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Thread: New control arms and full front end kit from SLR

  1. #1
    SLR is offline Senior Member Supporting Vendor
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    New control arms and full front end kit from SLR

    Some pics of our new complete racing arm with roll-center kit; these arms are nearly 30% lighter than stock.

    Last 3 pictures are our adjustable length drift arms for big steering angle.

    The roll-center spacer/steering plates also give adjustable ackerman effect and you can shim the tie-rod mount for bump-steer tuning.
















    Pictures are from the past week, the race control arm and roll-center kit is already on one of Orr Autosport's cars at Autobahn Motortsport Park this weekend. Drift arms are still in powder coating.

    -Sean
    SLRspeed.com <Website getting an overhaul very soon!

  2. #2
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    Very nice. Are these for e36 only? Any e46 fitment?

  3. #3
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    Looks interesting. Why not place a hemi joint at the rear where the delrin bushing is in the picture?
    Cost?
    Dan "PbFut" Rose

  4. #4
    SLR is offline Senior Member Supporting Vendor
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    Quote Originally Posted by PbFut
    Looks interesting. Why not place a hemi joint at the rear where the delrin bushing is in the picture?
    Cost?
    We can provide the kit with heim LCA mounts for $95 extra, however delrin is self lubricating and works great on a budget.

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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by PbFut View Post
    Looks interesting. Why not place a hemi joint at the rear where the delrin bushing is in the picture?
    Cost?
    Be careful about a solid joint there. It puts a lot of stress on the frame under braking. You don't want your car looking like this and heading home before you even race.

    RRT ended up having to create an entirely new mount since it ripped up my whole rail. Came up with a really good mount with better load placement than stock and has been rock solid since, but I can never again use the stock mounting places because of the damage (would have to replace the entire rail section basically). Age, rust, cycling of the metal may have helped it along, but my car was a southern car that was garaged and in decent shape. All our cars are old at this point so be careful.

    Last edited by Spec3HOR; 01-16-2013 at 08:57 AM.

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    What does the control arm look like that made your rear joint fail?

    The SLR arm doesn't "hinge" so the load on the rear joint will be similar to stock. The rear joint was not designed to deal will fore and aft. If you look at old DTM cars the rear joint was modified with a piece that extended down the frame rail. If your arm hinges and you just put somekind of bespoke mount in the lollipop you can get that kind of failure for sure.
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  8. #8
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    I believe he is talking about AKG parts, not the offereings from SLR, but the watchout still remains. High loads, older cars, routine inspection / replacement is a must.

    Regards, Nate.
    Last edited by TOOLEAN; 01-16-2013 at 09:46 AM.
    Regards, Nate.
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  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by TOOLEAN View Post
    I believe he is talking about AKG parts, not the offereings from SLR, but the watchout still remains. High loads, older cars, routine inspection / replacement is a must.

    Regards, Nate.
    +1

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    Quote Originally Posted by Spec3HOR View Post
    +1
    I saw your failure at MO, I was running around trying to help Crist, never got a chance to introduce myself, but never the less, very glad you are OK!
    Regards, Nate.
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    Quote Originally Posted by TOOLEAN View Post
    I believe he is talking about AKG parts, not the offereings from SLR, but the watchout still remains. High loads, older cars, routine inspection / replacement is a must.

    Regards, Nate.
    That was my point. The AKG part for example, the control arm is 2 pieces with the rear piece hinging. So when you hit the brakes, you get a for/aft load on the rear mount. The AKG part also does not have a reinforcement.

    The SLR arm does not hinge and basically works exactly like the stock arm.
    2000 M Coupe
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  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by TOOLEAN View Post
    I saw your failure at MO, I was running around trying to help Crist, never got a chance to introduce myself, but never the less, very glad you are OK!
    Thanks. Tried fixes in the paddock.

    I am unsure of the geometry issues but I got the AKGs over the SLRs for other reasons.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spec3HOR View Post
    Thanks. Tried fixes in the paddock.

    I am unsure of the geometry issues but I got the AKGs over the SLRs for other reasons.
    I remember that failure at Mid-O. It was messed up pretty good. Sorry my parts didn't get you back on track, but can't say you didn't try!! I guess my late night tranny change on friday seems not such a big deal as your control arm failure ! Wasn't a good weekend for GTS2 E36's.


    -Scott B.
    Last edited by scottbm3; 01-16-2013 at 06:27 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by scottbm3 View Post
    Wasn't a good weekend for GTS2 E36's
    You can say that again. NO WAY a 944 wins 2 this year!
    Regards, Nate.
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  15. #15
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    These are interesting for sure - I am assuming that the joints are all replaceable?
    #23 94' 325is S50 - NASA GTS3


  16. #16
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    Yes they are Mark. Either rod ends or sphericals - which just pop out with C-clips. Fastest ball joint replacements I have ever done. :-)
    Regards, Nate.
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  17. #17
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    does anyone have any pictures of the reinforcement for FCAB area

    would be keen to see what people have done.

