Bean Bandits Levin 'Globetrotter'

[Bean]

another non progress update but it has pictures.

after some measuring regarding my lower control arms I realized the pair I bought is off.
In more detail the holes for swaybar and tension rod are spaced too far from the chassis mounting point by about 20mm. So the I took another adventure into the local industrial area and 2 hours and half a dozen shops later I found a matching/equivalent AE86 LCA.



as can be seen above apart from different length, the angle of the ball joint on the first LCA I bought is different. This turns out to be fine as due to my car being lowered and the lack of RCAs this will keep the ball joint as before.
Below a picture from top where the difference in the mounting points can clearly be seen.



The last picture is to give an idea of the end product. I will use the lower part from the LCA on the right, cutting just above the tension rod holes and use the ball joint of the left one.
I still need to refit my BV2 steering kit to complete my measurements of how much it needs extending to avoid the wheel hitting the chassis rail and take this into the equation as I'm limited if I want to keep camber at reasonable levels (around negative 2 degrees).
once this is done I'll have a look at wheel choices again.
my initial plan was to go for 8x15s all around but according to my current figures this would ask for ET-40 at the back to keep a 'normal' look as the fronts would need to be negative offset to clear. Last but not least this means I'd need to extend the arches some 40-50mm too. So I might opt for 7s which would reduce offset and arch extension by 12mm each.

PS: for some reason I have a bad feeling that with the BV2 kit, my current wheels will rub the rails despite being spaced out 30mm (final offset -10) and only being 6" wide.
more news later this week

[Aram]

Where did you find those wrong LCA's then?

[Bean]

Aram Wrote:Where did you find those wrong LCA's then?

they were apparently for an E7 Corolla, I think they are from a Corona (XT130)

[corolla4agze]

yep corona is right... i do have same pair going in my car.

[Bean]

corolla4agze Wrote:yep corona is right... i do have same pair going in my car.

according to the net they add about 1 degree of negative camber, unfortunately I can only assume from here on as I didn't do absolutely accurate measurements yet.
another thing the net isn't conclusive on is the length of either arms and therefore the difference in length that leads to 1 additional degree. I'l try to build a camber tool to get definite answers.

[Bean]

Left work early today to head down to the garage to refit my BV2 steering kit.
As mentioned before and in other threads it's not as straightforward as some people might wish for. But let's start from the beginning

Parked the car over the pit as it's more convenient for this job than on a lift.
Gather the usual tools, plus a three legged puller (to free the ball joints from the Tie rods) and vanished in the pit. Some hours later, bruised and tired it was all said and done. I did the whole thing in steps, hence why it took so long (2 pictures will follow and will take some more next week).
Now for the revealing infos:

Step #1: Battle Version Steering Kit 2 + everything else steering related stock + 14x6 ET 20 wheels = Fail, tire wall hits tension rod and chassis - plenty of steering potential left
Step #2: Same as above + 25mm spacers = Semi fail, tire clears (with marginal room) but due to lack of RCAs the lower brake caliper bolt hits the tension rod. There's still 5mm of movement on the rack available.
Step #3: not there yet, will be my merged LCAs

Step #1 and #2 have something in common though, the adjustment on the outer tie rods is insufficient. I currently have both sides completely wound in (as short as they go) and they are still too long which results in toe in - how much I can't tell yet as haven't measured it yet. Car feels sketchy to drive but for the short and slow paced trips I do it will be fine.

As I'll be extending the LCAs the above common issue will be resolved and as far as I can tell without having done particular measurements I'll also have enough thread left to be safe.
As elaborated in an earlier post my extension will also allow more room to the tension rod, so the bolt should clear.
How much the last 5mm of travel on the rack increase angle I don't know - hopefully not too much as else the chance of the tire hitting the chassis or tension arm rises again.

more to come... also plan to make some progress on the block this month

stay tuned

[oldeskewltoy]

Concerning LCAs... and welding on them (I was not clear if this is your goal) but I have had one minor operational failure in my adjustable LCA design... the amount of welding required to fit the T3 adjusters "grew" the balljoint hole to a point that the balljoints were loose in my LCAs. I had to have the LCAs welded in - 2 > 25mm beads

[Bean]

Yes I will be TIG welding it. In this case I'll make sure to take it easy on the heat and plenty of cool down time in between just a spot at the time. That ought to avoid any growing.

[McKenney]

the Dorman replacement ones have that stupid bumpstop on them too. I ran them on my other Levin with a 2 degree negative camber gain(mine was at 0 before swap) but had no issues with sway bar or tension rod mounting up. And I shaved the bumpstop off.

[Bean]

McKenney Wrote:the Dorman replacement ones have that stupid bumpstop on them too. I ran them on my other Levin with a 2 degree negative camber gain(mine was at 0 before swap) but had no issues with sway bar or tension rod mounting up. And I shaved the bumpstop off.

Do you know how much longer they were, compared to stock?