are desirable. I use E36 M3 bushings. Some use harder (delrin or poly) offerings from AKG.
I will be testing these at homestead this weekend.
If i have no issues they will be available for $65 shipped.
Caster increases high speed stability. I can’t say that I’ve ever noticed the difference but the consensus has always been to get the offset bushings.
Explaining caster is complicated. Think pivot axis of shopping car wheels and google it.
Caster does increase the force that realigns the wheels because it moves the contact patch further back from the steering axis but any car already has enough caster for this purpose. The main benefit is that it effectively increases camber when the wheel is turned. Another benefit is that the offset fcabs actually move the wheels forward slightly because of our suspension geometry but it’s effect is probably negligible.