yeah i here what both sides are saying, but i had the choice and i knew that there would be some initial rattling problems, but that didnt bother me. Thanks for the better pic and more thorough information. Im going to weld those in place this weekend probably.
The weld is only holding the sleeve in place. In the over 2.5 yrs that my club has been installing these no welds have cracked or broken. Very little force is being applied to the weld. And this is a better solution for a car that is driven hard.
Huh? The sleeve is simply the interface for the arm to the bushing. The sleeve is not individually subjected to any harmonics. It will simply transfer any forces to the bushing. It is not designed to withstand any forces on it. The reason for the weld is to simply hold it in place. As has been stated, there are some who have not had a problem with the set screws backing out. And the weld can easily be ground off.
All you would be doing is grinding off the weld at the end of the sleeve. You are not affecting the perfromance of the part at all. Have you ever seen one of these installed or even in the box?
All I want to know is why neither of you two have taken advantage of the nifty Garage feature to show off your cars...
Got better things to do than take pic's.............rrr: Actually I just need to take some newer ones as I have had a few visual mods done lately.
Keep in mind for everyone that is welding these not to get too much heat into them at any one time. the Bushing will melt under a lot of heat. i always lay a weld then used shop air to cool the area around the bushing (not the weld) then lay another weld once i can touch it with a bare hand. i also put 3 tacks on the front side and do a full 360 in the back. there is no way the welds are going to break. and they are a lot easier to weld off the car then on the car if anyone is thinking of doing it after an install but have the option to do it before.
The club members (about 15 now) that have installed these have all had the sleeve welded to the arm while separate from the bushing. Thus no potential heat damage/transfer to the bushing. Those are the allen bolts that we suggested to Alta some time ago, but they didn't seem to be very interested. Had a couple of members do it that way and they have had no issues I am aware of.
The problem is that the set screw location sucks. They fight each other. Two at an angle on one flat would be better. Also, once the stuff gets dirty, then they keep backing out, even with Loctite red. The crappy set screws keep the part from being a home run. Last time I had my subframe down, I re-did the side that was rattling, with new hardware. Cleaned everything really well, and two days later the rattle came back. next time it's down I'll take the control arm somewhere and have the thing welded correctly (a la chad). Don't know about drilling, I think that part is hardened. Anyway, I can't wait for an excuse (well, another excuse) to get the stuff dealt with. Those two days of no rattles were heaven. Also, with the TSW X-brace the rattle really couples to the cabin. Matt