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IC: Stewie Bars rear lateral control arms

S

Stuart-Grant

CEG'er
Joined
Jan 26, 2010
Messages
100
Location
Mt. Clemens, MI
Alright, anyone who surfs NECO has probably seen my development thread on some billet rear lateral control arms.

For those who haven't I'll give a brief break down.

Material will be 4140 de-carb free hardened steel (30 Rockwell C)
Bushing will be Shore 80A Polyurethane drilled out for a pressed in sleeve and will be externally greaseable with a grease reservior.
Arm will weigh about 15 lbs each, though this is still subject to change since the final design revision is not yet complete.
Arms will be prepared for full winter use. 7 step zinc phosphate coating followed by Zinc rich primer powder, followed by super durable black powder coat. This level of coating is usually seen on military parts only, in fact I'll be using MIL specs to call out the finish!
Will come with class 12.9 hardware.

To express interest Please follow this link to NECO and vote in the poll. Please select all options you're willing to pay for. Obviously I'll be trying to get these as low as possible, but I am not cutting any corners on this project.

I anticipate having the first prototype units on hand by the new year and hopefuly I can do a group buy some time in spring. I just want to have an idea on numbers to give the machine shop for estimating purposes.
 
Very interested....I don't belong to NECO, so I can't vote.....I just wanted to confirm that this is the front control arm of the REAR suspension.....the ford part that is two parrallel stamped metal pieces with a black bushing in the middle......not the single stamped metal piece that is the aft control arm of the rear suspension...that was recently part of another group buy that replaced the part with a tubular control arm...

Dan
 
DanCanuck said:
Very interested....I don't belong to NECO, so I can't vote.....I just wanted to confirm that this is the front control arm of the REAR suspension.....the ford part that is two parrallel stamped metal pieces with a black bushing in the middle......not the single stamped metal piece that is the aft control arm of the rear suspension...that was recently part of another group buy that replaced the part with a tubular control arm...

Dan
Click to expand...

This will be a replacement for the arm that the sway bar end links mount to, not the factory stamped bar that was just redone in a GB.

----And I'm in for 1 set!
 
Chas said:
This will be a replacement for the arm that the sway bar end links mount to, not the factory stamped bar that was just redone in a GB.

----And I'm in for 1 set!
Click to expand...

Yep, it's what most people just call the rear control arm, but Tousley ca. I suppose I can post a capture of my 3d model here. It's not quite finished in this capture, I still have to add the grease port.

LateralArmAssembly.jpg
 
I'm in, but I'm also not a member of NECO so voting is out of the question for me.

~Mike~
 
No Camber, sorry guys, but I don't really need it on the setup I'm building. Furthermore I can't imagine any method of Camber adjustment which wouldn't alter the torsional rigidity of the arm. If someone wants I suppose I can have the machinist not bore out the poly bushing and you can drill it to your specification. Not an ideal solution but my design allows for it within a certain margin.
 
wtf are you talking about?
wtf is a stewie bar? lol

NEVERMIND

I get it.
HA silly Stuart.
you had me fooled.
 
The prototype set is on it's way. The final design moved away from billet manufacture as it added far too much weight to the product as well as put it outside even my price range, rest assured, when you were told that CrazyTalkSVT's project was worth more than a lot of the cars on here, he wasn't lying.

The final design is an all 304 Stainless assembly, except the pressed in bearings which are a McMaster-Carr part if they ever need replaced. The Arms are three piece GTAW welded and fully back purged by a welder certified for food grade sanitary welds. The main arm body is 2" square tubing .12" thick. I'll have a verified part weight soon, but computer estimate places each arm at about 7.25 pounds, against the stock arm's 4 pounds even. The tabs are .25" thick for an extra beefy mounting point.

009.jpg


Once the two prototype testers give me their feedback and documentation required in the agreement a final IC thread will be put up to get an accurate count of total units.
 
They look really good! Is the mounting point for the sway bar end link reinforced, or is it just a hole drilled in the .12" square tube?
 
i really like what i see too.

2 questions;

How much ...ballpark ?

Are the bushes on the hub being changed/included/an option ? ..... G.
 
I'm sure they are out of my price range, but what are the expected benefits from such a bar? A LOT more resistant to flex?
Erick --
 
Stuart-Grant said:
... when you were told that CrazyTalkSVT's project was worth more than a lot of the cars on here, he wasn't lying...
Click to expand...

lol ;)

Best of luck to you in your GB endeavors. Just my 0.02, I'd be a little leery of grinding the weld beads down flush...especially on SS which is more prone to cracking. Otherwise, they look pretty good.
 
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