Godspeed Control Arms

[LuckyX2]

I have these arms here:



Does anyone know what I need to do to install the rear lower control arms?
They claimed they fit on both S13 and S14 even though they have different pickup points but it's not fitting on my S13. I figured there would be two sets of spacers, one for S13 and one for S14 but there was only one set. When I asked the seller, he claims there aren't any extra spacers and that it should work on both. He even said out of all he's sold, I'm the first to say they didn't fit.

What am I missing here?

[Croustibat]

You are missing a refund.

S13 and S14 rear lower arms are not the same and wont fit. That and these are shite, really. I wont repeat myself, i already explained why on another post today, use the search button with my nickname if you want to find out.

[LuckyX2]

There is no way to make an S14 arm work on an S13? I though it was possible with different spacers.
Is the seller just flat out lying to me when he says they fit on both? Just about all of the "eBay arms" are listed as S13/S14 compatible. They can't all be lying, can they?

And I'm well aware that these are crap. I will be modifying them to make them not crap. The welds are all solid; it's just the hardware that is bad.

[Mikester]

^^Suit yourself

[Chaluska]

Originally Posted by LuckyX2

There is no way to make an S14 arm work on an S13? I though it was possible with different spacers.
Is the seller just flat out lying to me when he says they fit on both? Just about all of the "eBay arms" are listed as S13/S14 compatible. They can't all be lying, can they?

And I'm well aware that these are crap. I will be modifying them to make them not crap. The welds are all solid; it's just the hardware that is bad.

Technical answer, if you put an S14 rear subframe on the S13, then you can use all the s14 rear components. i would just return that stuff ASAP. why are you buying aftermarket RLCA's? just for more stiffness? or do you actually need to adjust your alignment that much?

[LuckyX2]

Originally Posted by Mikester

^^Suit yourself

Perhaps you're not aware that these arms are as good as any once you replace bearings/bolts/nuts? Hell, you can even oversize things that way and make them stronger than any other arm that comes with stock sized hardware. I'm not just some cheapass who picked these up solely because they're the cheapest; I'm well aware of what they lack and bought them with that knowledge and the intentions to correct those things. When correctly modified, these arms offer an unbeatable value. It's called being cost effective and it suits me very well.

Originally Posted by Chaluska

Technical answer, if you put an S14 rear subframe on the S13, then you can use all the s14 rear components. i would just return that stuff ASAP. why are you buying aftermarket RLCA's? just for more stiffness? or do you actually need to adjust your alignment that much?

I know that the mounts are different (even said that in my initial post) but I also know that people have made them work. I'm looking to find out how it is that people have made them work on an S13 subframe.

And I'm getting these because I need new arms anyway (stocks have the z32 conical bushing stuck on them, worn rubber and worn balljoints) so instead of getting the stock ones, why not get adjustable ones with spherical ends for about the same price?

[Croustibat]

Originally Posted by LuckyX2

There is no way to make an S14 arm work on an S13? I though it was possible with different spacers.
Is the seller just flat out lying to me when he says they fit on both? Just about all of the "eBay arms" are listed as S13/S14 compatible. They can't all be lying, can they?

The sellers dont know jack about what they are selling. They just sell chinese crap that comes with a notice saying they fit everything, and thats it.

I dont know if you could call that lying. He just does not know.

There is a way, it is called machining, and it has a cost.

Originally Posted by LuckyX2

And I'm well aware that these are crap. I will be modifying them to make them not crap. The welds are all solid; it's just the hardware that is bad.

Whatever dude. Been there, done that, binned the lot. Not worth the time nor the money needed to fix these (because whatever you do, it will end up costing more than quality items).

You need new ball joints everywhere, new tapers because these are wrongly shaped. Or you can machine them. I dont know where these come from, but they dont fit any S nor Z knuckle. You also need to cut & weld the front ARB pickup points because they dont fit either, they are off even at stock width.

Good luck anyway.

[codyace]

Everthing aside, the rod ends they use are complete shit. If you ever need spares I can send you some, I replaced mine with all QA1 stuf and haven't looked back.

[LuckyX2]

Originally Posted by Croustibat

Whatever dude. Been there, done that, binned the lot. Not worth the time nor the money needed to fix these (because whatever you do, it will end up costing more than quality items).

You need new ball joints everywhere, new tapers because these are wrongly shaped. Or you can machine them. I dont know where these come from, but they dont fit any S nor Z knuckle. You also need to cut & weld the front ARB pickup points because they dont fit either, they are off even at stock width.

Good luck anyway.

