Friendly reminder. Check your RUCAs.

[ranisron]

I will check mine... when I get the car back from the bodyshop...

[Nostradamus]

Aluminum 3-piece Teflon/Kevlar self-sealing rod-ends FTW!

[NekoPunch]

I recently installed JIC RUCA's on my car and I have to say that I wasn't too impressed with the quality. In fact, they looked exactly identical to all the made-in-Taiwan RUCA's that I've seen rebranded and sold at the small car shops in Japan. There's much worse out there on ebay, but overall the JIC's are mediocre at best. I think my Tanabe toe arms have better construction, materials, and dust boots on the ends.

But like people already said here, these arms are always sold with the disclaimer that they are for track use only. They are not meant to withstand extended daily use, weathering, street conditions, etc. From the pictures originally posted, it looks like they broke after extended use and corrosion. The rod end probably hadn't been cleaned regularly and eventually froze up from rust. That would place more stress on the rod and eventually lead to failure.

[Jason@performance]

as drift freaq says...

these parts are "race parts" and also stated as "off road use only"

OEM parts are tested for wear against every day driving abuse (pot holes, crash tested, road debris, weather conditions, etc etc) while most of the race parts are not...

Race cars are checked for crack and any little thing that can be wrong after each session...

Salt on the roads, pot holes, even really bumpy roads are not friendly to regid pillow ball arms...

[DoriftoSlut]

If you guys think aftermarket RUCAS are for track use only, call up Kuah@SPL or Alex@BV. They'll stand by their products 120%.


Bottom line... Don't buy crappy bullshit parts and you won't have any worries.

[TurDz]

Standing by their products or not, you can't deny the fact that corrosion and street road irregularities accelerate the wear and increase the chance of failure.

Doesn't matter who it's made by. Just think of all of the salted roads in snowy areas, or the corrosion-inducing (moist) air in Texas or Florida.

If they do stand by their products though, by all means go for them. You can get replacements when the time comes.

[ranisron]

this thread kind of reminds me that I should have kept my stock RUCA, just in case.....

[turtl631]

Has anyone tried the arms from bings.ca? He was sick of corrosion killing arms so quickly up in canada so he designed some with top quality teflon/kevlar QA1 ends. Price looks pretty good also, but I haven't seen any reviews yet.

[DoriftoSlut]

Originally Posted by TurDz

Standing by their products or not, you can't deny the fact that corrosion and street road irregularities accelerate the wear and increase the chance of failure.

Doesn't matter who it's made by. Just think of all of the salted roads in snowy areas, or the corrosion-inducing (moist) air in Texas or Florida.

If they do stand by their products though, by all means go for them. You can get replacements when the time comes.

I agree that daily driving your car under any circumstances puts a lot of wear and tear on it. Even with completely stock bushings and crap (why you think they suck so much after 13 years). I think that's just from the sheer mileage and (like you said) lack of care most people will put towards their cars.

BUT I do not agree that a RUCA should be a track-only piece! THat's bullshit! And to make an excuse for a crappy product by saying it should only be used on the street is not cool either. With DECENT maintenance, a good product will last for a very long time. I have had my SPL RUCAs for ~3 years now. 2.5 of those years the car was daily driver. ANd i would not take my wheel off and clean the ruca or anything special like lubing it up or anything like that. I didn't have time, shit man it was my daily driver. Now that its my track car, I can take better care of it and you know what, the RUCAs are solid, no threads are corroded or stripped, the balljoint is not binding, and it rotates smoothly.

[broken240sx]

along these lines,

after two winters in NY (snow tires rule!) my whiteline front endlink gave out...

Driving down bumpy ass horace harding expressway in Queens, the bolt must have already taken off, and the collar thing that goes in the middle of the bushing gets jammed between my wheel and caliper (s15, z32) and stopped that tire in its tracks. I was slowing to a stop when it happened, still really shitty. Ill probably never post pics, but the caliper took a BEATING...(has this ever happened to anyone, or do I get the darwin award?)

anyways, listen to these guys, this wouldn't have happened if I noticed the missing bolt, which i'm pretty sure was there when I changed the earl two weeks ago...

on another note, you can barely tell that your front bar is disconnected under normal driving conditions... but get a feel for it before you hit the twisties I forgot about it by the time I got home, almost spun

[mjjstang]

I personally think it is rediculous that they are breaking from the bolts but I can understand the the heim joints would wear after time, and like stated, that is why they are not used on OEM. The adjustment thread should be larger in diameter if they continue to break from the same location like shown.

