J-AUTO Adjustable FD Rear Lower Control Arms
02-22-12, 01:13 AM
#1
J-AUTO Adjustable FD Rear Lower Control Arms
Trying to gauge interest for these FD rear lower control arms and trailing arm package. The lower control arm is made of cold rolled DOM carbon steel with a self lubricating teflon injected motorsports grade spherical bearing on the spindle side and a 3 piece motorsports grade, self lubricating teflon injected rod end on the subframe side. The trailing arm body is 6061 aircraft grade aluminum with the same 3 piece rod end on the subframe/chassis side. We decided to keep this design as simple as possible to keep costs down without sacrificing quality. All materials used are made in the USA. We use our own products on our cars and wouldnt feel comfortable using cheap materials while out on the track.
This lower control arm & trailing arm packge will eliminate 4 of the 6 rear pillow *****, give you some additional adjustment via the turnbuckle, and give the car a solid, more accurate rear end. Pricing is $750 a pair but can offer a discount if theres enough interest for a group buy. Pictures of these installed on my FD will come shortly but for now just wanted to get the word out.
02-26-12, 12:08 PM
#7
Hi Juan!
Thank you for attempting to bring new and interesting products to FD owners. Gentlemen much smarter than I am have weighed in shear and other structural issues that I couldn't prove or disprove if my life depended on it. That being said, as a "dumb end user" this was my thought process upon seeing the items and reading the price:
1) Your aftermarket arm doesn't look as beefy as the OEM. So I'd like to suggest considering a non-technical way to prove it is as strong or stronger than OEM.
2) Price. $750. I don't have a problem with the price from the price alone perspective. However when I can buy an awesome, beefy, off-set pair of trailing arms from several places for $250 and then buy aftermarket pillow ball bushings from Atomic Rex for another $350...well that is $150 less than what you are considering selling your setup for.
As a potential consumer of your product, you are going to have to sell me on the safety and either lower your price or show me how/why that extra $150 is worth it.
Good luck and don't give up!
Thank you for attempting to bring new and interesting products to FD owners. Gentlemen much smarter than I am have weighed in shear and other structural issues that I couldn't prove or disprove if my life depended on it. That being said, as a "dumb end user" this was my thought process upon seeing the items and reading the price:
1) Your aftermarket arm doesn't look as beefy as the OEM. So I'd like to suggest considering a non-technical way to prove it is as strong or stronger than OEM.
2) Price. $750. I don't have a problem with the price from the price alone perspective. However when I can buy an awesome, beefy, off-set pair of trailing arms from several places for $250 and then buy aftermarket pillow ball bushings from Atomic Rex for another $350...well that is $150 less than what you are considering selling your setup for.
As a potential consumer of your product, you are going to have to sell me on the safety and either lower your price or show me how/why that extra $150 is worth it.
Good luck and don't give up!
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03-01-12, 12:00 AM
#8
Sorry for the late reply. I didnt get notifications for this thread and didnt know there was replies.
Theres a fair amount of rotation in the arm due to the bearings used and it looks like it will work the way it is without using high misalignment spacers. The rotation of the arm is something I'm keeping in mind and havent ruled out replacing the clevis with a spherical bearing if this design does not work as planned. Thanks for your feedback and concerns. 
Hi, I'll answer your questions as best I can without sounding like a door to door salesman.
1) This quick picture doesnt really show how strong the arm really is. After all, it looks pretty wimpy compared to the stock arm but I assure you that it's plenty strong. It's hard to visualize how beefy something is in pictures but once you personally hold these in your hand, you'll get a very good sense of their strength and build quality. You'll have bigger problems to worry about if you're in a situation where you hit something that will cause these arms to fail
2) These arms will eliminate 4 pillow ***** from the rear end which in the long run, equals to more money in your pocket. The rod ends and spherical bearings used here are much higher quality than AtomicRex's $350 street/road bearings (their race bearings are $450ish) and since our bearings are made in America, theyre readily available with very low domestic shipping rates. Lets say we're talking about AtomicRex's race bearings ($450ish) in your example. We're now looking at a $50 dollar difference which isnt enough to buy you rear lower control arm bushings from Powerflex ($53.99+shipping). Factor in labor, or your time if you have the tools, to press out/in pillow ***** and rear lower control arms and you'll end up spending more money. The extra adjustment you'll get with these arms is a nice bonus too
I still havent had a chance to install them on my car to test them in the real world as I've been busy with customer cars and shipping parts and all that business stuff but will try to get some free time to install them and align the car in the next few days. Thanks for all of your input so far. It's greatly appreciated.
1) Your aftermarket arm doesn't look as beefy as the OEM. So I'd like to suggest considering a non-technical way to prove it is as strong or stronger than OEM.
