eBay Lower Control Arms

[adamg]

Flame suit on! Just curious if anyone has seen these yet, what they think about them, are they safe, has anyone purchased them. etc.

Yes i know a shit ton of people are about to post the cliché "don't buy cheap eBay parts" comment but unless you have facts, lets not jump to conclusions.

For the price its interesting..

Heres a master list of them ranging from $135-170. They are all obviously the exact same from different sellers

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...=135&_udhi=171

[wootwoot]

There is a reason people think you shouldn't buy cheap ebay parts. A control arm, furthermore, is the last place you should look to be saving money. Will the money you saved be worth it when the turn buckle on that arm fails while you are driving down the freeway at 85mph? But they say "JDM" in the title, so you know they're good..... Right?

Your life literally rides on your cars control arms. If you need aftermarket ones, they should be a well known, well tested and well built unit. We don't have the data to say these arms are no good. But we also don't have any data that they ARE any good. Keep that in mind.

[adamg]

Originally Posted by wootwoot

There is a reason people think you shouldn't buy cheap ebay parts. A control arm, furthermore, is the last place you should look to be saving money. Will the money you saved be worth it when the turn buckle on that arm fails while you are driving down the freeway at 85mph? But they say "JDM" in the title, so you know they're good..... Right?

Your life literally rides on your cars control arms. If you need aftermarket ones, they should be a well known, well tested and well built unit. We don't have the data to say these arms are no good. But we also don't have any data that they ARE any good. Keep that in mind.

Thanks for the pointless response. everyone already assumes these are cheap POS (including myself). Im just asking if anyone has any experience with them. if you click on some of the products a lot of people have bought them.
Also these look like the godspeed ones without their name on them. if anyone has experience with those

[TylerLieberman]

I've never touched ebay stuff but I have seen some low end suspension products before. The welds often look horrid and the quality of the finish is also generally really bad. I never used them on my own cars but have heard horror stories of the ends seizing up and breaking while driving and having to have the car towed back home.

SPC makes decent ones for like $220 and comes with a toe link bushing. I don't understand why anybody wouldn't just opt for those if they were trying to save money. These "JDM" ones don't do anything special like drop the mounting point on the coilover.

[Cvxne]

Id rather just spend the extra $50 and get SPC rear lower control arms.

[Sugi]

Originally Posted by adamg

Thanks for the pointless response. everyone already assumes these are cheap POS (including myself). Im just asking if anyone has any experience with them. if you click on some of the products a lot of people have bought them.
Also these look like the godspeed ones without their name on them. if anyone has experience with those

I didn't see anything pointless about this person trying to help you out, giving information that YOU requested for. Not trying to be negative, just saying.

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by TylerLieberman

SPC makes decent ones for like $220

1/ I have read of SPC arms failing.
2/ Anything can fail if it subject excessive force.
3/ I am not suggesting the EBay items are high quality, and I am not recommending them, but there is the possibility that people have never had issue with them. For city drivers who want camber correction these might be a viable option.

[adamg]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

1/ I have read of SPC arms failing.
2/ Anything can fail if it subject excessive force.
3/ I am not suggesting the EBay items are high quality, and I am not recommending them, but there is the possibility that people have never had issue with them. For city drivers who want camber correction these might be a viable option.

exactly. id love to hear stories from people that have actually bought these

[mkivalex]

They will suck, just move on and look at something better quality.

[Mad1723]

Originally Posted by adamg

exactly. id love to hear stories from people that have actually bought these

They are all dead from exploding rear suspension lower control arms!

But seriously, there is some stuff you can cheapen on. Don't let it be your suspension...

[Kotu100]

The do not look they they will last at all. The chassis mounting points have zero reinforcement for front to back movement, I can see these getting twisted up or bent at that point.

[Shankenstein]

One of the ways to sell products cheaper is to use inferior build houses and machine shops. It's completely possible to produce a high quality knock-off, but even if the design is quality... I'd need more convincing before I bought from an off-brand (for suspension bits).

1) Are the build house and machine shop certified? If a company is making the effort to actually follow a quality management system... you better believe they will choose to get certified. Just get the name of the build house and it's usually a quick google search to see if they're registered. It may not seem important, but simple things like ensuring that workers are trained at the job they're performing (like welders), equipment is maintained, and standard procedures are being followed.

2) What materials did they use? Most materials come with certs. It will also be called out in the design drawing. This isn't the right soapbox for Chinese steel, since you can compensate for inferior materials. If it's a low grade, I'd ask for the quality report, some clown vomit (FEA graphs), or testing from a ISO/IEC/TS certified lab.

If they can't convince me that due diligence was performed in development... they won't get my business.