How do you figure it costs more than the "quality items"?
2x Arms: $150
2x Bolts: $10
10x Nuts: $10
10x Washers: $10
2x Bearings: $36
2x Rod ends: $28
Total: $244 vs $400-600 for name brand arms

Yeah, I'll take those savings any day. And in the end it's all better hardware than the brand name arms anyway; especially if you oversize to a 3/4" bolt.
No machining of a taper required either, just leave the bolt as is.

Originally Posted by codyace

Everthing aside, the rod ends they use are complete shit. If you ever need spares I can send you some, I replaced mine with all QA1 stuf and haven't looked back.

I may have to take you up on that, thanks. Won't be until I get a pair that actually fits though

[Def]

The rear misalignment bushings are ~45 mm wide IIRC. I think they're too wide to fit an S13 subframe, and too narrow to fit the 50 mm wide S14 subframe. So your solution is to grind/file for an S13 subframe, add washers for S14.

The inner bearings are also a funky size that I could never find a match for.


I'm assuming you're using my NRR write up on the fronts, which works like a charm. Just make sure you also replace the inner rod ends in addition to the outer spherical bearing. The ones that come with it are crap like Cody said.

[95zenki man]

I never had a problem putting s14 lca's on my s13 when i did the 5 lug swap. I used stock s14 arms tho but it should be the same?

[inopsey]

you can change all the bushings and hardware etc but your still dealing with chinese alloy and inferior welds. (at least the welds ive seen on knock off arms)

[Croustibat]

Originally Posted by LuckyX2

How do you figure it costs more than the "quality items"?
2x Arms: $150
2x Bolts: $10
10x Nuts: $10
10x Washers: $10
2x Bearings: $36
2x Rod ends: $28
Total: $244 vs $400-600 for name brand arms

Yeah, I'll take those savings any day. And in the end it's all better hardware than the brand name arms anyway; especially if you oversize to a 3/4" bolt.
No machining of a taper required either, just leave the bolt as is.

Dude, do as you wish. But you forgot about labor. Maybe your time is not precious, but mine is; and the time i need to do all that is worth more than just buying 400$ arms right off the bat.

And you still need to machine the taper, because they dont fit correctly in the knuckle. Guess how i know ? Unless you are very lucky and they corrected that since i bought some, it is not going to engage fully in the knuckle.

May i also remind you that right now, you just have rear arms that dont even fit ?

I paid 420€ for mine. But they did fit, without having anyting to do; they came in a well packaged, nice box, with pins and tools to install them. Alloy is way better, welds are way better, coating is well better, taper do fit, everything is well adjusted. Binned the previous arms, installed these, job done.



95Zenki > front fits. Rear dont. Nothing a little bit of filing wont fix though, but then you also need to file the misalignment spacers (which sucks because you really need a lathe not to do a botched job)

[PeaceOnesxWai]

Are those even godspeed parts?? I never knew they had them in black...


You can call godspeed directly if your having problems and not understanding why its not fitting. Ask for Ken or Pow, they knows these parts backwards and forwards.

[alexander240]

Godspeed are pretty awesome with there customer service.

[LuckyX2]

Originally Posted by Def

The rear misalignment bushings are ~45 mm wide IIRC. I think they're too wide to fit an S13 subframe, and too narrow to fit the 50 mm wide S14 subframe. So your solution is to grind/file for an S13 subframe, add washers for S14.

The inner bearings are also a funky size that I could never find a match for.


I'm assuming you're using my NRR write up on the fronts, which works like a charm. Just make sure you also replace the inner rod ends in addition to the outer spherical bearing. The ones that come with it are crap like Cody said.

Finally, someone actually provided a solution. Thank you!

Originally Posted by Croustibat

Dude, do as you wish. But you forgot about labor. Maybe your time is not precious, but mine is; and the time i need to do all that is worth more than just buying 400$ arms right off the bat.

And you still need to machine the taper, because they dont fit correctly in the knuckle. Guess how i know ? Unless you are very lucky and they corrected that since i bought some, it is not going to engage fully in the knuckle.

If it takes someone more than an hour to modify these, I'd consider them an incompetent mechanic. And I don't know about you but I don't get paid the $200 an hour it would take to make up the difference...

And I don't know why you're still talking about the taper. I'm going to be replacing that tapered pin completely with an M18 bolt or maybe oversize to 3/4". No more taper.

Originally Posted by 95zenki man

I never had a problem putting s14 lca's on my s13 when i did the 5 lug swap. I used stock s14 arms tho but it should be the same?

Are you talking about fronts? Because the fronts are interchangeable, it's the rears that have different pick up points.