Cascade Crew

[jchaussee]

K. And I do believe that I saw I can buy fronts only with the sportlines

[91RSVert]

The stock control arms are the best you can get for daily driving. Just refresh them with new bushings and ball joints.

If you put the bushings in yourself, weld a brace over the "wings" before you push them out. I had a bitch of a time pressing new ones in because it bent the wings pushing them out.

[blue89]

I completely agree. I boxed my arms and ran the metal all the way up. Did the same thing with my front a-arms and the guy pressing in the new bushings thanked me up and down because it made it much easier.

[aaron_sK]

You don't actually have to weld the brace in. I just beat my brace into each one as I did them, and then popped it back out when I was done.

[jchaussee]

So I need to get bushings pressed in? If so can they press them out?

[aaron_sK]

We don't know if you need to get bushings pressed.

That's like asking if you need your oil changed. It depends on your ability and toolset.

I did my own, others on the crew have done their own or had them done.

[jchaussee]

Sure I can. I was just reading on tgo

[aaron_sK]

[jchaussee]

Hey also I was reading that If case is lowered then the end link sleeves also need to be shorter. So how much shorter. How does one figure out length?

[Dewey316]

are you talking the end link sleve for the tie rod on a lowered car? If so, no, you do not need to modify or change it in any way.

[DBL_TKE]

You don't NEED too, but it puts a preload on the end link.

[Twilightoptics]

I never bothered with the end link sleeve trim. Stock IROC bar seemed to have plenty of action and wasn't bound. I suppose for the extreme lowering job with cut or removed bump stops I could see it worth while.

I also think boxing the A-arm just adds weight. Drill the rubber. Use an air hammer to pop out the bushing sleeves. Then like Aaron said, a piece of whatever in between the bushing ends of the a-arm to keep them from collapsing. I just use a piece of tubing cut to length and wedge it in opposite the strength side.

Just did em on dad's car this way. Works like a charm. Then just tap the piece out and move on to the next one. If you have a big enough vice you can install with a vise. But a press is much easier.

[aaron_sK]

When I did mine I drilled the old ones as Paul mentioned, but not having and air hammer I notched the sleeves with a hacksaw and pressed them in on themselves.

I pressed the new bushings in with the cups from the Autozone rental ball joint tool and my ginormous vise.

As for the sway bar thing, like most stuff from TGO, it just doesn't make logical sense. Maybe someone who is more skilled with suspension that I will tune in, but this is how I see it:

Anti roll bar is there to prevent one a-arm from moving up (towards the chassis) while the other moves down (away from the chassis). It does nothing when both a-arms moves up or down and equal amount. When you lower the car you move both arms an equal amount. The bar still functions exactly the same.

[Alphius]

When you lower the car both A-arms do move an equal amount. This puts the endlinks under slight tension all the time since the geometry between the A-arm and the end of the swaybar (the space that the link bridges) is now out of line.

That being said, it's totally a non-issue. I've never seen any binding or issues with stock length links and I'd wager neither has anyone else on the crew. The only thing I can think of as being a problem would be that the bushings on the endlinks might wear in a funny way but so far that hasn't been the case for me. Poly lasts a pretty long time.

[91RSVert]

I put shorter endlinks on mine. And no matter what you do, yes it puts them at an angle and will wear the bushings early.

I just replaced mine after about 5'ish years of being lowered.

technically, after being lowered. You SHOULD use shorter endlinks as the end of the swaybar where it bolts to, SHOULD be parallel with the ground. Then at same time, you SHOULD weld shut the hole in the a-arm, and drill a new one that will make the endlink exactly vertical. If the endlink is at / angle. It will tilt it tell it puts max pressure on the bushing, then starts putting pressure on the swaybar.

How many people actually go thru all this? Not many at all.

[Alphius]

True, the swaybar ends should be parallel to the ground for proper bar loading and force transfer. Otherwise some of your force is wasted because your endlink lacks leverage on the swaybar. Or rather (more precisely), the endlink is exerting force that is not only trying to force the swaybar end upwards, but also outwards because it is not exactly perpendicular to the swaybar. That outwards force is wasted since it does not at any time apply to the other side's wheel. This would wear out not only the endlink material but also put a lot of side load on the swaybar bushings and theoretically wear them out faster as well.

A lot of the negative effects of the improper suspension and steering geometry on a lowered thirdgen are negated by having a fairly stiff spring. Swaybar endlink alignment is a pretty small piece of the puzzle, we also suffer from bad tie rod angle with lowering resulting in bump steer, bad bump camber/caster curve and bad A-arm angle. The stiffer your spring, the less any of that "improper" suspension geometry will have a chance to affect your handling since the suspension deflects less over irregularities.

Like 91RSVert says though, very few people go through all the trouble and the difference is likely to be fairly insignificant on the street, to the point of being unnoticeable to most.

[Twilightoptics]

That's because very few people are tame racing car drivers and can feel these changes at the molecular level.


Some say that he is the real jack-in-the-box. While others fear he may already be the e coli inside you. All we know is, he's called THE STIG.