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Well, the Z1 adjustable front upper control arms and SPL front end links were supposed to go on today with an alignment, but I got bumped to Monday by my service dept.
My wife had a photo shoot set up for our daughter a week after she was born. This is my favorite pic so far. Proud dad moment and then I will get back to talking about cars.
My shop started installing my control arms today and I am really glad that I am having them do it. I initially thought I just would not have enough time with the new baby, but we just realized that they are really only adjustable if you completely disconnect them from the mounts. Not exactly convenient to setting up the alignment. Wow, I do not envy my technician right now. At least he said the old control arm came out easier than he originally thought...
The front control arms were already in when I came to work this morning and it looks like the end links are going in next. It seems like everything is going pretty well, but I dread the time that will need to be spent dialing in the camber. I really thought these front control arms would be like a tie rod where you can just spin the rod to adjust it. Instead, you need to completely detach the control arm and then spin it to adjust. No thanks! At least once we get it dialed in it should be good to go and I can stop cupping the inner edges of the front tires.
The SPL endlinks are in and the alignment has started. Wow, the caster is way off! Eyeballing the length compared to the stock control arms does not exactly work. The bad news is that you have to remove the wheel and completely detach the control arm to adjust it. What a PITA. I feel this could have definitely been designed better. I really hope the SPL endlinks are more durable than the Moog endlinks. Stock and Moog wore out relatively easy with just a couple of track days. Hopefully, the Hotchkis sway bar is not too beefy for these endlinks.
that is a horrible design. im surprised anyone would buy it. you want the camber arms with the plate. so all you have to do is jack up the wheels, loosen the bolts on the plate and slide back and forth to your liking thats it.
that is a horrible design. im surprised anyone would buy it. you want the camber arms with the plate. so all you have to do is jack up the wheels, loosen the bolts on the plate and slide back and forth to your liking thats it.
I agree. I really wish they would have told me how time consuming they are to adjust before I bought them. We are looking into swapping them out for a different kind, mainly because we cannot get the caster anywhere near the same on each side. They think one of the arms might have a defect. Spencer at Z1 is being great about helping me through it so no complaints there.
How is the ride quality with those upper control arms? I have the kinetix arms and they seem a bit more harsh with poly bushings instead of the oem rubber ones.
How is the ride quality with those upper control arms? I have the kinetix arms and they seem a bit more harsh with poly bushings instead of the oem rubber ones.
The ride quality seems fine so far, but I also changed to snow tires which made the ride a lot smoother.
So we figured out the issue with the popping noise on the passenger side and why we could not get the caster to line up on both sides - my technician installed the control arm upside down. I get that the arms are not labeled, but it is pretty clear just reading through the instructions. My technician also did not install the endlinks right. And this is a master certified Nissan tech. I guess they are just not used to aftermarket parts and he clearly did not want to take the time to read the directions. Too bad as that would have saved him a lot of time.
I changed the caster, camber, and angle of the ball joints myself this afternoon and now I feel really stupid for paying for the control arms to be installed as it is pretty simple. Even the adjustments are pretty easy, but the caster would definitely be easier to adjust without having to disconnect the mounts.
If anyone gets these Z1 adjustable control arms here are some good photos to show the orientation since they are not labeled. (My technician initially installed the passenger side upside down.) They are actually pretty easy to adjust. The caster would be easier if you did not have to disconnect the mounts, but it is really just one bolt. The camber is even easier to adjust and I think there will be enough droop in most suspensions that you might not even have to remove a wheel to adjust if you use a small cordless impact.
Driver's side properly installed (Note the orientation of the control arm sitting above the ball joint angling the ball joint down compared to the next picture)
Passenger side installed upside down by mistake (Note the orientation of the control arm below the ball joint angling the ball joint up- this is wrong)
11-03-2018, 12:24 PM
That's a fantastic photo of your new control arm!