[NemeGuero]

Drivin' through cold is a problem too.

Most metals have a DBTT(Ductile to brittle transition temperature) where at a certain temperature, usually pretty low, the metal can no longer endure the same stresses it could before. In fact, it breaks like tooth picks. We did this in lab putting metal in liquid nitrogen and it cracked with 1/4 of the force.

That's actually the real reason the titanic sank. The engineers were dumb and didn't use materials that could withstand the temperatures of the cold ass water. Once the first compartment flooded, the rivets that held the compartment walls up just started popping off under the pressure.

Ok, enough blabber. Sorry. hha

[sw20>>s14]

okay, mr. engineer...shouldnt you be banned by now? =)

basically, all aftermarket parts you have run a risk...so check them...even so, regarless of oem or aftermarket, you should always check your parts whenever possible...why do you think car washes come in handy once and a while? check pad life, tire wear, etc...

[NemeGuero]

You check your stuff at car washes? I know.. I apologized for the rambling. haha

Someone had to be curious and appreciate the info!

dick.

[mjjstang]

haha this is why i pull my car out when the snow is only a faint memory.

[Blabla]

This post makes me want to share my personal experience - when I went with coilovers - I had to get adjustable stuff and replace some of those suspension arms - I did not know much about 240's at the point - so I figured I'd try different brend and see how it does over time --
Lets put it that way :

Tanabe Tension Rod : Real piece of **** - corrosion all over - including the bar itself - the threads are garbage now and I plan on changing them when I get upper camber plate with some rubber (if I can ever find that stuff lol)

Cusco RUCA : The impressive one -- very impressive actually - it looks new.. granted it was more expensive then the other - but hey I guess you pay for what you get.

JIC Toe Rod : This is the interesting one - A little rust here and there but nothing to worry about, at least in my opinion.

I will be taking them all off soon to check them all - it now has been a year that I had them on my daily so will see hehe

Still Tanabe = crap - they are scary looking and I will replace them...

[mr_240sx]

Originally Posted by Blabla

This post makes me want to share my personal experience - when I went with coilovers - I had to get adjustable stuff and replace some of those suspension arms - I did not know much about 240's at the point - so I figured I'd try different brend and see how it does over time --
Lets put it that way :

Tanabe Tension Rod : Real piece of **** - corrosion all over - including the bar itself - the threads are garbage now and I plan on changing them when I get upper camber plate with some rubber (if I can ever find that stuff lol)

Cusco RUCA : The impressive one -- very impressive actually - it looks new.. granted it was more expensive then the other - but hey I guess you pay for what you get.

JIC Toe Rod : This is the interesting one - A little rust here and there but nothing to worry about, at least in my opinion.

I will be taking them all off soon to check them all - it now has been a year that I had them on my daily so will see hehe

Still Tanabe = crap - they are scary looking and I will replace them...

well i started installing my kazama goodies tonight and i hope that in a years time they hold up decent because they werent cheap!

[FaLKoN240]

I like reading about SPL RUCAs, especially after I put them on my car.

I got a daily driver too. Haha.

[dopeassjackson]

has any one ever broke these RUCA?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PROJE...spagenameZWDVW

im seeing that the thicker tube ebay ones rust and break. since i live in the north east this is an issue for me.

[TokyoNights]

battleversion fo lyfe!
street and track and Ive never has a problem with Alexs stuff
dont cheap out and you wont have to worry

[mr_240sx]

would kazama stuff be considered cheaping out?

[TurDz]

my_240sx,

I've heard some of their components to be substandard. Items like their rod ends and ball joints. The only way to know for sure is to get input from people who have had them for a while. If the ball joint is super loose (my friend has very loose Battle Version ones), I would consider replacing that component.

