[racepar1]

Originally Posted by Def

If anybody thinks it's that hard to whip out some $15 digital calipers and find a standard off the shelf bearing of the same dimensions - then they shouldn't be modifying cars in the first place.

I TOTALLY agree with you here, but the fact is that most people wouldn't know the difference between a digital caliper and a fucking tape measure.

Tein camber plates have a crap design that eats up shock travel. I'm not impressed in the least by them. I'd also hardly call NWB bearings the best in the world... but I guess that's more of a personal opinion.

The design of the tein's does leave a bit to be desired, but it is a better bolt-in long term solution than the e-gay crap. The real truth about bearings is that the brand generally doesn't matter. Pretty much every bearing company makes some very good bearings and every company makes shitty ones. You just have to be aware of the design of the bearings you are buying.

There's nothing magical about a camber plate being able to take high loads compared to a strut rod in bending - basic machine design makes that pretty obvious. I guarantee my Koni 8611s would snap before my eBay camber plates ripped in half.

I'm not trying to say that the tein parts have magical durability powers or anything like that, but it is totally possible (and more than likely) that a lesser bearing would have been permanently damaged by the shock load that it takes to shear a strut rod or a tension rod.

I guess I just realize where most of the "JDM tyte" stuff is manufactured, and if you have some basic knowhow, it's not that hard to get a very nice bearing in the plate and have a fairly cheap solution overall. Plus they don't eat up anywhere near as much travel as Tein plates.

Ya "JDM tyte yo" can blow me. In the last year or so I have learned how to actually do research rather than just believe the hype. For you and me sourcing and installing a bearing to make these plates something worth using is not a problem. I personally use rear suspension arms that were e-bay specials that I bought off another board member. I just upgraded the e-bay quality rod ends to something worth using. The arms themselves are the exact same thing as the early model SPL arms that SPL was re-selling with different bearings. You are right that the tein plates eat up I would say about 3/4" of travel, but for the average joe it is a much better solution than these e-bay specials. TEIN is not the only option either. There are a multitude of options in the price range that I originally described that would be good, long term, bolt in solutions. That is exactly what the OP is looking for, bolt-in, not something that you have to modify.