DIY: Whiteline Roll Center Adjustment Kit Install

[RallySport Direct]

We took our employee’s 2013 BRZ out to the shop to install the Whiteline Front Roll Center Adjustment Kit for the 2013-2014 Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ. So we looked online to find the installation instructions and decided we would make a fairly comprehensive write-up for you!

Going into this, pressing the ball joint out and back in seemed a little difficult, but once we got started, they pressed right out, and right back in. Guess that’s the beauty of having a new car to work on  . Before we get started let’s see what Whiteline has to say about this product:

Roll Center Kit incorporates 2 steering arm tie rod ends and 2 ball joints and is designed to raise front roll-center geometry after lowering the vehicle and also improve on the original bump-steer geometry. Changing front suspension geometry by raising roll-center, results in substantial increase to roll resistance and significant reduction of suspension compression of outside front wheel during cornering through improved weight transfer distribution. Whilst bump steer correction via extended tie rods aids in minimizing steering angle input during suspension articulation.
So we looked around the shop and found that the only thing we didn’t have was the press kit to press the ball joints out. So every other tool we needed was just laying around to make it easy on us. Here’s what we ended up using.

Keep in mind; you will have to get your car off the ground, securely on jack stands and front tires/wheels off the car to do this installation.

1) ½ in drive ratchet
2) Extensions
3) 17mm, 19mm sockets
4) Vice grips (for that pesky cotter pin removal)
5) Needle nosed pliers
6) Flat tip screw driver (small)
7) Drill with 10mm driver and 12mm driver (for removal of under tray)
8) Pickle fork
9) Hammer
10) Impact (not necessary, but makes things easier)
Here’s a picture of most of the tools we used. We didn’t use the pry bar, but it made it into the picture somehow.



Ok, now we’re getting somewhere. Since we didn’t have the press toll required to press out the bushings, we ran down to Autozone and grabbed one of these, it worked great!




Now that we have all of the necessary tools, let’s get started. First thing we need to take off is the under tray of the car to gain access to the bolts to take the lower control arm off. It’s simply 8 12mm bolts, 4 10mm bolts and 6 plastic clips and it comes right off. Be careful as it might just fall off when you get the last bolt loose.


To get the clips off, simply slide a small flat tip screwdriver in the head and pop it out and it should slide right out.


There are five nuts/bolts that need to come off to get the lower control arm out. Some are 19mm and some are 17mm you see which is which once you get started. Here’s a shot of the control arm from below that shows you roughly where they are.



Bend the cotter pin as such that it slides out from the hole.

Now take the castle nut off.


Now that the nut is loose, just tap the top of the ball joint being careful not to damage the threads, and it should pop right out.



Now we can move to the front of the car and undo the bolt and nut that holds the front/lower control arm bushing in place.




Pull the pin out of the ball joint that connects to the hub spindle.


Then, simply break the nut loose and thread it off.



Now take your pickle fork and spread the ball joint loose. This shouldn’t take a whole lot of effort.



Now we can move on to the rear bolt/nut. Just get a ratchet on one end and wrench on the other and it should come right out.



We loosened the tie rod end locking nut while it was still installed because it will be a lot easier to to it on the car, than trying to hold it while doing it off the car





We took our sharpie to mark the threads on the tie rod to make sure we got as close as we could to factory specifications when reinstalling the new tie rod ends.



Now that we have it loose, let’s go ahead and pull it out. The whole assembly is now ready to come out of the car.



Just wiggle it a little bit and it will come right out.



Then we threaded the tie rod ends off and grabbed out new Whiteline replacements! Man, they look good. You can definitely see the height difference from stock to these replacements. That’s what it’s all about!





Installation of these is extremely simple, just thread them back on the tie rod in place of the stockers keeping in mind the marks you made on your threads to line them up as close to factory specs as possible.


Phew, now the fun part begins



First thing you need to do before removing the factory ball joints is getting the dust boot off. Just take a flat tip screw driver and work your way around the boot prying upward and it will come off. There will be quite a bit of grease when you get it off, just wipe it off with a rag.



After that’s done, we can take the ball joint tool out of our press kit and press the old one out, we had the #2 sleeve on the bottom with the ball joint tool and the #3 sleeve on the top to press it out. It worked pretty slick. It seemed like it wasn’t going to work at first, but it slowly worked right out. Be patient here.



