KingPhilipII's Blue Flame
06-29-12, 09:24 AM
#151
But yeah, I really like the color of the oil filter, I just might paint my SC the same! Lol
Here's how he used to do it before he bought the lasers...
Yup that's right, he used to use a nylon, tied to 2 jackstands located at front and back of the car, perfectly parallel to the cars' body/chassis.
Seriously, big ups to this guy for rediscovering an ancient skill. 'Cause for real, for real, I'm tired of dealing with techs who know nothing about cars anymore, everybody nowadays depend on other machines to fix these machines. Then they have the nerve to charge big time and can't tell you what's wrong when it doesn't show in their "scanners". People lack knowledge nowadays, and that's a fact. That's why there's internet forums, so people with initiative can share and find out.
Last edited by OG Dada; 06-29-12 at 09:29 AM.
06-29-12, 12:01 PM
#152
Lexus Test Driver
Join Date: May 2011
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race cars are still alligned like this. i think professional drifters do too.
there is a little lead pendelum they hang from the chassis. put a mark on the floor and push the car back while ita in neautral. make another mark then push it forward again till the pedelum lands on the spot every time. most accurate way imo to allign a car. mind over matter hommie
there is a little lead pendelum they hang from the chassis. put a mark on the floor and push the car back while ita in neautral. make another mark then push it forward again till the pedelum lands on the spot every time. most accurate way imo to allign a car. mind over matter hommie
06-29-12, 07:26 PM
#155
race cars are still alligned like this. i think professional drifters do too.
there is a little lead pendelum they hang from the chassis. put a mark on the floor and push the car back while ita in neautral. make another mark then push it forward again till the pedelum lands on the spot every time. most accurate way imo to allign a car. mind over matter hommie
there is a little lead pendelum they hang from the chassis. put a mark on the floor and push the car back while ita in neautral. make another mark then push it forward again till the pedelum lands on the spot every time. most accurate way imo to allign a car. mind over matter hommie
Thanks man, I seriously appreciate words from old timers. Still a long way to go though. Builds never really stop ehh?? Lol
Its fun to know though right? Lol I love your new sig bro! Lol
Last edited by OG Dada; 06-30-12 at 01:25 AM.
07-13-12, 09:14 PM
#156
laser alignments, i got teh idea from those crazy nascar guys:
oil filters ... i like the longer sized ones because they allow for longer oci's:
thats actually a damn cool idea, wish i thought about that before i invested thousands into stupid lasers 
oil filters ... i like the longer sized ones because they allow for longer oci's:
race cars are still alligned like this. i think professional drifters do too.
there is a little lead pendelum they hang from the chassis. put a mark on the floor and push the car back while ita in neautral. make another mark then push it forward again till the pedelum lands on the spot every time. most accurate way imo to allign a car. mind over matter hommie
there is a little lead pendelum they hang from the chassis. put a mark on the floor and push the car back while ita in neautral. make another mark then push it forward again till the pedelum lands on the spot every time. most accurate way imo to allign a car. mind over matter hommie
07-13-12, 10:54 PM
#157
Rear Polyurethane Upper & Lower Control Arm Bushings
I know it's been some time since I updated my thread. What can I say, its summer and I'm enjoying it!
Anyways, this was not done in just one day. We have done the lower control arms bushings about a month ago, and finally the uppers today, so the Harbor Freight press is finally getting returned, lol! Now that every single bushing have been replaced to polyurethane ones on chargerfan's SC400, it's all tight and firm now! Huge difference from how it was before, it actually eliminated a lot of vibrations and noises. I also strongly suggest doing this before lowering your SC, as the rear have a really tight space to work on. And the rear is also a 2 man job, so make sure you have a buddy to work with, unless you have 4 arms, then go for it.
The rear is a 5 link suspension set-up, so first start with the rear lower control arms since there's more parts to deal with. Don't forget to mark the camber washers so you can put it back in at least a drivable condition to the alignment shop, or in this case to chargerfan!
And make sure to pair up the bushings with the right size sleeves to make life easier later on.
Start pressing out the bushings like how I showed it in the front upper control arms for the toe arms and rear lower control arms. The only difference you're gonna encounter from the rear is the strut rod.
The strut rod's bushing have a metal sleeve that's perfectly inserted tight and flush along the strut rod's ear.
This is really where the press gets worked up. I know some people who don't have a press and don't wanna get or "rent" one just burn the bushings out then either dremel or hacksaw the metal sleeve, but I'm telling y'all, it's already hard as it is, don't make it harder for yourself.
