ok so I work at a machine shop and the owner makes some crazy **** out of aluminum and offered to make me a set of LCA's for my car, I create the design and he will run it through the computer and cut the pieces on the cnc machine. I just have to buy the aluminum.

now my question is, is there any special process that the big mfg companies do to their LCA's or do they just cut them, anodize them, and call it a day? I know they spend tons of money in R&D and test them and everything but I wanted to know if it would be safe to have a set made, anodize them, and put them on my car.

this guy is **** about everything down to the .0001 of an inch on EVERYTHING so I'm not worried about the geometry being correct and everything like that. also I would be using 7075 aluminum just like Function-7 uses. thanks for the help

 

no one?

 

most people who replace their lca's simply use an off the shelf option, anywhere from jdmtacular color anodized crap to trick machined aluminum stuff such as function 7.
I cant think of anyone who has done a one-off set in fact.

As far as setting up the geometry, simple and effective way would be to simply mirror the stock geometry.
I'd still be reluctant to run a set of arms like that that hadnt been run through FEA analysis and revised several times to make absolutely certain it was up to real world loads. Theres alot more than just drawing out a design that looks cool and going to town with a machining rig.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Voyage34 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">most people who replace their lca's simply use an off the shelf option, anywhere from jdmtacular color anodized crap to trick machined aluminum stuff such as function 7.
I cant think of anyone who has done a one-off set in fact.

As far as setting up the geometry, simple and effective way would be to simply mirror the stock geometry.
I'd still be reluctant to run a set of arms like that that hadnt been run through FEA analysis and revised several times to make absolutely certain it was up to real world loads. Theres alot more than just drawing out a design that looks cool and going to town with a machining rig.</TD></TR></TABLE>


I know function 7, omni, etc, put a whole lot of R&D into their stuff but how much R&D do the ebay no named brands put into their stuff?

is there any way to have them tested w/o spending a ton of money??? I'm going to be spending a total of about $175 for 2 chunks of aluminum. if its not like $1000 to have a set tested then I'd be willing to pay it, but if not then I'm still going to have a set made and slap them on when I go to shows/meets, just take it nice and easy


anyone else? thanks for the input voyage

 

Unless you're doing this and actually revising geometry, like perhaps changing camber angles or something, I would highly suggest just buying a set like F7's, or even just keeping your stock control arms. Stock really works just fine.

Otherwise, I would that would be alot of time and effort and money if you're just going to end up with the same geometry as stock, and something similar to what's already on the market.

 

I'm only going to be paying for the solid pieces of aluminum at wholesale cost, and they will be done for free while I'm on the clock at work so basically I'll be getting paid while they are getting done. and the only way I'd be able to change camber is by making them shorter which will suck the wheels inside the wheel wells and I don't really want that. I'm more doing it for the wow factor then anything else. like I said I'm not worried one bit about the geometry being on point, its the strength

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by doug118 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm only going to be paying for the solid pieces of aluminum at wholesale cost, and they will be done for free while I'm on the clock at work so basically I'll be getting paid while they are getting done. and the only way I'd be able to change camber is by making them shorter which will suck the wheels inside the wheel wells and I don't really want that. I'm more doing it for the wow factor then anything else. like I said I'm not worried one bit about the geometry being on point, its the strength</TD></TR></TABLE>

Then you're either going to have to copy an already existing design or pick up some engineering books on solid mechanics and machine design. Or just whip something up and hope that it doesn't break under the many cyclic loadings.

This doesn't seem worth it at all to me. If two blocks of aluminum are $175, why not just spend another 50 more and get a set of Function7s?

 

I think it would be pretty awesome to have custom rear LCAs made. If you follow the design and geometry of a tested model that is high quality it would seem that would be the safest route to take if you absolutely wanted to do custom pieces. If it turns out that it's too much hassle stick with a brand name and safe yourself the worry and headaches that could be run into down the road.

 

Funny, I have been thinking about the same thing.

The time and money that is involved even with making a LCA can be quite a lot. Before I had the money to purchase our own equipment and get involved with the right people I had to rely on other manufacturers to supply us with a LCA for our customers. This was by no means a choice we really wanted to do, but it was the only option at the time. Especially since our customers wanted to purchase LCA's with our coilovers for just ease of ordering. I personally have not had the time to even consider designing and manufacturing our own LCA TILL........the company which we have been referring people to as well as highly recommend has been very hard to get a hold of as of late. I rather spend our companies money elsewhere to be honest. I had eventually planned on making a LCA in the future when things are a lil more stable and not soo hectic.

