road noise and four links!

sooty
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road noise and four links!

Postby sooty » Wed Mar 20, 2013 10:40 am

For you guys with aftermarket four link control arms (heim joints)
How is road noise? How is road noise compared to stock? I want an adjustable 4-link set up for my "spirited" daily, but I also don't want
to hear loud diff whine and droning road noises. A little would be expected, but I'm trying to avoid being super loud.
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gotzoom?
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Re: road noise and four links!

Postby gotzoom? » Wed Mar 20, 2013 2:29 pm

What problem are you trying to solve? What's wrong with stock 4-links? Solid links are noisy. There is no getting around that. If you don't need spherical bearing links, you shouldn't use them.

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Re: road noise and four links!

Postby ga_goosh » Wed Mar 20, 2013 2:41 pm

for a "spirited daily" i would run some 4 links that used bushings or at least a bushing on one side. to be honest the heim joints arnt THAT loud they do transmit more noise but you can just turn up your radio. i had a bad drive shaft support bearing that was a lot louder then the heims. like stated above, if you havent lowered your car then these wont do much for you. if you want simply a more sporty feel then try a bushing kit like prothane or energy something simmilar
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sooty
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Re: road noise and four links!

Postby sooty » Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:57 pm

Goosh, I've recently installed the total bushing kit from T3, feels a lot better than stock bushings (with some added noise, nothing drastic) I am trying to solve an issue that I've noticed over the time I've had the car. The rear end seems to be out of line and the thrust angle is off slightly. I noticed that the passenger rear tire is tracking inward (toward the chassis) and the drivers side rear tire is tracking outward, slightly. Since it's a solid axle it makes sense to get an adjustable 4 link OR D.I.Y. links using existing bushings/ends, to adjust rear axle alignment. I hoped installing fresh bushings would straighten things up, but I was left with the same results.
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Re: road noise and four links!

Postby KonaTrueno723 » Wed Mar 20, 2013 11:40 pm

I'd just get the adj link bars to get the axles pointing straight again, & do what ga_goosh said if noise is a concern. Nice car btw!
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Re: road noise and four links!

Postby MisterJerk » Thu Mar 21, 2013 6:09 am

sounds like you need a lateral bar, not the 4 link. from the pic, your car looks stock height?

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Re: road noise and four links!

Postby gotzoom? » Thu Mar 21, 2013 8:42 am

Whiteline makes an adjustable panhard bar that is bushed at both ends. The only drawback of the design is that you need to disconnect it to adjust it, but once it's adjusted, you don't touch it again. They also make adjustable links that are bushed at both ends, but I think they only have lower links (not 100% sure about that.) Centering the rearend will not change the thrust angle. You'll need adjustable 4-links for that. I've experimented with only adjustable upper links or only adjustable lower links (due to race class rules restrictions,) and I would not recommend having only upper or only lower adjustable links. You end up changing the wheelbase when you're adjusting and the springs no longer line up on the perches, so you hear creaks and pops all the time. I ended up making my own adjustable links by chopping up the stock links and adding my own adjustments. I have bushed upper links and the lower links are bushed on the body side with spherical bearings on the rearend side. Tube ends are pretty cheap and available in the thread sizes that are commonly used on spherical bearings. Personally, I wouldn't go less than 5/8" on the spherical bearings and I wouldn't use any aluminum. QA1 PCYM-T series are a good bearing at a reasonable price. They are high misalignment bearings, so they should help reduce the binding if you use them on the rearend side of the links. You'll just need to shim them with fender washers to get them to mount in the brackets on the rearend. Another set to consider is the Godspeed adjustable 4-links. From the description, it sounds like they use spherical bearings that are pressed into a bushing. Looking at their pictures, it seems possible that they are doing this. You also have the extra security that if the bearing fails, the ring collars keep the rearend attached to the car. Their link set is not a lot more than what it would cost you to make your own with quality bearings.

sooty
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Re: road noise and four links!

Postby sooty » Thu Mar 21, 2013 10:23 am

Thanks for the info zoom, I found this page on 86garage.com with a list of parts for a D.I.Y. 4 link set up:

http://www.86garage.com/forums/viewtopi ... f595a71693

The last thing I'm trying to figure out is the actual piece you weld/connect to the stock rod link itself, for it to connect to the ball joint rod end. I looked through the parts listed in the web-link above and couldn't get the right idea. There needs to be a male and a female connector somewhere to make it adjustable, Zoom is this what you meant by "tube end"? Did you use the female or male QA1?

I'm gonna go for ball joints at the axle mounts only, and leave bushings on the body side.
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Re: road noise and four links!

Postby gotzoom? » Thu Mar 21, 2013 3:57 pm

Yeah, the little plug that fits in the end of the tube with a hole and threads in it is called a "tube end." Pro-Werks part# C73-906-2 is the the closest thing I could find to fit the stock lower link tubes (lower links are hollow.) If you decide to just cut the stock lower links and use tube ends on the existing tubes, you'll need to use a dremel sanding drum to make the inside round. There is a little raised bump that you have to cut down. Also, the part# I referenced is slightly larger than the inner diameter on the tube, so you need to stick them on the lathe and turn them down a little bit (maybe 1mm total.) It would be easier to buy some chromemoly tube and just cut the ring off the end of the stock tube and weld the chromemoly tube in insead. If I make another set, that's the way I would do it. That way you can order tube ends for the id of the tube you buy and save a lot of hassle. I wouldn't go any smaller than 5/8" bearings. Smaller ones don't have a safe enough max load rating, imo. Don't forget the jam nuts too! You can damage the tube end threads if you don't use them.

Here's what I did on the upper links.
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It would be better to make the tube a bit longer and use a spherical bearing rather than running a die over the stock rod to thread it, like I did. Old steel doesn't really like to be cut. :?