Now that we have the old one out of the way, let’s press the new one in. this is VERY simple; pull it through from the bottom like this



Now put the #2 sleeve on the bolt side and press it in straight on the ball joint itself. Be sure to press it all the way in, there shouldn’t be any gap



Here we are placing the assembly back onto the car. It seemed to be easiest to slide the forward most bushing in place first, and then slide the rear one in, then work on the ball joint into the spindle.



Line up the hole in the rear of the control arm and slide the bolt in and thread the nut. Don’t tighten it down just yet.



Take your front bolt/nut/plate and replace them in the front position, keep these loose as well (for now)



Then slide the ball joint into the hub assembly might be slightly tricky, but it will slide in.



Place the tie rod end in the rear of the spindle.



Thread on all respective nuts and tighten them to factory specifications.





You can replace the under tray and you’re ready to go! That wasn’t so bad, was it? Now you can enjoy the benefits of having the Front Roll Center Adjustment Kit installed! Get your car on the track and experience the difference this product makes in handling!


For more information on the Whiteline Roll Center Kit, please click here!

Thanks,
Corby

[*KID*]

sweet.

Awaiting for review.

[RallySport Direct]

Originally Posted by *KID*

sweet.

Awaiting for review.

I will bug him about it

[rainmonkey]

this might be a silly question but when you lower the car, it changes the roll center. This kit raises the roll center right? But how do you adjust to make it 'correct'? I mean it can't just be a one size fits all can it?

I don't know much about suspension stuff and I'm trying to learn, but this really confuses me. Just installing the kit - how does it 'know' what level to go to?

Thanks!

[RallySport Direct]

Originally Posted by rainmonkey

this might be a silly question but when you lower the car, it changes the roll center. This kit raises the roll center right? But how do you adjust to make it 'correct'? I mean it can't just be a one size fits all can it?

I don't know much about suspension stuff and I'm trying to learn, but this really confuses me. Just installing the kit - how does it 'know' what level to go to?

Thanks!

No, this is a fantastic question. And you are right to think what would be the "correct" location, as this is more or less a one size fits all type of part. So it will not bring each car back to perfect geometry, but it will help all lowered cars get closer to where they should be. So it may not make it perfect, but it will still be much better than where it was before.

Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Rick

[rainmonkey]

In that case, if you didn't lower the car TOO much, don't you run the risk of making the roll center HIGHER than it originally was (pre-lower)?

[RallySport Direct]

Originally Posted by rainmonkey

In that case, if you didn't lower the car TOO much, don't you run the risk of making the roll center HIGHER than it originally was (pre-lower)?

This is correct, I don't think there would be any advantage to running these on a stock height car. Ideally you would only want to use these if the car is lowered, other than that I would stick with stock geometry parts.

Thanks,
Rick

[Deathkaos]

Hello
Will I need a wheel alignment after installation by any chance? Sorry if this is a stupid question.
Thanks

[RallySport Direct]

Originally Posted by Deathkaos

Hello
Will I need a wheel alignment after installation by any chance? Sorry if this is a stupid question.
Thanks

Oh yes This will have a big impact on the Toe settings so an alignment would be required after the install.

Thanks!
Rick

[PoorMansRacing]

Originally Posted by RallySport Direct

Ideally you would only want to use these if the car is lowered

What if the car is only lowered by 20mm?

[RallySport Direct]

Originally Posted by BRZTimeTrials

What if the car is only lowered by 20mm?

20mm would be right at that point where I would say you could use the kit and you may still notice an improvement, but I would not say it is required in any way. Anything more than 20mm and I would recommend these for sure!

Hope this helps.
Thanks,
Rick

[Andreas83]

Will clearance between wheel barrel and tie rod be smaller or larger with this kit installed?
Some people are having issues with rubbing when combining wide wheels with high offset.
I am considering 17x9et45 rpf1 on my brz, I know that they will rub slightly on the tie rods.

[RallySport Direct]

Originally Posted by Andreas83

Will clearance between wheel barrel and tie rod be smaller or larger with this kit installed?
Some people are having issues with rubbing when combining wide wheels with high offset.
I am considering 17x9et45 rpf1 on my brz, I know that they will rub slightly on the tie rods.

There will be slightly less clearance between the barrel of the wheel and the bottom of the Tie Rod with these lower tie rods. I know people had issues with those wheels rubbing on the stock tie rods, so I would be careful running these with that wheel setup. Always best to check clearance's at full lock before driving the car.

Thanks,
Rick

[Zach3794]

What I wanna know is how much these raise the roll center by exactly. For those of us that may have coilovers and care, but don't want to shell out cash for completely custom arms, we can adjust our height to compliment these roll center adjusters perfectly