Hey Joe, I ran them for 1 year and for about 25 track days. In my left front LCA, one of the rod ends broke off. The one at the farther out position which is logical as it is the one that receives more torque. The fracture indicates a shear moment and it was definitely gradual. I did not have any previous signs of fatigue and I actually did not have any excursions through the life of these LCA's in my car, luckily (I have had my fair share of farming activities at the track for sure). I do use the track curbing a lot but not when it is rough and upsets the chassis. I do not really want to worry you or anybody with this but since you have them, check them before every event. I checked them only for my torque alignment marks and I am not sure I would have found anything in the rod ends but it is worth to look at them with more care perhaps looking for small hairline cracks on the rod ends. I really like these SPL control arms but I was not lucky with mine and I think they had some material defect that gradually fatigued and broke off. The rest of the control arm and the right one were perfect. As you suggested, replace the rod ends at some interval. The sad part is that you will need alignment after replacing them. Check your HEIM joints also, they wear out fast. Best of luck.

Copy that, appreciate the info Andy!

Looks like I'll be ordering that set of replacement rod ends in the near future !

You're the third case of a time dependant, fatigue related rod end failure on a rod end in an SPL front LCA I've heard of. There was evidence of corrosion on the outer portions of the crack faces of one rod end I saw first hand- it indicatied to me that the crack had initiated some time well previous to the failure - it finally propogated through the remaining ligament with no prior warning or indication of impending failure. Without pulling them and using some dye penetrate test or mag particle inspection, you may not find one before it fails. And if you're pulling them to inspect, might as well replace them...

Bummer! I've never seen any movement in my torque striping and thus have gone on my merry way...now I have to jack the car up again before this weekend lol ;)

end rods
 

Now that you mention it Joe, mine had corrosion too. I believe those end rods are the weak link. Said that, give them hell.:party0030:

So from my research. The AP Racing Sprint have 295 mm rotors. Stoptech have 325mm. How the heck do you rub? Maybe the offset of the rotor? I found someone that have stoptech and added the whiteline ball joint (before it got discontinued) that basically does the same thing the Buddy Club does and he didnt rub... and buddy club is just stock LCA with their ball joint.

Like magic after chiming in on this thread, I developed a minor clunk this past Saturday, that got more audible through the day's sessions. I jacked the car up and checked EVERYTHING i could get to at lunch, nothing. Went back out Sunday, and the clunk got bad enough during the first sessions to have a shop at the track put it on their lift and poke around. It only happened when the wheel was turned and the suspension has the weight of the car on it (i heard if for sure trail braking into a few corners - on and coming off the brakes) - but yep, the outside sphericals were shot. I have about a year on my SPL arms, and looking back through the calendar, that's 14 weekends on track. Rain, shine, probably 8 off track excursions chasing down fast guys getting "red misted".


I talked to Turner at SPL at length today on lunch, asking some questions about anti-squat and to order some new sphericals (and rod ends to be on the safe side ;) and he actually brought up your specific arms - you sent them back to SPL for failure analysis, right? Small world! It's worth noting too that they have worked with their supplier of rod ends and spherical bearings (FK currently) to implement more strength testing and QC, etc. They're taking it seriously.


Lesson - race car parts wear out folks. Replacement at safety dictated margins for high load parts is just part of the game. Just ask the spec miata guys about their hub woes! :cheers:

I am so glad for you Joe
 

Wow. I am out of words and I am so happy for you Joe.
Just to let you know, my buddy Ash from Austin who is buying my car will get a new set of SPL control arms as promised by SPL as an open standing offer to me a few months back.
Sean Farrah from SPL is a true honest and legit manufacturer with integrity and a man of his word.
Based on your findings, I would replace them every year when you do alignment so you only spend money once....

25 track days a year? Wow.

Yep :) instructing for 2 organizations that do 2 day weekends provides lots of opportunities to get to various tracks :)