Adjustable Lower Control Arms

[Adrianjvr]

Got my adjustable lower control arms back from the machining shop this afternoon and have just finished spray painting them in the garage. Made from 32NB XXS tubing with 32mm left and right threads and captive nuts. Wall thickness is around 10mm so there is no way these will ever break. Hoping to fit them this weekend and dial out the last little bit of propshaft vibration and remove the gearbox spacers.
http://www.patrol4x4.co.za/gallery/imag ... ge_id=1100

[Tinus lotz]

Looks good keep us posted!!!!!

[Theuhan]

Would we be able to order these from you?

[Adrianjvr]

A couple of more pics.

[Adrianjvr]

So I just completed the installation of the control arms and the removal of the gearbox spacers. All I can say if the difference is unbelievable. I should have done it a long time ago, instead I wasted a lot of time and money on the propshaft and gearbox spacers.

[Theuhan]

Price

[Adrianjvr]

A friend of mine manufactured them, but I don't think he is too keen to make anymore as it turned out to be a bigger job than he anticipated. All the components, besides the 32NB XXS tubing, were machined from bar stock which took the best part of two days. It will be more cost effective to use a threaded rod eye on one end that can be machined to accept the nissan bushes, the only difference will be that you would need to undo one end to adjust the length of the arm, which is not such a big job. It took me less than two hours to remove the old arms, fit and adjust the new arms and remove the gearbox spacers last night.

Even with a relatively small lift on my vehicle (currently running standard GU springs) I needed to adjust the length of the arms by 15mm to remove all vibrations. Obviously, if you know the final length of arms required there is no need to make them adjustable.

It is amazing how light duty the nissan arms are, my new units probably weigh four to five times the nissan ones. The wall thickness on the nissan units cannot be more than two or three mm, whereas the 32NB XXS tubing has an OD of 42mm and a wall thickness of 9.7mm. If you speak to the pipe fabricators that supply the likes of Sasol, they should be able to give you offcuts relatively cheaply.

[Peter Connan]

Adrian if I may ask, why the bottom arms and not the top ones? I would have thought that adjusting the top arms would make less differenc to the wheelbase, and thus have less potential to cause problems with with things like the propshaft splines running out of movement and tires touching bodywork?

The only cases of the standard Nissan arms being damaged are cases where the arms have actually made contact with the ground. They are loaded mainly in tension and compression, with a little bit of torsion added, and therefore do not normally need to be super-heavy to work.

[Adrianjvr]

I guess you could also adjust the upper control arms, but this would just shorten my already short wheelbase. I doubt the wheelbase has increased by more than 5 or 6mm over standard, so I don't believe there will be any issues with the wheels rubbing on the body. I am only running 31 inch tires at the moment. I believe you only start picking up problems when you go to 33 inch which is a little too much for my NA td42.

I agreewith you that the control arms are either in compression or tension with a little torsion thrown in. The lower control arms are however very exposed and a small dent to these tubes could result in very expensive repairs to the drivetrain should they break. I had a look at the after market lower control arms that are for sale in Aus and they are all making them from very heavy tubing becasue of the aforementioned.

[Gerrit Loubser]

Even with a relatively small lift on my vehicle (currently running standard GU springs) I needed to adjust the length of the arms by 15mm to remove all vibrations.

I think that would mean that your wheelbase would also be lengthened by around 15mm.