Any one have experience with K Tuned and similar front upper control arms?
04-16-2024, 05:30 PM
#11
Do you have any photos of your car for comparison? I'm aware that Bostonmaler uses them on his car (I think I noticed in one of his photos) and runs the same fitment wheel however he's on fatty slicks and there's a lot of other variables which makes it hard for me to eye ball on my car.
01.19.2018 - Origin Fab Offset Bushings - New UCA Paint, boot, clip.
When I purchased the car it came with a set of SPC ball joints installed on the front upper control arms. I've never really been a fan of them, and I decided to sell those arms and go back to stock. That worked great while I ran the Regamasters, but once I decided to sell them and move onto something else I wanted a bit more clearance up front and decided I was going to give the Origin Fab offset bushings a shot. I picked up a spare set of front upper control arms for them to be pressed into. I was hoping that this would visually help me run a non-staggered set up as most of the set ups I see the front wheels tend to aggressively bulge against the fenders and I'm not a huge fan of that.
While the arms were were off the car I might as well clean them up. I started by wire wheeling the arms bare, and then sent them off to have old bushings removed and the new bushings pressed in. While that was being done I put in an order for new replacement ball joint boots and clips, and then picked up a tube of grease.
Once I got the arms back I taped everything off and painted the arms with a nice simple satin black suspension paint. Once that was dried I pulled the old boots, and removed as much of the old grease as possible. I then repacked them with the new grease, installed the boot, and maneuvered the clip into place. I hit the boot with a quick coat of grease to protect it and installed the arm.
I was very pleased with the arms after install. They provided a significant amount of room over the stock bushings, and gave the exact visual look I was after. I have some direct before and after pictures. Keep in mind this is with the only the upper control arm change. The alignment will still need to be set, but this gives a good idea of the amount of room you gain with the bushings.
I've noted the relevant specs in the picture below so that it can be used for reference. I get asked about how much room these arms gave me fairly often, and this is the best demonstration of what they do that I have seen.
When I purchased the car it came with a set of SPC ball joints installed on the front upper control arms. I've never really been a fan of them, and I decided to sell those arms and go back to stock. That worked great while I ran the Regamasters, but once I decided to sell them and move onto something else I wanted a bit more clearance up front and decided I was going to give the Origin Fab offset bushings a shot. I picked up a spare set of front upper control arms for them to be pressed into. I was hoping that this would visually help me run a non-staggered set up as most of the set ups I see the front wheels tend to aggressively bulge against the fenders and I'm not a huge fan of that.
While the arms were were off the car I might as well clean them up. I started by wire wheeling the arms bare, and then sent them off to have old bushings removed and the new bushings pressed in. While that was being done I put in an order for new replacement ball joint boots and clips, and then picked up a tube of grease.
Once I got the arms back I taped everything off and painted the arms with a nice simple satin black suspension paint. Once that was dried I pulled the old boots, and removed as much of the old grease as possible. I then repacked them with the new grease, installed the boot, and maneuvered the clip into place. I hit the boot with a quick coat of grease to protect it and installed the arm.
I was very pleased with the arms after install. They provided a significant amount of room over the stock bushings, and gave the exact visual look I was after. I have some direct before and after pictures. Keep in mind this is with the only the upper control arm change. The alignment will still need to be set, but this gives a good idea of the amount of room you gain with the bushings.
I've noted the relevant specs in the picture below so that it can be used for reference. I get asked about how much room these arms gave me fairly often, and this is the best demonstration of what they do that I have seen.
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Shift9303 (04-16-2024)
04-16-2024, 07:10 PM
#12
TBH that looks just about perfect for my car. Before looks very similar so my current fitment with the 17x10+48s. TBH I do like the bull dog look but my current situation isn't gonna work. Also might raise some eyebrows as I know different governing orgs have rules about tires "fitting" within the wheel well.
05-18-2024, 09:34 PM
#13
Welp as an update I ended up going with SPC upper ball joints. After doing more research and talking with others it seemed like this was the best compromise for me. For some reason I didn't get the offset part of the product description and thought the spindle shank was in line with the top bolt when in fact it's offset (duh). By my measurements it has about 7-8mm offset baked in.
The adjustment slot has approximately 18mm total range or 9mm to each side. In addition I was informed that if the pre baked offset of the shank was enough for you, you can turn the top plate perpendicular to the bottom to lock the ball joint in place. The top plate also has a stepped lip that abuts the control arm. This combined with the 120 lb ft torque rating makes me feel fairly confident it won't slip.
So for me this gave me a little bit of both. It's adjustable but I can still anchor it if necessary. In addition I reinstalled my OEM bottom ball joints given reports of spindle breakages with offset ball joints. For what it's worth, the Hardrace ball joint is offset about 4-5mm from OEM.
End result is that my 17x10+48 fitment in the front is approximately the same as my previous 17x9.5+51 fitment. I think it might still be a bit more aggressive at the wheel lip but the tread width sits slightly further inboard of the fender.
Apex with offset lower ball joint:
Apex with offset upper ball joint and OEM bottom ball joint:
Old T7 setup:
Yes, I know my camber is way off with my new pics but I think the difference is still evident. I was previously running -3.5* camber but with just bolting in these parts I think I'm probably sitting at around -4* camber with the same eccentric bolt position. I will be getting an alignment soon. Unfortunately I also found out the hard way that the wheel now rubs the upper control arm at full lock somewhere in the swing arc of the control arm as I was exiting my drive way. I'm some what pissed given that these are brand new but I suppose it's on the inside so you won't really notice. I also partially suspect it is secondary to my jacked up toe-out but it does seem like inner rubbing is a semi common issue.
The adjustment slot has approximately 18mm total range or 9mm to each side. In addition I was informed that if the pre baked offset of the shank was enough for you, you can turn the top plate perpendicular to the bottom to lock the ball joint in place. The top plate also has a stepped lip that abuts the control arm. This combined with the 120 lb ft torque rating makes me feel fairly confident it won't slip.
So for me this gave me a little bit of both. It's adjustable but I can still anchor it if necessary. In addition I reinstalled my OEM bottom ball joints given reports of spindle breakages with offset ball joints. For what it's worth, the Hardrace ball joint is offset about 4-5mm from OEM.
End result is that my 17x10+48 fitment in the front is approximately the same as my previous 17x9.5+51 fitment. I think it might still be a bit more aggressive at the wheel lip but the tread width sits slightly further inboard of the fender.
Apex with offset lower ball joint:
Apex with offset upper ball joint and OEM bottom ball joint:
Old T7 setup:
Yes, I know my camber is way off with my new pics but I think the difference is still evident. I was previously running -3.5* camber but with just bolting in these parts I think I'm probably sitting at around -4* camber with the same eccentric bolt position. I will be getting an alignment soon. Unfortunately I also found out the hard way that the wheel now rubs the upper control arm at full lock somewhere in the swing arc of the control arm as I was exiting my drive way. I'm some what pissed given that these are brand new but I suppose it's on the inside so you won't really notice. I also partially suspect it is secondary to my jacked up toe-out but it does seem like inner rubbing is a semi common issue.
Last edited by Shift9303; 05-18-2024 at 10:16 PM.
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