Back in time...way back...I think Borat stuff was current then...I got Pissed Off! And then a lot of time passed during which a lot of things happened (Obama Presidency, Economic Malaise, Cultural Revolution, and the slow goldening of the golden era of Honda's and the culture that that era engendered)...I can't do very much about any of That...but I can take care of that thing that was pissing me off.

About the Front Upper Control Arm on those of our Kaa's that resemble the DC2R...this is an important element of the kaa's suspension...we all Know that we need to be able to set the front camber where our tires and our laptimes tell us it needs to be set. So you're just a guy and you order up a set of Adjustable UCA's - Skunk, Blox, something like that. And you bolt them on and set your camber and you drive. Some things happen - the ball joint boss slips in the housing and you learn or figure out that powder coating is like a lubricant, and you need to get metal-to-metal contact between the ball joint boss and the housing And some more clamping force - then one day somehow you notice that the ball joint is loose ie "worn out" you think prematurely. This stuff is **** eh? Well, Yes, It Is.

What can you do about it? Ah! I can upgrade to Skunk's "Pro" ball joint. Maybe. I don't know. There are other options, but before considering them it's worth stepping back and looking at the whole thing.

If you look at the stock UCA at full bump you should be impressed by how it conforms to the inner fender, clears the knuckle, and nothing interferes with anything else. Unremarkable and we take it for granted. Do the same with the typical aftermarket adjustable UCA and you will see that the housing (and maybe the arms midpoint) hits the inner fender significantly earlier in the bump travel, and that there is interference even before that between the inboard end of the housing and the knuckle, AND that the balljoint runs out of angularity even before That! Did I mention that this stuff is ****?

Alternatives: Brian Slames (PCI) has some nice looking arms available thru Kiwi: DC2 Integra-EG Civic Front Upper Control Arms ? Special Projects Motor Sports Brian has earned a reputation for thinking things thru and I would expect satisfaction from his parts (no laughing!) He's honest enough in his blurb to mention holding reduction in bump travel to a minimum.

In the short run I decided to mutate my OLD C-Speed arms - similar to currently available arms but having the housing located further inboard and orienting the ball joint more similarly to the stock UCA (current stuff has the housing welded in at a slightly flattened angle presumably to help address the limited angularity of the ball joints they're using - inadequately though). I made up a slider boss with a riser to position the ball joint as high in the arm as the clearance to the inner fender/tower would allow - costs just a 1/16 inch at the shock shaft vs the stock UCA. For ball joints I used Moog Problem Solver - one of two p/n's that come up for Honda applications.

Scott, who is moving so slowly that by the time I'm done they probably won't even have cars anymore....

 

I've looking for reviews of those PCI arms but no luck so far. Has anyone here used them? I don't want LCA to shock tower contact. :/

 

I know the black DC2R from the Loi Spec crew that runs all kinds of aero and 17 inch CE28's is running them. I'm also running them, but have yet to get my ITR on track at all due to an engine rebuild taking longer than expected at the machine shop. I've got the PCI front UCA as well as their back camber links.

 

I know my friend with an STL Civic has problems with those shitty eBay arms hitting his inner chassis. I run them on my HPDE car and they're fine because I'm not low as ****.

Personally, I like the idea of just running the stock Honda arms. Some SCCA Classes don't even allow for custom arms, so you can get away with a competitive setup in some cases. (I am basing this comment off what I've read and heard, so I may be wrong).

If you're having problems with the arm hitting the chassis, just beat the **** out of your wheel well or grind down the arm, wold be my solution. I'm a minimalist and a bit ghetto lol.

 

Oh yes, these aftermarket UCA's do indeed have their issues. On the CRX racekaaa we just used the 5/8 degree SPC manufactured offset bushings in the positive camber increase position (delta of course) to compensate for the increase in negative static camber thanks to lowering to race ride height. The 5/8 degree gets us in the ballpark without having to resort to the issues with using these floating ball joint UCA's.

 

Wholly crap its Johnny Mac... are your back from the lost and racing in so cal again, or did you just checkin?
We've had some aero issues in months past that your input would of helped out a lot.
Good to see you back though.

 

This is one of those things that experience teaches...if you're close then you're close enough...while there is an award for how many decimal places you think you optimized to we know it's actually a douchebag award...

Scott, who gets happy when old friends like Johnny Mac stop by...

 

I've saved a few pictures of designs that I liked, I need to dig them up when I get back to my personal computer at home. One was a pair of oem arms that were modded to use shim stacks for adjustment. I really liked that idea, retains the oem ball joint and geometry and has no sliding joints to slip or bang into the towers.

Your custom sliders are pretty sweet though, kind of makes me wish I didn't angrily throw my Skunk2 ones in the trash after the last set of ball joints went to **** in them.

Edit: Found the pic, right here in the for sale thread of this very sub forum

 

Hi Adam,

I've got a set of Skunks chopped up halfway to that, though with a machined ubj boss like the DC cars. Most of the work is in creating decent jigs and fixtures, partway thru which I said "Hey, this is alot of work for a sixteenth of an inch, why don't I just...". The beauty of the part in the pic above is that UCA is recycled in its entirety minimizing total cost.

Scott,