[mmdb]

I agree with DriftoSlut. Although they do manufacture the parts as "race-only" they are sure to know that people who buy them are not going to use them strictly for the track.

With that said, looks like the shperical bearing rusted out pretty bad. If it wasn't discussed before, sorry I didn't bother reading prior, looks like they might've seized causing it to be fixated resulting in putting more stress on endlink.

I recently picked up a set of RUCAs that has name brand endlinks with tight tolerances, and thick compared to other ebay, or even jdm brand toe-ends. If you're going to get a set, regardless of being "off-road" only, find a manufacturer that knows what materials that go in to the products.

P.S. JIC was a prospective RUCA for my car until I called them and asked what materials they used for the endlinks, or for the arm itself... Needless to say I will never buy a JIC product.

[drift freaq]

Well regardless of what any of you say, to justify your reasoning, in the end the truth is like I said before, manufacturers make them with either good intentions where they state for track use. Or bad intentions where they just make them to make money. You can all believe that the manufacturer is thinking, hmm these are going to be used on the street lets make them to last like stock car parts. I If you do your just bullshitting yourself. Neither side see's that way. The ones that care state for offroad or track use. The ones that don't don't say anything and just sell them to make a buck.
Any other idea is pretty idealistic if not unrealistic. Sorry but its true.

[Dousan_PG]

my spls were like 3 years w/ never problems and no maintenance, sold them to a friend, still runs them worry free 100% daily driven minor tracked

right now i got cusco for the s14, works great high quality. spl dosent sell their own s14 ones, they did the reserach cusco is one of the best. why battle the best?

everything else is spl though all arms, no problems, anywhere fomr 1.5-3 years use on them. my tc rods i had for about 3 years are now on my friends can in japan says they work great.

good stuff from a good comapny. cant go wrong. no bs'ing.

[drift freaq]

I stand by my statements Aaron , you have had good luck with your spl parts. I do agree spl parts are really nice. It does not change my opinion that everyone should check this stuff on a regular basis.
Plus Aaron living in socal we are not subject to extremely adverse conditions.
You may feel you do not need to check your stuff. I feel you do. I would rather err on safetys side than ignore and face possible consequences, regardless of who makes the particular product.
Sorry but even the best sometimes have problems. It happens, its why sometimes jetliners crash. They were built to last and not crash but sometimes there are flaws even in the best products out there. I am an optimistic person for the most part but with mechanical stuff I try to be realistic. That means keep my eyes wide open and check stuff.

[drift freaq]

that is also why some products, I no longer will sell.

[dopeassjackson]

any one know how the project silvia RUCA are? i know they some with dust boots but as to how long they last.

[crazyikimasho]

One thing to keep in mind as far as RUCA go are the end links, they the most important component in the links themselves. You want to stick with a company that utilizes strong end links such as Aurora.

"For the rod ends, it is a misconception that all heim joint/rod ends make noise or that you need to have to grease it and such. That is not the case. There are different types of heim joints/rod ends that you can purchase for different applications. Most of the ones that do make noise are designed for machnery applications and not automotive/racing applications. Given they still fit and can handle the same load capacities, you shouldn’t use them on your car. If it comes with a grease nipple on it, that’s usually your first indication you shouldn’t use it.



The rod ends that Battle Version uses are a 3 piece design with a Teflon injected liner. There are a couple benefits to using a teflon injected liner in that they are self lubricating which means you don’t need to grease or maintain them (adding grease or a rubber boot will cause water or dirt particles to stay or get trapped in the rod end and wear out the liner quicker). Second is that the liner acts as a separator between the race and housing of the bearing. A normal heim/rod end will have a bit of play between the race and the housing. That play will cause the bearing to make noise or clunk as it is hitting metal to metal. This is the sound most people refer to when they say heim joint/rod end suspension causes the car to be noisy. But that is not the case with the injected liner as it takes up that play and doesn’t allow metal to metal contact."

-quoted from battleversion.com

[theronin]

interesting info guys. keep it coming.