Function 7 makes a nice LCA and I have much respect for their business and product. But I can't recommend a company that will not provide the same customer service as we do. So I had to rethink this and ask myself, if I can't even get some Function 7 LCA's for myself, how can I rely on them taking care of my own customers? Well I can't. So basically I have been forced to design and make our own LCA due to the demand of our customers. OR find a LCA that is up to our standard to offer to our customers. I can honestly say that the Function 7 can be designed better, but in my opinion they are one of the best that you can buy. So we would recommend them to our customers highly, till now. To us its not all about making our own stuff, or brand name. It is about what we feel is best and I have no problem working with other companies who have a great product. It will just help me concentrate on aspects of our business I want to focus on and design/expand our small line of products.

My apologies for my rambling. You can do it 2 ways, you can do it the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is just to take the factory specs and just machine your block of aluminum to those specs. In other words, just make a generic looking LCA like the D2 ones for example or megan racing. You can find quite a bit of bushings that will work for your application and machine them to fit easily.

The hard way, is actually doing it the right way. But you may not have access to everything you may need to obtain the best results. You can go crazy with it using CAD/CAE software which is the best way to do it. So then you can 3D your design and do a finite element analysis to calculate strains, stresses, etc..Basically you can go a lot more indepth with it.

I have a few customers who I have spoken to about making there own LCA and MFactory who is just a few hours away from us can supply you with their Spherical Bearings they use for their LCA's. They basically use your generic LCA with some nice spherical bushings machined into them. So if you have a hard time sourcing out your own bushings, then you can go that route. So just buy the bushings from them, and machine them for your own design.

You can bascally copy any LCA out there and just be fine. Just don't go crazy with it and try to go all funky and take too much material off to make it look cool without doing a proper FEA anaysis or some sort of testing to assure that it will be safe. Just keep it simple, and make sure the raw materials you are using are of great quality. I am sure that block of aluminum you got is probably better than what most of the overseas companies use anyways LOL. So I think you are a bit safe on that, but still..be careful since I have no idea what your experience is.

Coming from someone that has dealt with many many brands of LCA's as well as manufacturers I can tell you right now that even with someone of your knowledge can make one. If it is the best, probably not, but look at what is out there. Even the crappiest LCA's I have dealt with have never broke and some of these overseas manufacturers really do use some crappy materials, and there workmanship is even worse. When I did offer a LCA that was not sold under our name I paid extra to get the bushings I wanted. I had to outsource my own bushings because of the fact the bushings that are offered are usually complete crap. Currently we are not even offering or recommending any LCA. I hope to fix that problem in the near future, either by designing our own, or finding something that is better than the Function 7. Everything I do has basically come down to "To do it right, I got to do it myself" So this is just another case of those for me. I try my best to work with people and give them a chance, but in the end I always have to do things myself. I am even having the same problem with ASR. So what does that mean. Do I need to make myself my own damn rear brace now because I can't get ASR to hook a filipino brother up. People seem to fail to realize I recommend there products on a daily basis, but when they fail my customers as well as me, then I have to rethink things and have to take it in my own hands to find a solution.

Well good luck, if you do happen to make one post it in the Welding/Fabrication forum, it is always cool to see the members on this board make something even if it's just a LCA. Cool looking or not, if it's functional it's worth a look at! Again good luck!!!

P.S. Sorry for typos and my rambling. I am watching USC kick Washington States *** and I am just in aww at this super *** kicking.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .dave &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Then you're either going to have to copy an already existing design or pick up some engineering books on solid mechanics and machine design. Or just whip something up and hope that it doesn't break under the many cyclic loadings.

This doesn't seem worth it at all to me. If two blocks of aluminum are $175, why not just spend another 50 more and get a set of Function7s? </TD></TR></TABLE>


why the hell would I copy another companies design?? the guy I work for MAKES computer programs for people all over the country and have over $300k in just machine shop stuf so I'm 99% sure I dont have to pick up any kind of book. thats for the negative input tho

and to AMR Engineering....


thanks for all the helpful words, basically I thought about it like this, if these ebay brands can make springs and lca's and all these other suspension componants, why cant I?? especially if I'm using one of the highest quality aluminums I can get and a nice quality bushing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by doug118 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
thanks for all the helpful words, basically I thought about it like this, if these ebay brands can make springs and lca's and all these other suspension componants, why cant I?? especially if I'm using one of the highest quality aluminums I can get and a nice quality bushing. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Exactly. Good luck, I'm sure you'll be fine. Especially if your friend can give you some pointers. Have a good weekend.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by doug118 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">why the hell would I copy another companies design?? the guy I work for MAKES computer programs for people all over the country and have over $300k in just machine shop stuf so I'm 99% sure I dont have to pick up any kind of book. thats for the negative input tho
</TD></TR></TABLE>

It has nothing to do with CNC programming. I'm not doubting the ability of you or your employer to machine anything you want.

The eBay brands use a design that they have ripped off from other companies that did the research and design work to make sure the part would not fail.

 

Hey I was just wondering what you ended up deciding to do? If you decided to make them I'd really like to see a finished product.

 

they wont be make until after the new year. I'm deffinately going to make them and of course there will be plenty of pictures from a solid block to finished product