    I am doing a full bushing and arm replacement in the next few months and will be doing all the strengthening while I have the drivetrain out. Had not considered the FCAB area. I have got some AKG lollipops, so sounds like it would be a good thing to do!

    Doing RTAB, Swaybar, engine mounts and shock towers. Already have rear subframe done.

  18. #18
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    Honestly, people are only reinforcing them after they rip out. I have only heard of two so far. The GTS2 listed above and a CMOD near Chicago. If you wanted to do it just for the hell of it, you should consider plating the area- the two bolts would likely try to rip out of the frame rail, but it is still a lot of work for a low incident level.
    Regards, Nate.
    www.DriveFasterNow.com

  19. #19
    SLR is offline Senior Member Supporting Vendor
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    Well like you mentioned earlier Nate, this failure is due to the redirected load path. The "lollipop' of FCAB ,mount is designed for a lateral load, and when you use a multi-piece control arm the load is converted to a longitudinal load (fore/aft) down the radius rod.

    Furthermore, you give the load a lever arm by having the pivot point extending out from the frame rail, and furthermore again, the load down the radius rod is already more than the tire load due to the radius rod joining the control arm roughly at 1/3 of it's length from the tire. So you have a mount designed for a lateral load, taking a longitudinal load, with roughly TWICE the original design load being applied.

    That's one of the major reasons I didn't start down that direction for the SLR race control arm kit.

    The original Motorsport setup used chassis mounts that wrapped around the side of the frame rail and you had to drill and install a thread insert for a third bolt which stopped the mount from twisting due to the longitudinal load:

    Last edited by SLR; 03-02-2013 at 07:37 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

  20. #20
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    Those arms look nice!
    -Nick
    91 E30 M42 on VEMS

    Turbo Camshaft Thread

  21. #21
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    Sorry for the ignorance, but could someone explain to me why these are beneficial? Not questioning the product, I would just like to learn something. TIA

  22. #22
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    Roll center correction so you can lower the ride height without compromising kinematic roll resistance. Also gets you back in the happy region of the strut camber curve.

    Ackermann adjustment to change how much more the inner wheel turns than the outer wheel. (Though from what I can tell, BMW gets it right on most cars at a variety of ride heights... I think this is a problem that comes from the extreme steering angles built into drift cars)

    Bump steer adjustment to keep the steering arms mostly parallel with the ground and in line with the rack, avoiding unwanted steering over bumps and in cornering.

    Serviceable bearings so you don't have to spend $600 on arms once (or more) a season.

    Delrin rear bushing reduces unwanted deflection and resulting changes in geometry, especially under braking.


    The bearings alone are worth it, too bad the roll center kit is not legal in a lot of classes

    PS, is that all hand TIG? Nice job I'd love to see the jig for this piece.
    Last edited by illinipo; 03-02-2013 at 10:42 PM.

  23. #23
    SLR is offline Senior Member Supporting Vendor
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    Quote Originally Posted by illinipo View Post
    Roll center correction so you can lower the ride height without compromising kinematic roll resistance. Also gets you back in the happy region of the strut camber curve.

    Ackermann adjustment to change how much more the inner wheel turns than the outer wheel. (Though from what I can tell, BMW gets it right on most cars at a variety of ride heights... I think this is a problem that comes from the extreme steering angles built into drift cars)

    Bump steer adjustment to keep the steering arms mostly parallel with the ground and in line with the rack, avoiding unwanted steering over bumps and in cornering.

    Serviceable bearings so you don't have to spend $600 on arms once (or more) a season.

    Delrin rear bushing reduces unwanted deflection and resulting changes in geometry, especially under braking.


    The bearings alone are worth it, too bad the roll center kit is not legal in a lot of classes

    PS, is that all hand TIG? Nice job I'd love to see the jig for this piece.

    Thank you, yes they are all hand TIG welded here in Florida.

    A few more benefits:

    1) Unsprung weight; our tubular control arms are half the weight of OEM arms.

    2) Built-in quick-steering; since we move the steering pin closer to the ball-joint, the steering ratio becomes faster with any rack. A few of our customers are even running the kit with a Z3 rack and have reported no twitchiness at speed on the straights, but like a touring car in the turns.

    3)Our setup offers more more bump-steer correction in a smaller wheel than any bump-steer kit; a result of the relocated steering pin.

    Also you're right about BMW getting the ackerman correct. We ship the kits with an eccentric bolt that allows you to set factory ackerman level for racing, and the bolt is simply reversed on our drift kits.

    -Sean
    SLRspeed.com
    Last edited by SLR; 03-02-2013 at 11:16 PM.

  24. #24
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    Good to know. Thanks guys!

  25. #25
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    sean, seen my email? super keen on this kit for christmas =)

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