On the chassis side of the T3 control arm, we have another spherical rod end bearing. This eliminates the nearly 40-year-old squishy and fatigued rubber bushing. With low friction and zero compliance the bearings will greatly improve responsiveness and overall handling by helping keep the alignment true under load and the tires on the ground. Perhaps the best feature is the reverse-threaded adjuster which allows rapid adjustments of the front track/camber without having to unbolt the end of the bearing from the chassis. As one who has had to do many at the-track adjustments, this is a great aid for track suspension tuning!
The T3 control arm has multiple holes for the included spherical bearing swaybar link. The link has a spherical bearing to couple the sway bar more positively. The holes allow the end user to adjust the end links for the best geometry no matter what brand of bar, how the arm is adjusted, and how low the ride height is set. This is an awesome and very thoughtful feature. You can adjust the stiffness of the bar by selecting one of the holes and the leverage ratio of the sway bar to the wheels. Inboard is softer and outboard is harder.
In addition, the location of the TC rod to the lower arm is adjustable, this allows you to make room for more angle in a drift car and wider tires on a grip car if needed. Frankly, I cannot think of anything else I would want in a lower control arm for this car!
T3 supplied some of their TC rods to complement the lower control arms. The TC rods use spherical bearing rod ends to completely eliminate all rubber. They are adjustable in length for caster adjustment. They are also right and left-hand threaded for easy on-the-car adjustment of the caster. The left-hand threaded jam nuts are marked with a groove so you don’t forget to turn them in the right direction. The TC rod body is CNC machined out of aircraft aluminum for light weight and strength. Tons of thought went into these parts.
8 comments
Kakkoii!!!
Speaking of electric power steering, why the EPS in many cars, even some performance cars are so numb? Some even feel like there’s excessive friction in the system that further muddy the steering feedback.
Not sure, you don’t have the torsion bar so it’s more direct.
Really is cool that T3 is doing what they’re doing to support a lot of old weird cars. 1st gen RX-7 lover here, which has much of the same design as the AE86, suspension-wise… actually an FB with a lot of T3 parts podiumed in E Production at the SCCA Runoffs a couple weekends ago, which is a nice testament to their stuff.
Does the AE86 do the same thing the FB does with unequal length rear links or did they do a better job there? Also be curious to see, given the opportunity to change things afforded by parts, where you’re choosing to put the instant centers in practice.
It has some different problems like a ton of roll steer and a crazy amount of anti squat so the car hops like basketballs even with the puny 4AG power.
God save us from OEMs with anti geometry.
Let’s hope for some regular updates.
Love the project and the updates! Im subbed on this for sure