Silk Road Front Upper Camber Arms

[CameronBNR32]

Went to order a set of the Noltec front upper camber adjustable arms for my 32 gtr today, and have been told they have been discontinued... now I'm looking at the Silk Road front camber arms as they seem to be of the same design/principle... has anyone bought these? or seen them in the flesh? just trying to gauge adjustability/reliability I guess...

.

I've also looked at the Midori front upper links but I'm not too keen on paying $650+ when the Silk Road arms are ~$350.

[eXc]

Can't help you with if they are any good - But where are you getting them from at that price?

[STATUS]

I've also looked at the Midori front upper links but I'm not too keen on paying $650+ when the Silk Road arms are ~$350.

well they are chinese made (section/silk road) so i would not want to pay too much more than 350, the midori ones are made in japan and were copied by many like KTS (also taiwan) etc.

if your happy with the silk road ones check out driftshop.com.au and ask costa if he has his version in stock... im sure they would be the same thing and as far as cheap arms go his are the better of what is available here. I ve used his stuff a bit when in a bind and it has alsways been better than the other generic stuff.

[Sydneykid]

Went to order a set of the Noltec front upper camber adjustable arms for my 32 gtr today, and have been told they have been discontinued... now I'm looking at the Silk Road front camber arms as they seem to be of the same design/principle... has anyone bought these? or seen them in the flesh? just trying to gauge adjustability/reliability I guess...

.

I've also looked at the Midori front upper links but I'm not too keen on paying $650+ when the Silk Road arms are ~$350.

They are a bitch to adjust, you can't get to the locking nut while the arm is connected. You will pay more for every wheel alignment as a result.

Cheers

Gary

[eXc]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/D-Project-FRONT-CAM...7QQcmdZViewItem

are the driftshop ones you mentioned URAS?

SK, have you seen these used? I know you aren't a fan of having everythign so solid...

[Sydneykid]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/D-Project-FRONT-CAM...7QQcmdZViewItem

are the driftshop ones you mentioned URAS?

SK, have you seen these used? I know you aren't a fan of having everythign so solid...

Haven't seen them in use as yet, won't be long though, without dust seals and grease retention they won't last very long. So I will have guys PM'ing me for advice on how to stop the knocking.

Hard to tell exactly from the pictures, but their minimum length looks too long for sufficient negative camber on the high speed tracks (eg; Philip Island)

Cheers

Gary

[Mr. Keets]

I've read a number of posts regarding the pros and cons of these type of upper arms, Noltec included, versus the Midori style "dog bones". Are you better of getting the Ikeya Formula lower adjustable's???

[vsute]

I would also like to know the answer to the above question .

By pushing the lower arms out to get camber .would you also widen the wheel span at the front ????

Edited February 25, 2008 by vsute

[Beer Baron]

yeah making the lower arm longer is a good thing. gives you more track as well as the camber you need. the only reason people don't do it more often is the cost. typically the lower arms cost more than double the uppers.

[Sydneykid]

Plus it always screws up the bump steer something fierce, often changes the Ackerman and does no good at all for the dynamic camber change. If you fix those things then, yep, longer lower control arms work fine.

Cheers

Gary

[Roy]

Yeh, not sure what it does to bump steer but assumed it woudl be bad for ackerman.

Im slowly learning with cars. Keepign it simple means the best results. To get stupidly good results you either need to own a GTR and have a workshop that has done all the R&D or wear the cost yourself. Stick with the Noltec arms, or speak to UAS about his replacement arms that he is bringing to market very soon, they look to be good things for the R32/Z32 range that can chew bushes when you run too much camber abd castor

[Mr. Keets]

I sent off an e-mail to UAS.

[CameronBNR32]

Can't help you with if they are any good - But where are you getting them from at that price?

Greenline

I went ahead and got the Section arms, they are made rather well but I can see what SK means by being a bitch to adjust, you basically have to pull them out, reset, and put back in, I installed them on their lowest camber setting (pulled all the way in), and I didnt get much negative camber at all...

Would it be super dodgey to slot the mounts?

[eXc]

Well, I've ordered the driftshop ones to give them a go...