Now, simply pressing it out doesn't work. You have to find something that'll fit the hole and not get stuck, but big enough to push the metal sleeve out with the bushing. Believe me when I say it, that I've tried pressing out the bushing and hope for the metal sleeve to go with it, and it didn't work. This is the second time I'm doing this, and I found that the size 32mm socket fits perfectly for the bushings that we're about to do.
Position the 32mm socket over the bushing and start pressing it out.
This is how the bushing look like when its out.
Most people wouldn't believe it when I say that the rear upper control arms is way more harder and requires more time to do. But you'll see why.
Remove ABS sensor wire along with the clamps that hold it on to the rear upper control arms.
Remove 19mm lock nut that hold the ball joint of the rear upper control arms to the hub.
Separating the ball joint from the hub requires a bit of brute force. You can either use a ball joint separator or just carefully hit it with a hammer(to where as shown) to break it loose from the hub.
Once the ball joint is loose from the hub, you can pull it out.
Now loosen with a breaker bar(and a lot of effort) the 2 19mm bolts that hold the rear upper control arms to the rear subframe.
Once the 2 bolts are out, you'd find yourself with a matching washer and a weird a$$ design of a nut. You'd understand later on though why.
Anyways, this was not done in just one day. We have done the lower control arms bushings about a month ago, and finally the uppers today, so the Harbor Freight press is finally getting returned, lol! Now that every single bushing have been replaced to polyurethane ones on chargerfan's SC400, it's all tight and firm now! Huge difference from how it was before, it actually eliminated a lot of vibrations and noises. I also strongly suggest doing this before lowering your SC, as the rear have a really tight space to work on. And the rear is also a 2 man job, so make sure you have a buddy to work with, unless you have 4 arms, then go for it.
The rear is a 5 link suspension set-up, so first start with the rear lower control arms since there's more parts to deal with. Don't forget to mark the camber washers so you can put it back in at least a drivable condition to the alignment shop, or in this case to chargerfan!
And make sure to pair up the bushings with the right size sleeves to make life easier later on.
Start pressing out the bushings like how I showed it in the front upper control arms for the toe arms and rear lower control arms. The only difference you're gonna encounter from the rear is the strut rod.
The strut rod's bushing have a metal sleeve that's perfectly inserted tight and flush along the strut rod's ear.
This is really where the press gets worked up. I know some people who don't have a press and don't wanna get or "rent" one just burn the bushings out then either dremel or hacksaw the metal sleeve, but I'm telling y'all, it's already hard as it is, don't make it harder for yourself.
Now, simply pressing it out doesn't work. You have to find something that'll fit the hole and not get stuck, but big enough to push the metal sleeve out with the bushing. Believe me when I say it, that I've tried pressing out the bushing and hope for the metal sleeve to go with it, and it didn't work. This is the second time I'm doing this, and I found that the size 32mm socket fits perfectly for the bushings that we're about to do.
Position the 32mm socket over the bushing and start pressing it out.
This is how the bushing look like when its out.
Most people wouldn't believe it when I say that the rear upper control arms is way more harder and requires more time to do. But you'll see why.
Remove ABS sensor wire along with the clamps that hold it on to the rear upper control arms.
Remove 19mm lock nut that hold the ball joint of the rear upper control arms to the hub.
Separating the ball joint from the hub requires a bit of brute force. You can either use a ball joint separator or just carefully hit it with a hammer(to where as shown) to break it loose from the hub.
Once the ball joint is loose from the hub, you can pull it out.
Now loosen with a breaker bar(and a lot of effort) the 2 19mm bolts that hold the rear upper control arms to the rear subframe.
Once the 2 bolts are out, you'd find yourself with a matching washer and a weird a$$ design of a nut. You'd understand later on though why.
07-13-12, 10:54 PM
#158
Continuation 1...
The rear upper control arms would look like this once off the car.
The RUCA also has a weird bushing design. The metal sleeve that sits flush against the control arm ear overlaps at the edge of the ear. Basically, it only go one way in and one way out.
First thing to do is open up the metal sleeve that overlaps the ear of the control arms, with a chisel and a hammer for both ends. You'll see later on why we need to do this.
Finished product should look like this.
Fortunately we only need to burn out one bushing for each rear upper control arms.
My POV.
Help take the bushing out by prying it out with a "dirty" screwdriver.
And like I said, another weird a$$ bushing design.
And clean some rubber off if you're OC about it.
Make sure you pee on it before touching it.
