I am waiting to see some of the real abuse on these items with some higher HP vehicles than stock on a track basis as my vehicle will serve as a weekend warrior and also carry my 2 year old daughter around and I have been in a roll over due to a failed front suspension. It would be nice to know some of the parameters of the test vehicle whether it was stock suspension, engine, etc. Also what type of terrain was it taken through or testing? Was it just normal daily driving (city or highway or both)? Or track use? Sorry for asking so much but my vehicle takes care of me and my family so I want it to be safe.
why not make a triangular design with 3 tubes rater than 2 with a lot of flat plate? to me that would be much stronger and if you gusseted the corners it would be mint. i'm not much of a fan of the end with the ball joint, looks like it would end up twisting of from excessive excelerating and braking, just a thought.
Thompson Turn your wheel all the way. You will relieze the stock 15's and 14's actualy use that spae. Triacular would be nice but it would Require modifying the subframe.Stock Redesign allows them to keep the Cleearances But improve the functionality.
The Ball Joint area is also what i noticed being that it is not re-enforced. But that also wasn' his final design it is still a prototype. He is actualy testing it to make sure the jbodies don't have issues. Makes me wish i still had my J.
hello all! i'm the one that has been the test dummy for the arms, and i must say, they are quite impressive. for those wanting to know about me, i am a gm technician, who knows a thing or two about cars, but not about to assume i know anywhere near everything. this is why i take my ideas to someone with more of an engineering background to design and make what it is that i want. further questions about me can be pm'd in an attempt to prevent this thread from getting clogged with junk. for those wanting to know about my car, it is a 2000 base cavalier coupe auto, stock engine and trans, eibach front and rear sway bars, agx's with prokits and marks mounts for suspension(and now these arms), and thats pretty much it. now, for the abuse they have taken...well, when i first put them on, i was a little weary of pushing them, because of the horror stories from the first rk sport arms...however, after some aggressive driving, my confidence in them quickly rose. i live in northeast pa and we have some of the worst potholes that i've ever seen. some are so deep when you drive past them you can't see the bottom...pretty ridiculous if you ask me, but i'm not the one that fixes them. i make it a target since i put the arms on to hit every pothole i come across(on my side of the road, of course) as a start to testing their durability. after a few days of that(and about 13 hours of recreational driving in the first 4 days...can you tell i liked em???) i brought the car into the shop for a visual inspection for cracks, and other potential problems. well, nothing seemed to crack, clunk, bend, or anything else, so then i took it onto the alignment rack since that will tell a lot better than my eyes if something bent. nope, exactly where i had set it at. GOOD! TIME TO KEEP DRIVING!lol. so i took the car on a few more long distance trips, and this time i wanted to do some testing in hard turning environments...so i met up with an old friend and he took me to an old track his grandpa owns(smaller track, but you can get up to 70-80 with the ln2 on it LOL) and i started to really get impressed with the arms then. i was taking the turns with a lot more confidence and about 6-7 more mph than i did with the old arms. so after a day of that, i brought the car back into the shop to check out the arms again. still nothing in terms of cracks, bends, etc. alignment rack then verified. i still want to take the car onto the pocono racetrack, but idk when that will happen. for auto-x, i didn't do any specific testing, since i don't really know anything about it and based my testing more on what i want to do with the car-road racing, but i did take the slower back roads with lots of twisties repeatedly, and on the 25 mph turns i was able to take em at 65, and the 35 mph turns i could take at around 70, and they are still holding up just great! any requests, questions, comments, etc, please post!
NightmaresCavy wrote:Thompson Turn your wheel all the way. You will relieze the stock 15's and 14's actualy use that spae. Triacular would be nice but it would Require modifying the subframe.Stock Redesign allows them to keep the Cleearances But improve the functionality. The Ball Joint area is also what i noticed being that it is not re-enforced. But that also wasn' his final design it is still a prototype. He is actualy testing it to make sure the jbodies don't have issues. Makes me wish i still had my J.
Yes and no. If they are designed correctly there wil be no effect on clearance. Off the top of my head I see 2 way to set it up for a tubed triangle. One includes the back tube being bent the other is a gusset off the rear bushing to the rear tube. If I wasn't on my phone I could paint it. Lol.
Dave De Stefano, what settings are you using for your camber for the front of the car?