[Mr. Keets]

....speak to UAS about his replacement arms that he is bringing to market very soon...

I sent off an e-mail to UAS.

Checked my mail today and recieved an e-mail on from UAS on Monday, "...waiting to get an eta but suspect next month and they are the best on the market and unique in design"

Stay tuned

[STATUS]

Haven't seen them in use as yet, won't be long though, without dust seals and grease retention they won't last very long.

two years no greasing with regular checks (i would suggest checking after a trip into the sand traps though ) and still going strong with nil play..... these are used in most of japans fastest super lap cars.

http://www.nagisa-auto.com/

Far more than just cheap chinese arms, most have rc + bs correction and so forth in built.

[Sydneykid]

Greenline

I went ahead and got the Section arms, they are made rather well but I can see what SK means by being a bitch to adjust, you basically have to pull them out, reset, and put back in, I installed them on their lowest camber setting (pulled all the way in), and I didnt get much negative camber at all...

Would it be super dodgey to slot the mounts?

Most of the retail camber kits are designed to REMOVE the negative camber that occurs when Skylines are lowered. This is because the “road car market” is far larger than the “race car market” and they are looking at excessive inside tyre wear as the major problem that they need to overcome by adjusting the camber. For reference, the standard R32 style upper control arm is ~180 mm long, centre of the outer bolt to the centre of the inner bolt. Using the off the shelf adjustable, offset, outer bush (Whiteline etc) reduces that to ~175 mm. This gives around 2 to 2.5 degrees of negative camber on an R32 with a ride height around 355 mm centre of wheel to guard with around 6.5 degrees of caster on a 2wd and 5.0 degrees on a 4wd.

That is usually enough camber/caster, provided sufficient anti roll is used (larger stabiliser bars), for most circuits. High speed circuits with long sweeping radius curves (eg; Philip Island) need slightly more camber.

So we use the off the shelf adjustable, offset bush (Whiteline etc) in the inner of the upper control arm. That reduces the length to around 170 mm. This gives around 3.0 to 3.5 degrees of negative camber on an R32 with a ride height around 355 mm centre of wheel to guard with around 6.5 degrees of caster on a 2wd and 5.0 degrees on a 4wd.

This 170 mm length seems to have been the minimum that ALL of the R32 camber adjusters have been made to. Of all of the brands of upper control arms that I have measured (Noltec, Nismo, Ikeya etc) the minimum is 172 mm. many are longer. So choosing one brand over another to get more negative camber is pretty much a waste of time.

Keep in mind that when you add caster, the R32 designed upper control arm has no choice but to distort the bushes. Hence they become a consumable item, you simply have to change them regularly. Just like brake pads, the bushes wear out and need replacement. This is why Nissan changed the design of the front upper control arm on 33's and 34's.

You can't easily slot the outer holes due to the design of the upright (hub). If you slot the inner holes enough to make a worthwhile difference, the arm rubs on the inner guard.

Cheers

Gary

[djr81]

Gary,

Here is the Cusco fixed arm I just bought. (Thanks Tacker ) Centre distances are 172mm. Unusually they use a common bearing: 6203Z if anyone cares. I was going to knock those out & replace them with some bushes.

Also of note is the amount of stagger, ie how far the inside is behind the outside is 23mm. Not sure if adjusting this would help generate more castor without negative side effects.

Edited March 6, 2008 by djr81

[Sydneykid]

Gary,

I think you may have confused the stock length with the adjusted length. From memory the stockers are 182 centre to centre.

Here is the Cusco fixed arm I just bought. (Thanks Tacker ) Centre distances are 172mm. Unusually they use a common bearing: 6203Z if anyone cares. I was going to knock those out & replace them with some bushes.

Also of note is the amount of stagger, ie how far the inside is behind the outside is 23mm. Not sure if adjusting this would help generate more castor without negative side effects.

Thanks, I should learn to never rely on my failing memory, post amended accordingly.

Cheers

Gar

[djr81]

Random question:

You can move the bottom of the upright forward for more castor. But given the arm has stagger built in, can you move the top further back? That assumes you fab up your own arms - which isn't hard looking at the Cusco ones.

Edited March 6, 2008 by djr81