Blackened300a
08-29-2009, 06:25 PM
Last night the arms arrived and even though it was pouring rain, I decided to take the car out and do the install.
The point of this was to show how they look on the car, how accurate the installation directions are and to give some install tips for you guys who already purchased and for those who are planning to.
Simply put, this installation is very easy and anyone who can turn a wrench can install these.
Tools needed are a 18mm socket, 22mm socket or wrench, 15mm socket or wrench, torque wrench that goes up to 115 ft lbs, a rubber mallet, and a measuring tape.
Ill give the basic details of the install. The directions will give more detail that are included.
With the car on the ground and your airbags inflated to ride height, you will need to measure from the center of the rim to the bottom of the fender lip.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/blackened300a/measure.jpg
My car was 16 inches. Some will vary.
Now you can go ahead and pull the tires off and see how wimpy your stock control arms really are.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/blackened300a/DSCN1530-1.jpg
Using the above mentioned tools, you can go ahead and remove either arm you want. We started with the bottom arm. Just remove the bolts and the arm will pop right out, then replace with your new stronger SPARTA arm.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/blackened300a/lower-1.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/blackened300a/upper.jpg
Its in the directions that you must replace the bolts the same direction they were removed. We also found that when replacing the arm with the new one, install the forward bolt first then the rearward. When you remove the arm the rear will move slightly and a rubber mallet will be needed to align the bolt through the hole. There is a taper on the bolt so this wont harm the threads.
Leave the bolts loose at this point and go ahead and remove the upper arm. Nothing too special there, just remove the bolts, remove the arm and replace with the new arm. We found that you should remove the forward bolt first, then the rearward bolt. This will prevent the arm from swinging up and potentially taking out the brake line. You can reinstall either way you want.
Once again leave the bolts loose!
It should look like this.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/blackened300a/DSCN1537-1.jpg
Now you will understand why we left the arms loose and why you took a measurement before the installation. We had the car on the lift so we put a pipe under the rear axle and lowered the lift down to raise the suspension to meet our initial measurement of 16 inches.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/blackened300a/DSCN1534-1.jpg
Once you reach the proper measurement from the center of the axle to the top lip of the fender well, you can go ahead and torque the bolts to spec which was 111ft lbs for all bolts except the rearward top control arm bolt, that was to be torqued at 69ft lbs.
Once you have all the bolts torqued, you can replace your wheel and consider this side done!!!!!
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/blackened300a/DSCN1540-1.jpg
Repeat the directions for the other side and you are looking at a control arm install in less then a hour start to finish.
Its pouring rain here in NY the entire weekend so there is no way I can give you a accurate testimonial on how these affected the performance. I can assure you that these are much beefier then stock, the bushings fit nice and snug, and look nicer as well.
Heres a pic of them with the car on the ground.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/blackened300a/DSCN1548-1.jpg
These are the silver ones that are offered, they stand out and you can see them clearly through the rim and wheel well. so you guys that picked different colors will get a idea of what you can expect to see.
Tommy has more pics of the side by side comparison of the SPARTA arms VS stock, I just wanted to give you guys the general idea of what they look like and whats involved.
Heres the link to the directions we used with pics.
http://spartaperformance.com/mmarms.htm
The MM.net discount expires 9/02 so get on board before you miss out on a great deal!
The point of this was to show how they look on the car, how accurate the installation directions are and to give some install tips for you guys who already purchased and for those who are planning to.
Simply put, this installation is very easy and anyone who can turn a wrench can install these.
Tools needed are a 18mm socket, 22mm socket or wrench, 15mm socket or wrench, torque wrench that goes up to 115 ft lbs, a rubber mallet, and a measuring tape.
Ill give the basic details of the install. The directions will give more detail that are included.
With the car on the ground and your airbags inflated to ride height, you will need to measure from the center of the rim to the bottom of the fender lip.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/blackened300a/measure.jpg
My car was 16 inches. Some will vary.
Now you can go ahead and pull the tires off and see how wimpy your stock control arms really are.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/blackened300a/DSCN1530-1.jpg
Using the above mentioned tools, you can go ahead and remove either arm you want. We started with the bottom arm. Just remove the bolts and the arm will pop right out, then replace with your new stronger SPARTA arm.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/blackened300a/lower-1.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/blackened300a/upper.jpg
Its in the directions that you must replace the bolts the same direction they were removed. We also found that when replacing the arm with the new one, install the forward bolt first then the rearward. When you remove the arm the rear will move slightly and a rubber mallet will be needed to align the bolt through the hole. There is a taper on the bolt so this wont harm the threads.
Leave the bolts loose at this point and go ahead and remove the upper arm. Nothing too special there, just remove the bolts, remove the arm and replace with the new arm. We found that you should remove the forward bolt first, then the rearward bolt. This will prevent the arm from swinging up and potentially taking out the brake line. You can reinstall either way you want.
Once again leave the bolts loose!
It should look like this.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/blackened300a/DSCN1537-1.jpg
Now you will understand why we left the arms loose and why you took a measurement before the installation. We had the car on the lift so we put a pipe under the rear axle and lowered the lift down to raise the suspension to meet our initial measurement of 16 inches.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/blackened300a/DSCN1534-1.jpg
Once you reach the proper measurement from the center of the axle to the top lip of the fender well, you can go ahead and torque the bolts to spec which was 111ft lbs for all bolts except the rearward top control arm bolt, that was to be torqued at 69ft lbs.
Once you have all the bolts torqued, you can replace your wheel and consider this side done!!!!!
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/blackened300a/DSCN1540-1.jpg
Repeat the directions for the other side and you are looking at a control arm install in less then a hour start to finish.
Its pouring rain here in NY the entire weekend so there is no way I can give you a accurate testimonial on how these affected the performance. I can assure you that these are much beefier then stock, the bushings fit nice and snug, and look nicer as well.
Heres a pic of them with the car on the ground.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/blackened300a/DSCN1548-1.jpg
These are the silver ones that are offered, they stand out and you can see them clearly through the rim and wheel well. so you guys that picked different colors will get a idea of what you can expect to see.
Tommy has more pics of the side by side comparison of the SPARTA arms VS stock, I just wanted to give you guys the general idea of what they look like and whats involved.
Heres the link to the directions we used with pics.
http://spartaperformance.com/mmarms.htm
The MM.net discount expires 9/02 so get on board before you miss out on a great deal!