Voodoo13 Rear Lower Control Arms - Initial Inspection - Install/Review to follow
 

Some of you may remember the thread I made about the Function7 Lower Control Arms. If not, please visit it here and get up to speed with my issues with the manufacturing of those control arms.

With that said, I was told about some new arms that were going to be released from Voodoo13. I had my buddy Dan at MAPerformance get in touch with the owner at Voodoo13, Nick, and everything I heard from him sounded great. After all that time, they've finally arrived!! I'll get to the pictures straight away, and then dip in with some comments afterwards.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps5f419b22.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...psd8d9ffd9.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps92aab79a.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps52afef18.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps71601c3f.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps20f42dc4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps2bf462d9.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps782067ee.jpg


So, I can't comment on the lead time of the parts other than they were initially supposed to drop on the 20th of February. I was told the extra lead time on these parts were originally because of the anodizing company taking their time, then after that the locking nut they use was taking longer to come in than expected. With all that said, we're 5 weeks later than the initial date. No big deal for anyone after this point because they should have a handful manufactured. :thumbsup:

My initial impressions:

They are hard anodized, and after handling the F7 units, that was way up on my priority list: some kind of protective layer, whether that was zinc or anodize I didn't care.

All edges, except the inner most pockets, are all heavily chamfered. Again, after fondling the F7 units like I did, this is a very welcomed feature. There is almost no chance of you hurting yourself while installing these or getting your alignment done.

The hardware provided seems to be very good quality. Time will tell with this, but going in to this install I have full faith in their choices.

Key features that influenced my purchase:

I had gained some knowledge after the purchase of the F7's. Going in to that purchase, there was very little I wanted: Aluminum, camber adjustment. After the F7's, I added these to the list:

Aluminum - Combination of bling and lightweight
Camber Adjustment made at the subframe side, not at the knuckle side - Seriously, take a look at any of the arms that have their adjustments out in the wheel. That doesn't look like fun, or easy.
Multiple mounting options for both Anti-Sway and Coilovers - Fine tuning options, even if never used, were pursued
Environmental resistance of some sort - Anodize or Zinc
Heim Jointed - I didn't care about staying legal in a certain class of Autocross, so I didn't have to stay with a bushing

Do I (you) need these?

For anyone who is staying at a relatively mild drop, I'd say that you don't need these. Will they hurt anything? I seriously doubt it. :)

My drop is more than mild, but not extreme at all. I think I'm somewhere in the neighborhood of 2" of drop, and the camber gained by that drop is more than I want on my setup. I will be doing quite a few Autocrosses this year, but my car is mainly a daily driver that is driven spiritedly, but not aggressively, so excessive camber isn't required.

I'd say people looking for some eye candy, a more solid suspension, stance, or track use: Those people should all look at these arms. I can't recommend these arms over any others on the market, but I will say that they look like much more care was put in to the machining process with these compared to the F7 units I had.:thumbup:


These units should be installed this weekend (if I can get it in for alignment), and I'll be doing an install guide at the same time, which of course will be posted here. :) Please let me know if you have any questions!


@MAPerformance @DriftEightSix

Glad they finally came in! They sure do look pretty. I guess I should grab these for my FRS. Thanks for the write up!

Nice! It looks like both of ours cars have changed a lot since meeting you last November.

Looking forward to meeting again for the comparison :)

Yeah man, can't wait to get these cars back out on the course and see how much better or worse I've made them, haha

Do you have a journal for your car?

So how much naturally do these drop bottom coilover connection point? I know Stance style like this are 25mm lower then stock point.

I think it's around the same. I'm not for sure though.

Something to keep in mind is that if you play with the three mounting holes provided, they will cause your suspension to act differently and will also change your ride height. I'm sure these changes are minimal, but there will be a difference.

Now that is some nice finish! Compared to the other ones you had, at least. So what was the damage $$$? Do you know how much lower the mounting points for the rear shock is?

I installed the rear arms this morning, and without changing anything else it was a 1" drop.

I have to say that I'm not really geeked about the inside width of the arms. It's narrow enough that when the coilover, sway bar end link, and the knuckle all pull the arm in what I think I'd excessive. It pulls it in probably 2-3mm, and I'm worried that it is too much and will put extra stress on the arms, causing them to fatigue over time and fail. I'd normally just say fuck it, but being part of the suspension and if it fails I may well lose control of the car, doesn't really put my mind at ease.

