Motoria Suspension Links Pre-Install

[veilside180sx]

Overall they don't look too bad at all. Appears to be 1/8" thick steel on the ends, which should be more than sufficient to not bend through any normal range of motion it'll encounter.

[AceInHole]

Motoria Suspension Links Pre-Install

So, I actually received my set of Motoria arms recently (bought off Ebay). They look like decent quality pieces, although I haven't quite figured out what the lining material is (appears to be either impregnated brass or a copper reinforced carbon mesh). The S13 upper arms have a different ball joint, which I believe is a teflon lined/ sealed joint. Unfortunately it's threaded differently from the other joints, so it's not an interchangeable piece. You can get a decent look at the welds here. Nothing globby or porous, and the tension rods are billet pieces: I liked the tension rods a lot since the threaded portions are grouped further away from the bolted end. The tension rods are the most likely to see bending forces since they're integrated into the lower control arm, and although loading should be primarily axial through the rod, it's still nice to have the threaded ends further from the higher bending moments. The S14 upper arms came angled slightly for "lowered cars" (although I honestly would've preferred straight arms to keep bending stresses off the threaded ends). I bought these with the intention of replacing the heim joints with higher quality ones, but now it seems that I'll just throw Seals-It rod end seals on them (easier to service than full boots, which can trap water/ dirt in and accelerate wear/ rust). It appears as though the 5/8" seals should work, so hopefully I'll have everything together in a week or so when the end seals come in (gonna throw some seals on the camber plates as well). One last thing: I did find some dirt on the adjusting threads (not sure where from) that I cleaned out with a small brush. It made thread engagement on the adjusting pieces a lot smoother. I'd definitely recommend throwing some anti-seize on these before installing, too. Also, for reference, the heim joints appear to be M16x2.00 RH threaded. It's like 13 threads per inch, which is roughly 2mm per thread (and the S13 upper camber arms are different). I'll post more when I get the seals, and I've got Wicked Tuning tie rods/ ends coming in, as well.

[e1_griego]

I have the motoria rucas in my s13 (the 5/8" rod end stuff) and haven't had a problem with them for almost a year. I'm not confident about them, but so far so good :P I need to just get the spl stuff and quit messing around. Alex

[AceInHole]

The arms look identical to the older SPL stuff, right down to the ball joints. I've heard stuff about the rear toe links bending, though. I guess I'll carry spares untill I'm sure they'll hold up, but even then, I could just reinforce them. It'd be cooler if I made some aluminum billet arms, though I think these will work, and I'm still tempted to replace all the ball joints. However, they're M16x2.00, which isn't as easy to get in a high quality rod end.

[veilside180sx]

Out of curiousity...why did they send you S13 and S14 RUCA? Here's pics of my old SPL multilink setup...

[AceInHole]

I've got no clue as to why they sent extra arms.... Anyways, what rear subframe bushings are those?

[veilside180sx]

I've got no clue as to why they sent extra arms.... Anyways, what rear subframe bushings are those?

They are ES bushings. At different points on my S chassis...I had SPL collars, ES bushings, and then SPL solid bushings.

[AceInHole]

Hmm... Energy Suspension doesn't seem to list a full replacement bushing, just an insert (or reuse existing metal pieces?). I'm debating filling my stock subframe bushings with a poly fill, like window seal, and then run subframe inserts in conjunction with that. Ideally I'd like solid poly, as I'm sketchy on running full solid mounts. My reasoning is that some shock absorbtion in the subframe and diff mounts would help reduce the chance of driveline shock or even bumps in the road from upsetting the rear end. Other than that it's also less vibration fatigue on the chassis. Any comments or am I over thinking it and should just run solid?

[veilside180sx]

Hmm... Energy Suspension doesn't seem to list a full replacement bushing, just an insert (or reuse existing metal pieces?). I'm debating filling my stock subframe bushings with a poly fill, like window seal, and then run subframe inserts in conjunction with that. Ideally I'd like solid poly, as I'm sketchy on running full solid mounts. My reasoning is that some shock absorbtion in the subframe and diff mounts would help reduce the chance of driveline shock or even bumps in the road from upsetting the rear end. Other than that it's also less vibration fatigue on the chassis. Any comments or am I over thinking it and should just run solid?

