Adjustable strut rods

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GreenDart74

GreenDart74

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Long Beach CA
Thinking of buying a set of adjustable strut rods
From pst or another company. Are they worth it? Or
Should I go stock. I just want to have the best handling
Without breaking the bank.
 
no experience with then YET, but I do plan to buy them when the time comes - they seem very worth while to me.. from what I have read, if you are going with polyurethane, they are a must.
 
I got some (Firmfeel) just because the poly lower bushings I put in are shorter than stock, with the adjustable struts I can get the bushing seated where they're supposed to be.
 
AJ/FormS said:
Do you know what the strut rod's job is?
Click to expand...

Our tubular strut rods use a special pivot point
to eliminate the flexing and bind of traditional bushings.
The result is friction-free motion vertically, and no fore/aft flexing of the
lower control arm, which causes hard to control dynamic alignment changes.
These alignment changes cause the "wandering feeling" that's so common in older cars.
Freeing up vertical motion allows faster weight transfer on the strip and a smoother ride
on the street.
Used together with our adjustable upper control arms, you'll see an improvement in
predictability, control, and ride quality.
Sold in pairs, unpainted.

https://www.reillymotorsports.com/store/product.php?productid=16167

not much of a secret...
 
Sorry to bring a thread back from the dead but I am considering buying a set of these now and I'm wondering about longevity with those exposed Heims, would there be a way to maybe put a rubber boot over them to keep out dirt and water or is that not of concern? My car is 95% street driven and I drive it a lot in rain, dirt, snow whatever lol.
 
They make seals for heim joints. Summit sells them. I'm not sure how necessary they are though. Couldn't hurt I suppose.

sit-ws6250_grp.jpg
 
I have used the "seals it" heim seals. From experience and speaking with Seals It, they are designed for race cars that are going to inspect /service / change them after each race...or race weekend. For a street car, do not expect much life.....I was lucky to get 100 miles out of them.

maybe you will have better luck.
 
Wait 100 miles out of the joints themselves!? I'm looking at the full "captive boot" style things anyway I don't really trust those small discs to seal the joint.

HemiDenny said:
I have used the "seals it" heim seals. From experience and speaking with Seals It, they are designed for race cars that are going to inspect /service / change them after each race...or race weekend. For a street car, do not expect much life.....I was lucky to get 100 miles out of them.

maybe you will have better luck.
Click to expand...
 
Put a good set of bushings in your stock ones. Doesnt get much simpler than that.
 
i have the adjustable strut rods on our dart.. no problems at all with them..

100 miles out of a set of joints? what were they harbor freight ones?
 
abodyjoe said:
i have the adjustable strut rods on our dart.. no problems at all with them..

100 miles out of a set of joints? what were they harbor freight ones?
Click to expand...

The seals, not the heim ends.
 
You can make your stock ones adjustable with a grinder, the correct die, and another nut. I have done a couple cars like that. Gives you some adjustment if you need it and is almost free.
 
I do need adjustment but I also have poly LCA bushings and I intend to build my car for road racing/autocross events. I've been messing with the stock stuff long enough and I'm over it all; after the adjustable strut rods I will probably fab and weld reinforcing plates on the LCAs before putting on some nice sway bars. Then it's so long flimsy upper arms once I have money for tubular ones.
 
I've been running adjustable strut rods on my Challenger for over 60k miles and 8 years now. I've had no problems with the heims on the strut rods. Not only that, the strut rods I have on the Challenger are the QA1 design, so, tubular aluminum. I don't run seals or boots of any kind on them, and I've had no issues with them at all. My Challenger has been driven in every road condition there is in that time, including snow and probably a few thousand miles on gravel.

As for heims elsewhere, the same Challenger ate the heims in a set of Hotchkis UCA's in less than 7k miles without boots. Hotchkis replaced the heims and provided the boots they sell now (great customer service!), but I'm approaching 7k miles again and I would be surprised if they make it to 10k miles. The UCA heims are under a very different amount of load compared to the strut rods.

Adjustable strut rods are a benefit to every car, even mildly upgraded ones. The stockers were a "one size fits most" deal, and the factory didn't care about how good the alignment was as long as it met the bare minimum specs. With aftermarket bushings being what they are, it's even more likely that your stock strut rods won't be the right length. Even when they are the right length they don't do as good of a job of remaining free from binding as the aftermarket adjustables.
 
MOPEkidD-3 said:
I do need adjustment but I also have poly LCA bushings and I intend to build my car for road racing/autocross events. I've been messing with the stock stuff long enough and I'm over it all; after the adjustable strut rods I will probably fab and weld reinforcing plates on the LCAs before putting on some nice sway bars. Then it's so long flimsy upper arms once I have money for tubular ones.
Click to expand...
Look at the car in my avatar. It has factory strut rods AND bushings, and I can PROMISE you your "roadracing" and "autocross" car would never be able to outcorner this thing. So you can "dislike" my suggestion, but the factory stuff is better than you think. There are other options, but for a guy on a budget, smart rework can result in excellent handling on the cheep.
 
replicaracer43 said:
Look at the car in my avatar. It has factory strut rods AND bushings, and I can PROMISE you your "roadracing" and "autocross" car would never be able to outcorner this thing. So you can "dislike" my suggestion, but the factory stuff is better than you think. There are other options, but for a guy on a budget, smart rework can result in excellent handling on the cheep.
Click to expand...

Sorry I offended you I just disagree that's a solution for my car... I already put new factory-style bushings in, even made sure they were cut for the right thickness and my driver side LCA is still being pushed back along the bushing. The front end has been apart multiple times and it has gotten better but still not fixed fully. I think it comes down to the poor build quality of the factory k-members in these cars.
 
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