I think some may want to know this because with some of the guys here, they're going to set up some of their cars with some heavy camber so testing should include some kind of settings with camber put into the picture.
Since I'm running a similar setup as you on the suspension albeit a bit more chassis bracing than yours, my camber for the rear is -1.5 while the fronts are -2 degrees with very good and neutral handling in pretty much every circumstance I've put the car through.
Also, what ball joints are you using so everyone can also get an idea of the ball joints that are going to hold up in this test too.
Are you going to be able to do any autocross with this car so that again, you can put the suspension to a different kind of testing in a totally different environment than just street. In autocross you're pretty much giving it all you've got because at those events, you can unlike what you can legally do on the street.
Personally, I'm not interested but since I'm a Jbody guy for life I'm interested in what the people are going to have for their cars which can transform their ordinary cars to something special. Thanks Dave.
Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO! 
Dave, there is an autox in Williamsport this weekend.
its an old concept. time for something new to take the reigns. - Z yaaaa
Tinkles(now with Boost Face) wrote:Dave, there is an autox in Williamsport this weekend.
damn...not on here enough...missed it. i'm curious about auto-x...never done it, don't know too much about it, but seems cool
Chances are, using a good quality steel and good welds they arms will hold up.
You would be surprised at some of the control arms Ive seen on buggies and other off road vehicles. Some that look to have been welded with a stick welder and coat hanger.
DOM tubing is pretty strong and is what is used to make hardcore off road vehicle parts. If it works for them, Id be surprised if it wouldnt for us.
Coped joints will help with the strength as it gives for surface area for welding. The RKS ones looked like the tubes are all cut straight leaving big gaps to be filled with weld.
My only concern, which is small is the mounting plate for the ball joint. Im not a fan of the slotted holes. If the jig was sturdy, it would allow for much movement or warping of the parts while welding. I understand it helps make the parts easier to manufacturer. If its a big deal to people, one the alignment is set, the arms could be pulled off and the balljoint and mounting plate could be drilled and pinned to reduce the possibility of the ball joint moving.
Just my $.02.
Keep up the work.
"Oil Leak ? What oil Leak ? Oh, Thats Just The Sweat From All The HorsePower!!"
The ball joint tab is slotted to allow for camber adjustment.
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Dave De Stefano wrote:Tinkles(now with Boost Face) wrote:Dave, there is an autox in Williamsport this weekend.
damn...not on here enough...missed it. i'm curious about auto-x...never done it, don't know too much about it, but seems cool
Well hopefully this is enough notice, but there is another one on May 15 at the Schuykill Mall in Frackville.
its an old concept. time for something new to take the reigns. - Z yaaaa
Tinkles(now with Boost Face) wrote:Dave De Stefano wrote:Tinkles(now with Boost Face) wrote:Dave, there is an autox in Williamsport this weekend.
damn...not on here enough...missed it. i'm curious about auto-x...never done it, don't know too much about it, but seems cool
Well hopefully this is enough notice, but there is another one on May 15 at the Schuykill Mall in Frackville.
hmmm...i might be able to make that. pm me what i need to know before doing it, if you don't mind. thanks kyle!
subbed to catch the GP
If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem.
*Bump*
Any updates? installed pictures?
I have a few on my phone I think. Either way we will start the GB in the next week or two. We will start off with 5 people and will start taking down payments of $100 to lock in ur place.
http://www.overkillengineeringmotorsports.com/
So I am guessing the testing went well? I cant wait to drop a set off at S & R Performance. Just to see the look on the owners face. (Should have seen his face when I dropped off the Godzilla strut bars and tie bar LMAO!!!)
testing is going very well! i'm very happy with these arms. can't wait to get some r5 coilovers to go with em...
Looks like these are doing good. We will start making them. WE will only make 5 sets for now, if more interest builds later on we can handle that at that time. The cost for a set is $455 shipped. This will include the arms and Powder Coating. The color for the powder is up to us, It will either be black, blue, red or gold. If you are interested in a set and would like to set your name in place for this really low once time price, you can send us $100 down payment to hold your spot.
Mark
Money Order Address:
OEM
853 Waterway place #117
Longwood fl 32750
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Payments@overkillengineeringmotorsports.com
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http://www.overkillengineeringmotorsports.com/
One catch, you have to buy a set of rear bushings now that they are being produced
Want hub spacers? Shoot me a PM.