With the collars the subframe could still move slightly. ES bushings are similar to a lot of their motor mount inserts. (2 halves with a metal bushing through the middle) My preference is the solid bushings. Although the poly will allow it to move a little, it would also allow it to whiplash the stud as it gives a little and then recenters. (the ES felt just as rough as the solids as far as vibration is concerned) I have not heard of any fatigue failures as of yet caused by them, but I have heard of a myriad of crack subframes caused by drifting. (usually smacking something)

[McCoy]

Richard, I didn't think ES made any inserts for the rear subframe of the S13? Maybe I'm thinking of something else then... I'm sure my subframe bushings are more than shot (167K miles) and that clunking I can still here in the rearend if I launch alittle to hard probably is a good indicator. I'd still prefer to try some collars for the time being and go from there. PJ - what were you running for arms on your last S14?

[veilside180sx]

You are correct they are not listed for a S13 subframe, but they work just jim dandy=)

Richard, I didn't think ES made any inserts for the rear subframe of the S13? Maybe I'm thinking of something else then... I'm sure my subframe bushings are more than shot (167K miles) and that clunking I can still here in the rearend if I launch alittle to hard probably is a good indicator. I'd still prefer to try some collars for the time being and go from there. PJ - what were you running for arms on your last S14?

[AceInHole]

PJ - what were you running for arms on your last S14?

I ran Ebay RUCAs and tension rods with stock arms everywhere else (ES bushings). I felt I could get the alignment that I wanted, so figured I wouldn't gain much in getting all new arms. In retrospect I paid way too much attention to the engine, and not nearly enough attention to dampers/ alignments.

[AceInHole]

So, I found my rod ends to be M16x2.00, which sucks because there aren't many metric rod end sizes available in the US. The only ones I found from the "major" racing companies are $60 ones from Aurora. I figured I'd use those for the tension rods if it comes to it, but I found another company called Midwest Control Products (http://www.midwestcontrol.com/), that I saw a couple people use in Locost and 4x4 builds. I figured I'd try their performance (chromoly) and teflon lined joints, so hopefully those come in soon and I'll see how they are. Also got the Wicked tie rod ends in. They have 3 piece teflon lined heim joints, so they don't seem too bad. They're M14x1.5 threaded, and have adjustable bumpsteer from stock, .2", and .4". Just have to order the seals-it rod end seals and I'll be good to go.

[veilside180sx]

The McMaster Carr stuff is made by name brand manufacturers (QA1 and another that I can't think of off the top of my head). n/m that one...just checked they are $70 for a 16x2. I haven't seen enough of the Wicked stuff to know whether it's worthwhile or not. If you are willing to drill out your spindle you can get a bumpsteer bolt/spacers (Allstar) for like $20 then you just use a trustworthy 5/8" rod end.

So, I found my rod ends to be M16x2.00, which sucks because there aren't many metric rod end sizes available in the US. The only ones I found from the "major" racing companies are $60 ones from Aurora. I figured I'd use those for the tension rods if it comes to it, but I found another company called Midwest Control Products (http://www.midwestcontrol.com/), that I saw a couple people use in Locost and 4x4 builds. I figured I'd try their performance (chromoly) and teflon lined joints, so hopefully those come in soon and I'll see how they are. Also got the Wicked tie rod ends in. They have 3 piece teflon lined heim joints, so they don't seem too bad. They're M14x1.5 threaded, and have adjustable bumpsteer from stock, .2", and .4". Just have to order the seals-it rod end seals and I'll be good to go.

[AceInHole]

The problem with using the 5/8" rod end is you'd have to make a new coupler to attach it to the inner tie-rod. If you're running a bolt through it, you could just have an aluminum spacer machined that fits between the spindle and a high grade 14mm bolt. It wouldn't be hard to do on a lathe.