Now you can see the metal sleeve clearly, which is the reason why we can't simply press the bushing out.
Below view.
Grab that 32mm socket we used for the strut rod, and assemble it with an extension like this;
This is the reason why we needed to open up the overlap of the metal sleeves. If you don't do it, the RUCA will just keep sliding off of the arbor plates as there's a very little space for it to hold on to.
The RUCA also has a weird bushing design. The metal sleeve that sits flush against the control arm ear overlaps at the edge of the ear. Basically, it only go one way in and one way out.
First thing to do is open up the metal sleeve that overlaps the ear of the control arms, with a chisel and a hammer for both ends. You'll see later on why we need to do this.
Finished product should look like this.
Fortunately we only need to burn out one bushing for each rear upper control arms.
My POV.
Help take the bushing out by prying it out with a "dirty" screwdriver.
And like I said, another weird a$$ bushing design.
And clean some rubber off if you're OC about it.
Make sure you pee on it before touching it.
Now you can see the metal sleeve clearly, which is the reason why we can't simply press the bushing out.
Below view.
Grab that 32mm socket we used for the strut rod, and assemble it with an extension like this;
This is the reason why we needed to open up the overlap of the metal sleeves. If you don't do it, the RUCA will just keep sliding off of the arbor plates as there's a very little space for it to hold on to.
Last edited by OG Dada; 07-13-12 at 11:24 PM.
07-13-12, 10:55 PM
#159
Continuation 2...
And this is why we only burn out one bushing. With one bushing out, we can press out the other one the same way it went in.
Make sure that everything is balanced and aligned or you'll find heavy metal pieces flying over your feet.
Watch the bushing progress as you press it out so you don't waste time.
Bushing off of the RUCA.
Flip it and start pressing out the metal sleeve.
As you can see this part requires both hands and a foot.
Metal sleeve off of the RUCA.
Install your new polyurethane bushings same way as shown before.
Remember the washer and that weird looking nut that came off with the bolts that hold the RUCA on the subframe? This is it. It was designed with a tab to stop itself from rotating along with the bolt as you tighten it down to spec from the other side.
It is a very clever design, but it doesn't work as well as it's supposed to. The problem lies with the subframe shape.
Before the nut sit flush the subframe surface, the tab doesn't hit anything that would cause it to jam itself to stop rotating with the bolt so you still have to hold it in place. And even before you get to tighten it, the tab just tends to sit on top of the subframe metal bend it's supposed to jam itself in.
Best thing you can do is manually put something in between the subframe bend and the tab like a big screwdriver or a breaker bar to stop it from rotating.
Once you tighten everything down to spec, and assemble everything, test drive your SC to enjoy the huge difference it'll make to your SC's handling! Good luck peeps!
Make sure that everything is balanced and aligned or you'll find heavy metal pieces flying over your feet.
Watch the bushing progress as you press it out so you don't waste time.
Bushing off of the RUCA.
Flip it and start pressing out the metal sleeve.
As you can see this part requires both hands and a foot.
Metal sleeve off of the RUCA.
Install your new polyurethane bushings same way as shown before.
Remember the washer and that weird looking nut that came off with the bolts that hold the RUCA on the subframe? This is it. It was designed with a tab to stop itself from rotating along with the bolt as you tighten it down to spec from the other side.
It is a very clever design, but it doesn't work as well as it's supposed to. The problem lies with the subframe shape.
Before the nut sit flush the subframe surface, the tab doesn't hit anything that would cause it to jam itself to stop rotating with the bolt so you still have to hold it in place. And even before you get to tighten it, the tab just tends to sit on top of the subframe metal bend it's supposed to jam itself in.
Best thing you can do is manually put something in between the subframe bend and the tab like a big screwdriver or a breaker bar to stop it from rotating.
Once you tighten everything down to spec, and assemble everything, test drive your SC to enjoy the huge difference it'll make to your SC's handling! Good luck peeps!
Last edited by OG Dada; 07-14-12 at 11:35 PM.
07-14-12, 12:04 AM
#161
KingPhilip, thank you...thank you. Great write up with lots of explanitory pictures, just what I could use. I've had new bushings for awhile but haven't installed them because of all the talk of sleeves, etc. Your post has all the details I need now.
07-14-12, 02:34 AM
#165
Driver
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Hmmm. Not flairin but why didnt you but these with all that effort:
http://www.tcsportline.com/index.php...mart&Itemid=75
http://www.tcsportline.com/index.php...mart&Itemid=75