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rastta · 05-10-2016, 02:45 PM

My control arm ball joint and tie rod (inner and outer) are done and need to be replaced. Inner's are basically going to be replaced with OEM manufacturer parts but the outers and the lower control arms have an endless number of choices. Of course if I had an endless amount of money - it would be a much easier decision. Also - my car currently is running 3 degrees of camber in the front and 0 toe with no camber plates or adjustable control arms. There are small slots in the towers. The car is very low in the front (haven't measured ride height) and the tie rod ends and the control arms are at pretty severe angles which is most likely why they are worn out.

In looking at the tie rod options - stock's are relatively inexpensive at around $46 each for OEM manufacturer parts. Adjustable ones which have bump steer correction start at about $168 each for Stomski's and go up from there. They all appear to be the same - basically spherical bearing rod ends with a special bolt. Unfortunately you can't tell the quality of the rod end based upon the picture. However - they are relatively inexpensive to replace with high quality ends when worn out. At $340 a set vs $95 a set for factory - I get get 4 sets of factory ends for the price of one set of the adjustable ones.

So the issue is bump steer adjustment. Looking and reading around - some people have simply shimmed the steering rack up to fix that. TunerRS makes a spacer kit for $100 that does just this. Any experience with this kit? My reservation is that it raise the rack 1". Seems a bit much.

Thought was to go with the $100 spacer kit (any others out there?) and stock tie rod ends and just replace them when worn out.

As for the control arms - the leading candidate right now are the Elephant Racing Arms at $1180 a set. Have had many different adjustable arms on my cars over time - having something that is infinitely adjustable seems like the way to go and not having to mess with shims. The nice thing is the ball joint is replaceable - although at $150 including parts and labor (not sure if that is per arm - still awaiting a response) it isn't that cheap.

They include monoballs at the connection to the subframe and solid adjustable thrust bushings where the other control arm connects.

While the GT3 adjustable control arms are a possibility - they are not cheap - especially when you start adding in the monoball and thrust bushing pieces and the ball joint isn't replaceable. While you can get TRW versions of the outer portions factory pieces for about $250 a piece - by the time you add in the monoballs and thrust pieces you are at about the same as the Elephant arms.

Then there's RSS at $1050 as set which also has the replaceable ball joint (no idea on cost - none listed on their website) and Tarrett which makes a similar version of this type of arm but with some upgraded parts.

RSS

Tarrett Cup-Series Control Arm Kit

The only real advantage I see is that they use a larger ball joint bolt 14mm vs stock 12mm and requires a little opening of the bolt hole on the wheel hub carrier where they attach. At $1,380 they seem to be overpriced but damn nice pieces and I'm not sure the 14mm bolt is that necessary of an improvement for the premium price.

Since I know a bunch of you have been down this road before, I'm open to other suggestions etc.

05-10-2016, 02:45 PM	#1
rastta Registered User Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Cowtown CA Posts: 369	Control arm and tie rod options My control arm ball joint and tie rod (inner and outer) are done and need to be replaced. Inner's are basically going to be replaced with OEM manufacturer parts but the outers and the lower control arms have an endless number of choices. Of course if I had an endless amount of money - it would be a much easier decision. Also - my car currently is running 3 degrees of camber in the front and 0 toe with no camber plates or adjustable control arms. There are small slots in the towers. The car is very low in the front (haven't measured ride height) and the tie rod ends and the control arms are at pretty severe angles which is most likely why they are worn out. In looking at the tie rod options - stock's are relatively inexpensive at around $46 each for OEM manufacturer parts. Adjustable ones which have bump steer correction start at about $168 each for Stomski's and go up from there. They all appear to be the same - basically spherical bearing rod ends with a special bolt. Unfortunately you can't tell the quality of the rod end based upon the picture. However - they are relatively inexpensive to replace with high quality ends when worn out. At $340 a set vs $95 a set for factory - I get get 4 sets of factory ends for the price of one set of the adjustable ones. So the issue is bump steer adjustment. Looking and reading around - some people have simply shimmed the steering rack up to fix that. TunerRS makes a spacer kit for $100 that does just this. Any experience with this kit? My reservation is that it raise the rack 1". Seems a bit much. Thought was to go with the $100 spacer kit (any others out there?) and stock tie rod ends and just replace them when worn out. As for the control arms - the leading candidate right now are the Elephant Racing Arms at $1180 a set. Have had many different adjustable arms on my cars over time - having something that is infinitely adjustable seems like the way to go and not having to mess with shims. The nice thing is the ball joint is replaceable - although at $150 including parts and labor (not sure if that is per arm - still awaiting a response) it isn't that cheap. They include monoballs at the connection to the subframe and solid adjustable thrust bushings where the other control arm connects. While the GT3 adjustable control arms are a possibility - they are not cheap - especially when you start adding in the monoball and thrust bushing pieces and the ball joint isn't replaceable. While you can get TRW versions of the outer portions factory pieces for about $250 a piece - by the time you add in the monoballs and thrust pieces you are at about the same as the Elephant arms. Then there's RSS at $1050 as set which also has the replaceable ball joint (no idea on cost - none listed on their website) and Tarrett which makes a similar version of this type of arm but with some upgraded parts. RSS Tarrett Cup-Series Control Arm Kit The only real advantage I see is that they use a larger ball joint bolt 14mm vs stock 12mm and requires a little opening of the bolt hole on the wheel hub carrier where they attach. At $1,380 they seem to be overpriced but damn nice pieces and I'm not sure the 14mm bolt is that necessary of an improvement for the premium price. Since I know a bunch of you have been down this road before, I'm open to other suggestions etc.