[PoorMans180SX]

Originally Posted by udon!

GOT IT! so basically if youre car is fucking slammed with driftworks or psm knucklesyou may not have perfect roll center, but its going to be ALOT better than stock knuckles because on the driftworks/psm knuckles the part that hooks up to the links is much lower than stock.

is that right?

Exactly

Originally Posted by udon!

how does a tension rod work?
how does a traction rod work?

can you guys show me pics of these installed?

Pretty newbish stuff man, although the traction rod is a little harder to understand.

Found this stuff on PDM Racing

PDM Racing - Battle Version Suspension Parts

Tension Rods:

Originally Posted by PDM Racing

Adjustable TC Rods are crucial to increase positive caster on Nissans. Caster is a very good alignment quality to induce into your Nissan, as this allows you to reduce your static camber more, yet when the car turns in, negative camber will increase which generates higher cornering ability. Translation: less inner tire wear when the car is driving in a straight line which is over 85% of the time, yet when it comes time to corner, your car will have enough caster to create good negative camber to make your car feel like it’s cornering on rails. Also, having adjustable caster means you can equalize caster from left to right on your Nissan to maximize turning performance both left and right. (On our Hunter computerized alignment rack, we notice it’s common to see 240SX’s with left to right caster specs out by as much as 1.5 degrees. Some are from curbing accidents, others are off-balance straight from Nissan Japan!) By adding adjustable TC Rods, you ensure your car will corner equally fast turning left, or turning right.

The TC Rod is the ONLY arm that locates the bottom control arm on the 240SX. When a car is under severe braking from 100 mph, the force on that TC Rod is the most extreme force that any single suspension component will experience. So replacing the stock TC Rod bushings with a spherical bearing, will ensure under braking your front end will not shimmy or wander as caster and toe will change from the TC Rod bushing flexing back and forth. For example, many of our 300ZX customers complain of brake shimmy and thinking the rotor is the culprit, they have their rotors turned. Most often, the culprit is a worn OEM TC Rod bushing which is a viscous filled rubber membrane, which is good for comfort and compliance, but makes for a terrible locator for an arm that sees such severe duty. Over time, the stock outer membrane wears from repeated force, heat and oils. Quite often we see cars come into our shop with completely blown-open TC Rod bushings.

Traction Arms:

Originally Posted by PDM Racing

The forward traction link arms locate the rear spindle assembly, and controls the forward and aft movement of the rear upper suspension assembly on independent rear suspension (IRS) cars as the suspension moves through its’ engineered movement. While the stock stamped steel arms works fine for most applications, it’s when you drastically lower the car for race or drift, that there needs to be arm adjustment for setting the rear bump steer.

Bump steer, in short, is the change in toe settings a suspension has as it moves through it’s compression and rebound cycles. Nissan Engineers designed toe in under compression which is safer than toe out, but for optimum settings, racers like to have control of bump steer to dial in the amount of toe change their race cars will encounter as it goes over bumps and dips on the course. Cars that are “nervous” or “twitchy” are often ones that have bad bump steer, so the car literally steers itself as the car goes into a bump. While not as critical as the rear toe links or upper rear control arms, Battle Version Rear Forward Traction Link Arms will complete your rear suspension by positively locating the rear spindle for very minimal rear suspension for and aft flex. For those that know how to plot your rear bump steer, this allows these racers to properly set up the rear suspension to their personal tastes.