While we were shopping with Kingpin Machine, we picked up a set of their radius rod bearings. These replace the giant rubber bushings in the radius rod. The bushings contribute a lot to suspension squirm as the bushing moves under acceleration, braking, and turning forces. The bearings replace these bushings completely. The old school fix was to use traction bars that replace the tension rods. These solutions aren’t as robust as Kingpin’s bearing system and aren’t legal in Improved Touring. Kingpin’s design also loads the bearing in a more preferable way so these should be more durable than traction rods. Kingpin is a single man operation located in Georgia, so we’re supporting American small business as well.Here you can see the giant bushings Honda uses for the radius rod. It’s easy to imagine how much play they would have, especially in acceleration and braking. With the old bushings we could feel the front end squirming under hard braking.The new bearings must be secured to the front subframe with a series of M4 bolts. The front subframe needs to be drilled to accept these bolts. This is a simple enough modification to make. We removed our front subframe so we could add the holes.You’ll notice our subframe is covered in rust. We took the modified subframe to Crazy Coatings where they sandblasted and powder coated our subframe so we can stop the rust in its tracks. Normally I would be quite happy to de-rust and paint a part myself but the subframe being so big and so scaly I decided it was a better idea to just have a pro take care of it and not have to worry about it again for another 20 years. The cost was reasonable, the results are impressive, and the turnaround time was 24 hours.The radius rod bearings bolt right into our cleaned up subframe. These should make a huge difference in our handling.
I absolutely loved the Kingpin spherical bearing setup on Project S2000. All that suspension work is going to transform the car. What can you do to stiffen the chassis within the rules?
Well it’s already got a rollcage and front strut tower brace. We can add a few more per the rules. I would like to add to the cage as it is very basic. Could use some extra diagonals.
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Really looking forward to updates. This takes me back to Sport Compact Car days.
Glad it brings back happy memories. Got lots more coming. Thanks for reading!
I absolutely loved the Kingpin spherical bearing setup on Project S2000. All that suspension work is going to transform the car. What can you do to stiffen the chassis within the rules?
Well it’s already got a rollcage and front strut tower brace. We can add a few more per the rules. I would like to add to the cage as it is very basic. Could use some extra diagonals.