kit cat

iTrader: (6)

[UPDATE]

:LOOSE FEEL NOT DUE TO RCA:
The loose feel is not gone even after uninstalling the RCA and driving for about a year.

The loose feel is present even after...
1) uninstalling RCA
2) installed figs engineering heim joints for front caster arms
3) installed Daizen polyurethane bushing for the other front suspension pivot points

Also note that I already have Daizen steering rack and sway bar bushing and the JZS147 strut tower brace.

Thus, I reasonably ruled out the RCAs as the cause of the loose feel. Rather, I believe the RCAs WERE NOT THE REASON of the loose feel. I'm still trying to make the chassis feel tighter but it just might be from age since my car has 230k miles...

:STUCK BOLT CAUSED BY MIDWEST SALT:
My friends and I looked into this and concluded that the bolt broke off due to the horrid midwest winter salt and summer humidity induced rust...

Considering the horrible weather/road conditions here and stock bolts/nuts snapping everywhere (link to thread where my sway bar mount bolts snapped), I really can't complain...

Pictures are worth a thousand words... below is after use of 4 full years (I daily the car also).



Link to thread when I bought the Sage RCA...

With that said, I would still recommend the Sage RCA blocks. In fact I am currently in the process of buying another set from Sage .

[/ end of update]

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So I did my annual lower-ball-joint replacement over the weekend.

FRONT SUSPENSION SOUNDS AND LOOSE FEELING
My front suspension has been making metal-to-metal sound (especially when going from driving forward to reverse...like when parking) and the suspension has been feeling very loose lately. I thought it was due to me hitting a crater driving the Chicago roads and busting my front lower brace.

REPLACING LOWER BALL JOINT AND SNAPPING BOLTS
Passenger side went smoothly, but the driver side...
the bolts that go through the ball joint/RCA and into the knuckle would not budge at all. It moved, but it did not feel good...as if it was going to snap. So, I went to go get the torch, PB blaster, and air tools. but my friend thought he could strong arm it with a breaker bar while I was looking through the garage.

and SNAP

bolt breaks.

INITIAL EXAMINATION
I haven't looked at it closely yet but is anyone elses' extended bolts that go through the RCA weathered badly? Also, does your extended bolt fit snug within the RCA or does it have more room than what looks beyond normal machining tolerance?
I took off the entire knuckle, clamped down the knuckle, and luckily another friend of mine was able to extract out the broken bolt. Ironically, since the holes in the RCA was not threaded, giving us just enough grip to extract it out.

MY THEORY
This is just a theory, and I am NOT pointing any fingers to anyone, but I am starting to think that due to the extra room (RCA hole diameter being larger than bolt diameter), it was causing a slight movement and putting unnecessary stress on the bolt and its threads and also allowing weathering to seep up the threads causing the bolts to seize in the knuckle.

I took out the RCA on both sides but I have no more metal-to-metal sound anymore. The lower chassis brace was not broken. But since I replaced the ball joint also, I can't say for sure if it was the RCA moving around...however, the metal-to-metal sound was when there was foward-backward movement only.

I will post up pics later.

CLIFFNOTES:
changed lower ball joints
1 bolt (extended one for the RCA) snapped
took out RCA
no more metal-to-metal sound

BLK13X

Loose feeling suspension could be the control arm bushes? I haven't heard of this type of thing really happen to the 2GS but on Soarers especially at this age they let go and do all sorts of strange things (e.g groaning noises, if you accelerate and brake at walking pace you can hear the control arm having not moving laterally with the car if that makes any sense). I haven't pulled apart the GS yet, what size bolt run through the RCA?

2eXceL

iTrader: (2)

What RCAs setup were you running? Can you post details on the parts and the exact bolt you broke. Also bolt specifications would be helpful. I know some people have previously said they are running grade 12.9. Which IMHO is not what you want in the LBJ, due to high degree of brittleness.

Regardless that still doesn't explain why the hole is larger on the RCA and if this may have been a contributing factor as you suggest.

Also, just wondering, do you really replace your LBJ annually?? I know the No.2 LCA bushings go bad and can lead to early failure of the LBJ, but how many miles are you running yearly? Or you just replace them due to an aggressive suspension setup. I know most ppl have said about 80K mile replacement is recommended.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Coco, it's been years since I've looked at the stock ball joint, but I recall the hole diameter wasn't that tight either. In any case, the bolt is suppose to see tension load, and very little shear stress. It's the metal sleeves on the ball joint and RCA that are suppose to steer the knuckle. Take your RCA, put it on the knuckle and wiggle it around. It shouldn't be that loose. If it is, then your bolts are doing the steering and the metal sleeves are not doing their job. I made mine with a very close running fit and have very little wiggle room. It's the same scenario between the RCA and ball joint. If you can wiggle it a great deal, then the hole on the RCA was drilled/bored out too big for the ball joint sleeves. Last thing you want is to compound the loose tolerance to create one big one.

PHML

iTrader: (33)

Yuki, if there is any play between the lower ball joint (LBJ) and the RCA, then you need to check these areas....the LBJ cylinder rings and the hole opening that fits onto the LBJ cylinder rings. It should be a nice fit with minimal movement (if any) without any bolts to secure down. The other area is the cylinder rings on top of the RCA which the hub assembly rests on. This too should have minimal movement without the bolts in place. If you do have movement more 1mm, then you may need new cylinder rings. Have you checked if the new LBJ rings have the same diameter as the cylinder rings diameter? If you can take measurements of both, that would be helpful.

Pete

kit cat

iTrader: (6)

Updated first post...
Concluded no fault to RCA.