2) Price. $750. I don't have a problem with the price from the price alone perspective. However when I can buy an awesome, beefy, off-set pair of trailing arms from several places for $250 and then buy aftermarket pillow ball bushings from Atomic Rex for another $350...well that is $150 less than what you are considering selling your setup for.
As a potential consumer of your product, you are going to have to sell me on the safety and either lower your price or show me how/why that extra $150 is worth it.
Good luck and don't give up!
2) Price. $750. I don't have a problem with the price from the price alone perspective. However when I can buy an awesome, beefy, off-set pair of trailing arms from several places for $250 and then buy aftermarket pillow ball bushings from Atomic Rex for another $350...well that is $150 less than what you are considering selling your setup for.
As a potential consumer of your product, you are going to have to sell me on the safety and either lower your price or show me how/why that extra $150 is worth it.
Good luck and don't give up!
1) This quick picture doesnt really show how strong the arm really is. After all, it looks pretty wimpy compared to the stock arm but I assure you that it's plenty strong. It's hard to visualize how beefy something is in pictures but once you personally hold these in your hand, you'll get a very good sense of their strength and build quality. You'll have bigger problems to worry about if you're in a situation where you hit something that will cause these arms to fail
2) These arms will eliminate 4 pillow ***** from the rear end which in the long run, equals to more money in your pocket. The rod ends and spherical bearings used here are much higher quality than AtomicRex's $350 street/road bearings (their race bearings are $450ish) and since our bearings are made in America, theyre readily available with very low domestic shipping rates. Lets say we're talking about AtomicRex's race bearings ($450ish) in your example. We're now looking at a $50 dollar difference which isnt enough to buy you rear lower control arm bushings from Powerflex ($53.99+shipping). Factor in labor, or your time if you have the tools, to press out/in pillow ***** and rear lower control arms and you'll end up spending more money. The extra adjustment you'll get with these arms is a nice bonus too
I still havent had a chance to install them on my car to test them in the real world as I've been busy with customer cars and shipping parts and all that business stuff but will try to get some free time to install them and align the car in the next few days. Thanks for all of your input so far. It's greatly appreciated.
03-01-12, 12:42 PM
#9
Juan -
Thank you for the feedback and if I may offer another thought? You are in sales. If you stand by your product and know it to be good and true you aren't (and you didn't) going to sound like a door to door salesman.
We all sell every day in some way, shape or form!
That being said, since I'm currently redoing all of my bushings, it was suggested I install zerks fittings. Might that be a good feature to add to your arms? At least as an option?
Thank you for the feedback and if I may offer another thought? You are in sales. If you stand by your product and know it to be good and true you aren't (and you didn't) going to sound like a door to door salesman.
We all sell every day in some way, shape or form!
That being said, since I'm currently redoing all of my bushings, it was suggested I install zerks fittings. Might that be a good feature to add to your arms? At least as an option?
03-01-12, 07:51 PM
#11
03-02-12, 07:33 AM
#12
Zerk fittings are not needed with these bearings as theyre self-lubricating due to their Teflon liners which makes them maintenance free. Greasing the bearings will gunk them up and shorten their lifespan. These are true motor sports grade bearings designed for this type of application and not the type you'll find at a hardware store for a few bucks. I was at an open house for a Porsche race car builder recently and was checking out their Porsche cup cars suspension when I noticed theyre using the same exact bearings and rod ends we use on our suspension components. If they're good enough for a $100k+ car, they're good enough for my Mazda
03-14-12, 01:11 AM
#14
Just a quick update: This project hasnt died. I've been working on customer cars and shipping orders. Just when I think I'm going to have time to work on my car, a customer drops off their car and I have to move my car down the list again. The customer comes first after all!
I need to finish up a complete bushing overhaul on an FD that I have at the shop to hopefully get these arms on my car along with an alignment by Friday.
I need to finish up a complete bushing overhaul on an FD that I have at the shop to hopefully get these arms on my car along with an alignment by Friday.
03-16-12, 07:26 PM
#15
I installed these earlier today and the car feels great. Here's a quick shot I got with my phone but I'll post better pictures soon. The control arms are working as planned without issues and am very happy with the results. I've been driving my FD today and the rear end feels great
03-17-12, 10:43 AM
#16
I installed these earlier today and the car feels great. Here's a quick shot I got with my phone but I'll post better pictures soon. The control arms are working as planned without issues and am very happy with the results. I've been driving my FD today and the rear end feels great
03-20-12, 08:41 PM
#18
So far the arms are working great and am loving the way the rear end feels
08-06-12, 11:07 AM
#20
These are now available and ready to ship. See here: https://www.rx7club.com/group-buy-pr...-arms-1007435/
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