1G DSM front k-member and tubular control arms

[daplatano91]

Are the arms stock dimensions? I guess what I'm getting at is will they fit on a stock crossmember? I took one look and it was love at first sight. If they do fit I have got to have them after you complete testing.

Great work as always sir

 

[Phil1320]

Awesome, nice to see it closer to reaching the point where 'production' may begin. However, definitely want you to take all the needed time.

 

[RipperXX]

Agreed, but with my tax return only a week or two away from being in my bank account, this is getting VERY tempting... And I don't even need it!

 

[vassil]

Here is an update: I measured everything on the factory arm for quite some time and finalized the version of what I decided to call the ball joint receiver It mimics the stock geometry and it fits a Moog K9617 ball joint (factory replacement). They are at the machine shop now and I shold have the prototypes sometime next week. I will test them out and post pictures of a complete control arm.

Here is a picture:

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[doubled07]

Awesome work....keep it up man! Any guess on where the price will come in at?

 

[lowell]

Ball joint receiver looks good and strong. It will need clearancing for guys with big brakes, but that's easily done with a grinder and will still be much sturdier than stock hammered down control arms.

 

[Ludachris]

Looking good. Great work on the "ball joint receivers". I'm still trying to get Howe to get back to me on whether or not they have a press-in ball joint housing that might be around the same diameter as ours, so that we could use one of the Chrysler ball joints with a longer stem to address roll center.

Looks like it wouldn't be tough to weld on a tab to those beautiful control arms for swaybar links.

 

[Phil1320]

Definitely incredible design work

 

[underradar92]

Patiently watching progress.

I do hope that if a power-rack design happens that it will support the rack further out from center, picturing all sorts of cornering deflection as the design shows now. Also move it up some, I have rather tall tie rod spacers in an attempt (successfully) to make bump-steer better.

The design other than that appears to be headed in a good direction.

 

[vassil]

Here is a another update:

Got the prototype ball joint receiver done and mocked everything up with the control arms. Moved a few things around for more clearance around axle boots. Also beefed up the tubes for the rack support. It finally looks like a rear k-member. I am converting my car to an auto, so I will the throwing the auto trans in it in the next few days and modify things as needed to make sure it works for both manual and auto cars. I will then be taking the car over to my friend Jake's shop to put on alignment rack to make sure everything is correct. if anything needs to be fixed I will find out for sure at that point.

I had a minor disappointment with the faulty Moog ball joint. I bought three of them. Two ended up being perfect and the third one that I used to get all the measurements from ended up being a bit smaller in diameter, so I will have to redo and ball joint receivers one more time and accommodate for a larger bore. That would probably be a setback worth a few days at the machine shop.

Here are pictures of everything:

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[Phil1320]

Very nice......in the final stages....

 

[gsxnate99]

Looking awesome! Definitely looking to purchase one for the race car

 

[AndrewD5418]

Very nice job!

 

[91stocker]

Yea wow thats looking good.

 

[92 GSR-4]

vassil,


I'm curious to hear predictions on reliability of this piece in a high-powered street car. It looks like it will open a lot of room and make trans swaps easier.

 

[underradar92]

I also read all the threads concerning different ball joints and it seems that the consensus is a Howe Racing 22320S. They make cups for those and they can be easily welded in place. Is the taper on those the same as a stock DSM?

Moving the LCA pickup points up can also be done. About .625 on a manual and about .5 on an auto before we run into clearance issues with the Axle cup.

The Howe ball joint in question does fit our stock taper, yes.

Moving the front pivot of the lower control arm up towards the axle cup as far as safely possible should only improve roll center on cars lowered any more than the amount the pivot is raised, or am I not figuring the geometry correctly? As most are lowered more than 1/2" It seems it would only help.

 

[vassil]

Thanks Guys.

Today, I spent some time in the shop and weighed everything. The stock k-member weighs 65.2lbs (including the sway bar). My K-member weighs 29.64lbs. The stock north/south bars weight around 11lbs. The k-member design makes those obsolete. Also if you use a tubular front crossmember you will save another 11.8 lbs. In the end it all adds up to a decent amount. I test fitted everything on the car and it looks good so far. This weekend I will try to throw the auto transmission on the car and see how everything looks. Hopefully everything clears. Here is a picture of everything on the scales:

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Here are some pictures of how it looks installed on the car with a 5-speed transmission, so you can see the clearances for trans, axles, etc.

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And last picture for today is the k-member with the manual rack installed on it.

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I have posted my progress on a few other forums including NABR. Dennis Grant chimed in and reminded me about something very important that still needs to be done. Destructive testing of the LCAs and Ball Joint Receivers and further box gussetting of the LCA pickups.

After I throw the car on an alignment rack at Jake's, I will make an extra set of LCAs and see what it will take to destroy them. Once that phase is complete I will have a better idea of what to expect from the k-member when installed on high horsepower street cars.

 

[1990AWD]

Wow that looks amazing!

 

[JFZERO ECLIPSE]

No love for the people that have/will be purchasing your 3 piece crossmember? Here in the summer I will most likely pick up your 3 piece crossmember, and that following winter the k member.

Just trying to get an idea of things...

 

[vassil]

Of course there is love for the 3-piece crossmembers. The 3-pc will bolt up to the k-member for a complete front subframe

 

[JFZERO ECLIPSE]

Thanks Guys.

Today, I spent some time in the shop and weighed everything. The stock k-member weighs 65.2lbs (including the sway bar). My K-member weighs 29.64lbs. The stock north/south bars weight around 11lbs. The k-member design makes those obsolete.

By how it was stated it seemed like they would not work.

I might have just got confused.....

Btw, you freakin

EDIT: Since you offer the prothane for the front crossmember would the k member be the same situation? Rear engine mount that is...

 

[Ronny Cordova]

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[AndrewD5418]

Not sure if you looked into it, but have you thought about of maybe adapting in an evolution rack and pinion for quicker steering?

 

[alwesterholm]

Two Questions?
1. Looking at the above design, can anyone tell me if they see a reason why this wouldn't work in a FWD application? Are all the connectivity points and clearance locations the same which would allow fitment minus the rear motor mount bracket?
2. Where would the swaybar attach/bolt up on the K-member?

 

[DSMRon]

Can not wait until it has been tested and it is ready for sale... Do we have any idea on price yet?