With that being said, I did leave them installed and I got an alignment this afternoon with them. So far, everything is great. I'll be keeping a close eye on these though to make sure everything stays where it should and that no stress fractures appear.

Nick helped me out with these arms, with Dan from MAPerformance's help. From what I've seen, MSRP on these is in the 470 range.

That's sound like 2-3mm too much... I'd throw some spacers in there to avoid flexing the aluminum at the mounting points. I'd be okay with 1-1.5mm clearance but 2-3 is unacceptable especially when you are using aluminum. This is something I would expect from cheap $5 china made shit, but not this.

Nick, the owner of Voodoo13, got in touch with me tonight to ask about my issues, and brought something up: I'm using "cheap" Megan coilovers. He said that of the brands he has measured, Megan is typically not consistent, and the arms have a built in 0.5mm gap. I will measure the bushings tomorrow when I get the ass end up in the air.

That still doesn't address the knuckle side, but I think I will be adding a washer, or if I have to I'll turn a spacer when I get back to work on Monday.

I don't want anyone to think these arms are poorly machined, or out of spec, I really don't think they are. I'm not sure what's up with them, but they're nice for sure! ;)

Let's clear something up first.
I guessed yesterday that these had a gap of "2-3mm." I do not work with metric sizes on a daily basis, so my eyeballs are a bit off. ;) From what I measured, we're sitting about dead nuts at .045" of space, which works out to about 1.15mm

That is a much tighter spec than what I guessed at yesterday, so I'm sorry if that put people off. The fact that Nick got in touch with me late on a Saturday night shows that he does care about the product he and his shop turns out.

These are the gaps. I eyeballed them at 2-3mm, and that was waaaaay off.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps918aebba.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...psa0e63d35.jpg



These are the specific measurements taken:

Coilover bushing, reads approximately 2.135"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps27ff56d4.jpg

Compare that to the factory anti-sway bar end link, reads approximately 2.155"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...pscb72eff0.jpg

Inside width of the arm where that bushing sits, reads approximately 2.175"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps8558416a.jpg


Now, let's see about the knuckle side of things:

The knuckle bushing comes in at 1.955, and this is a stock/non modified part
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps361dc8d0.jpg

The inside of the arms measures 2.000"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...psac0b172b.jpg

This means that the knuckle end of the arms have a legitimate 0.045" gap over factory components. I'd like to know if anyone else has measurements on their knuckle bushings to see if these have a wide manufacturing tolerance, or if most are around this size? These, in my opinion, should be held closer to the 0.5mm/0.020" tolerance.



So from that we can gather that the factory end link is probably very close to what the factory rear coilover is, at 2.155"

Voodoo13 manufacturers these arms with a specified 0.5mm oversize, which would bring these arms in at 2.175" and that's exactly where they sit. The 0.5mm/0.020" gap that is there is of NO concern, and I used to shim stock to make up that gap.

My cheap Megan coilovers (of which Nick said these are the worst, with other Taiwanese manufactured coilovers being much more consistent) are actually 0.020" UNDERSIZED from the factory size, which raises the gap to 0.040"

So, Nick/Voodoo13 and the arms they produce are exactly where they need to be, and it's my shitty products that I paired with them that are the issue. Anyone that also has Megan coilovers (probably very few), here is what I did:

0.045" Washer - This is slightly too big and had to be persuaded in to place using a hammer/drift. If I take these things back apart, I'll probably get some shim stock at 0.035-0.040" and make the fit a bit easier.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...psa311627d.jpg

Slid in to place
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...psedac0d5b.jpg

With the washers in their home, everything was tightened easily and with no stress to the arm.



To reiterate: These lower control arms are machined to the exact size they should be, and so long as you're not a cheap bastard like me, you should have no issues!

If you have Megan coilovers and want to buy these arms, just pick yourself up a set of thin washers and know that you'll have to make up for Megan's poor manufacturing tolerances.:thumbup:

@Travisty75 thanks for remembering me!!! :D.

Loved your write up and the solution you've come up with.

i just got these and I'll soon be installing, had to ask if you need aftermarket toe arms when installing these?
i have a reasonable drop with -3* of camber in the rear and I'd rather not pay the hundreds extra that the aftermarket toe arms cost
thanks!

i also have megan track series coilover. will be installing my lcas soon. hopefully wont have to use washers.