Hey,

Just went to Virginia International raceway two weekends ago and had an upper ball joint pop out of the upper control arm after hitting the curbing at 80+. The issue was my fault. When replacing the ball joints two weeks prior, I removed a knurled ball joint and installed a non-knurled ball joint. However, the natural camber I get from lowering the vehicle is 2.8 degrees which is kind where I want to be at, so I don't necessarily need the adjustability at the moment. Also like the fact that I dont have to worry about the alignment slipping. Just curious if I should get new OE control arms with new ball joints, get them tack welded in ($35 each from rock auto) or pony up and get some PCI control arms. Car is a 1995 db8 gsr integra sedan.

Thanks

 

if you are going to continue going to VIR... just pony up and get the PCI control arms.

I've never had them slip and i top the up hill esses at 120mph eating the curbs all the way.... actually i live on the curbs at VIR (not exiting oak tree... the axles wont live and not turn 1).

the faster you go, the sticker your tires are (i'm going to assume they werent as stick as they could have been as cold as track day had to be)... the more likely you will need more camber... not much more... but more... i dont know what your setup is, but to get 2.8* just from going low, you might be running a bit too low.

 

Endurance racing at VIR on stock UCA's (Prelude). Never had a problem personally.

 

Did your replacement joints have a snap ring too? That sounds like a sketchy experience.

Worth looking into the Honed ones? I really think the toothed adjustment is the way to go. Probably better ball joints than anything other than the PCI's sphericals too. PCI and Honed both get you more caster too (+2°, +1°, respectively).

 

Thanks for the responses. The suspension on the car is simple:

Redshift motorsports single adjustable coilovers - 12k front, 9k rear
GSR front swaybar
Progress rear swaybar
hardrace rear camber kit
hardrace rubber bushings all around

I mostly autocross but try to do 1-2 HPDE's a year.

 

Yes the snap ring was dislodged. It was sketchy as hell, the steering was off immediately and the car wanted to wander. It held together and I drove it to a shop at VIR and got it fixed then drove 3.5 hrs home. I researched the issue and found out what the problem was. I replaced a knurled ball joint with a non knurled ball joint. Knurled ball joints are a little bigger than non knurled, so the hole is too large for non-knurled ball joints now.

 

What height should the car be at? (Ground to fender or Fender to middle of wheel). I just installed the new coilovers and was trying to get to the same height I was at on Progress coilovers which got me 2.6 degrees of camber up front. Alignment guy stated being slightly lower probably wouldn't make much of a difference so I left it.

 

i couldnt tell you what your ride height should be... i've never had RedShift on that type of car. generally ride height is determined by measuring the range of travel, making sure you stay off the bump stops (or not... some people load the rear onto bump stops on purpose)... usually people start with the rear arms parallel to the ground or slightly higher with slight rake forward (slightly slower front)... all this work is done on scales (for the race cars) to make sure the car is in a travel AND adjustability range to corner balance the car.

your spring rates are close to race rates for that chassis. hopefully you are on 200TW tires.

in full race trim i had more front spring, no front sway bar (something worth playing with, just disconnect it from the arms between sessions to see how you like it), bigger rear bar... and i was playing with going to less rear spring.

 

Thanks for the info and response.

I'm on 200TW falken rt 660's - at VIR I was running 225s square. In the process of fitting 245's on 15x9's up front - mostly for autocross but may take them to the track. Car hasn't been bottoming out, but as I started to stiffen the car up was when the ball joint issue started. Redshift coilovers are BC coilovers that have been disassembled, revalved and certain internal parts replaced with higher quality parts. When I get comfortable with the track during my next visit or so I will play with the swaybar. I was still in the process of learning the track in real life and the car at those speeds but my sessions were cut short. I have been practicing VIR in a sim.

 

i race at VIR 4 times a year... There is a lot to learn there, but most people (to include me) are missing time in all the same spots. My new car is on RedShift BCs... so i'm familiar. leveling the rear arms and working forward should be fine if you arent bottoming out. my old cars thread and @Dublocivic thread(s) have a lot of info to glean on VIR.

 

Took some pics last night of the rear control arms and some pics of exterior front tires. The rears are pretty parallel or close to it in the rear. Also after looking at it the car in general doesn't really seem too low. Will be buying the pci control arms soon. Mismatched front fitment at the moment. Test fitting a 15x9 wheel with 245 rt 660's. Passenger side has 225s on 15x7.5 wheel.

 

Ignore the actual shape/attitude of the arm- draw a line between the two mounting bolts. That's what you want to be parallel.

 

Gotcha, thanks. Looking at the pictures, it looks like the rear needs to be raised a little. I will check it on the car when I get home.

 

Pulled the trigger and ordered the PCI arms.

 

you wont regret it.

if i could get the PCI spherical in the Honed arm... i think that would be the best "race" arm.

 

How do you like them so far? Are they loud?