Preferred Lower (Rear) Control Arms?

[Incompatible]

Thinking of dropping the car with a set of Eibach springs and know that I will need to adjust the rear camber afterwards. I’ve looked at the Eibach, Ground Control, UUC, and Turner (TMS) lower control arms. This is primarily for street with limited autoX/track use, so no need for heim or spherical bearings. For those that have these, any specific likes, dislikes, problems? TIA

[O-cha]

Originally Posted by Incompatible

Thinking of dropping the car with a set of Eibach springs and know that I will need to adjust the rear camber afterwards. I’ve looked at the Eibach, Ground Control, UUC, and Turner (TMS) lower control arms. This is primarily for street with limited autoX/track use, so no need for heim or spherical bearings. For those that have these, any specific likes, dislikes, problems? TIA

They are all pretty much the same.

Make sure you get a good shop to install them, if they are the style with the rubber bushing at the subframe the car MUST be on the ground before tightening the control arm there. CHECK to make sure they do this while they do it. Easier if they have a 4 post lift but not required.

[onebluemcm]

Originally Posted by Incompatible

Thinking of dropping the car with a set of Eibach springs and know that I will need to adjust the rear camber afterwards. I’ve looked at the Eibach, Ground Control, UUC, and Turner (TMS) lower control arms. This is primarily for street with limited autoX/track use, so no need for heim or spherical bearings. For those that have these, any specific likes, dislikes, problems? TIA

Admitting ignorance here - I didn't know we needed to even consider LCAs with just springs. What are the limitations for rear camber on stock form?

[Incompatible]

With our cars as with many others with similar suspension designs, the lower the car the greater amount of negative camber. The amount of camber desired is dependent on total suspension setup, car application (dedicated track, track/street, aggressive street, .....) and driving style to name a few of the considerations. A high amount of camber may be good for a race car, but introduces quirky handling and excessive inside tire wear in a street car. Adjustable lower rear control arms are an easy way to compensate for the increase in rear camber when a car is lowered or to adjust the camber to achieve certain handling characteristics. Sometimes the increase in camber which results from lowering falls into an acceptable range without the use/expense of adjustable control arms.

[O-cha]

Originally Posted by Incompatible

With our cars as with many others with similar suspension designs, the lower the car the greater amount of negative camber. The amount of camber desired is dependent on total suspension setup, car application (dedicated track, track/street, aggressive street, .....) and driving style to name a few of the considerations. A high amount of camber may be good for a race car, but introduces quirky handling and excessive inside tire wear in a street car. Adjustable lower rear control arms are an easy way to compensate for the increase in rear camber when a car is lowered or to adjust the camber to achieve certain handling characteristics. Sometimes the increase in camber which results from lowering falls into an acceptable range without the use/expense of adjustable control arms.

They are already adjustable, you need these if you need stronger arms or MORE adjustment. < 1 inch and you wont need them.

[Incompatible]

Originally Posted by O-cha

They are already adjustable, you need these if you need stronger arms or MORE adjustment. < 1 inch and you wont need them.

Time to educate me. The lower rear control arms on the Z4 (07 3.0Si) are adjustable? Thanks for the continuing info.

Disregard, just found this on the Rogue Engineering website:
"An Adjustable Rear Control Arm (ARCA) determines the rear wheels' camber settings. This is important on vehicles that are lowered or frequent the track. Whereas the factory arms are adjustable, they have limited range because of the eccentric cam bolt design. While lightweight in design, the "BBQ Tong" design of the factory arms cannot withstand the continual pounding of track and street driving forever."

So it appears that the real question is: how much negative camber do I want?

[SteveInfante]

Good questions and answers. I was wondering about these as well. I had a lot of negative camber on my last car and it didn't eat through the insides of the tires as much as I thought it would. The aftermarket ones are a little lighter too I think.

[O-cha]

Originally Posted by Incompatible

Time to educate me. The lower rear control arms on the Z4 (07 3.0Si) are adjustable? Thanks for the continuing info.

Disregard, just found this on the Rogue Engineering website:
"An Adjustable Rear Control Arm (ARCA) determines the rear wheels' camber settings. This is important on vehicles that are lowered or frequent the track. Whereas the factory arms are adjustable, they have limited range because of the eccentric cam bolt design. While lightweight in design, the "BBQ Tong" design of the factory arms cannot withstand the continual pounding of track and street driving forever."

So it appears that the real question is: how much negative camber do I want?

No the question is if youre dropping a ton how much negative camber DONT you want.

The rear of my car for instance is dropped of the adjustments, I don't know exactly how far but it's not slammed. My camber is maxed @ 2.5 I can't get less. but that's also exactly what I wanted.

Most street cars will only want 1-1.5 rear camber or maybe less for tire wear. That's probably going to be your biggest desire for these.

[Incompatible]

Originally Posted by O-cha

Most street cars will only want 1-1.5 rear camber or maybe less for tire wear. That's probably going to be your biggest desire for these.

O-cha, there's a lot of info about the Z4M for stock, autox, and track suspensions settings. but little for the non-M Z4. Do you know (or where to look) for the factory 3.0Si with sport suspension settings? Thanks again.