30 replies to this topic

[pvbcrx]

Add me to the ranks of folks with busted LCA/Radius Arms.

I've recounted this before, but about 3 years ago a cheapo aftermarket arm on failed on me. It cracked through the threaded part of the ball joint, where the cotter key goes. The manufacturer did a piss-poor job of hole prep, and a fatigue crack started and grew until KABOOM. Had a buddy in the Materials Lab at work take a look at the broken part for me.

After this incident, I bought OEM arms from Majestic for both sides. Much better hole prep, and as a bonus I didn't have the rubbing issue with the Teg discs.

My fender got busted to heck, and fortunately the axle splines didn't get gooned up when it popped out of the transmission. It was a fairly new Raxles unit, so I would have been even more steamed if it had gotten damaged.

[mrmcnotbuff]

shes back on the road!!!!!

just need to replace the lower control arm and axle

new lower control arms make it feel way better. more responsive. must have been worn out for a long time. i dont remember it ever feeling this good

[mtcrx]

shes back on the road!!!!!

just need to replace the lower control arm and axle

new lower control arms make it feel way better. more responsive. must have been worn out for a long time. i dont remember it ever feeling this good

Where did you find replacement control arms? Are there any aftermarkets that are preferred as better quality?

[mrmcnotbuff]

Where did you find replacement control arms? Are there any aftermarkets that are preferred as better quality?

Honestly I took the cheap way out and just got them at autozone.

[NurburgRinger]

Honestly I took the cheap way out and just got them at autozone.

yeow - glad to hear it was 'only' metal that got bent up.

I don't think you ever said what part of the arm failed. Was it the ball joint, threaded part, or the arm itself?

FWIW, I recently replaced the front arms on my '86Si, using two different brands from RockAuto.com documented here
http://www.redpepper...e...c=48142&hl=

From appearances it was tough to say whether the "Beck/Arney" or "McQuay-Norris" was higher quality (I'm a Mech. Eng. but make no promises.....). Both seemed fairly well built and are doing fine 1500 miles later.

How about taking some pics of the autozone arms and adding them to my other thread for reference? How much did you pay?
Be sure to get a separator like shown (available cheap from HF).

good luck
Kurt
Milwaukee

[ef91]

I had this happen while i was driving out of a parking space on the way to work. I might of been going 1 mph, not so bad for me just BAM! Then no go. I thought about what if I was on the highway when this happened I would have totaled the civic and broke a few limbs.
Good your ok, sorry about the rex getting damaged.

Colin

[NurburgRinger]

I had this happen while i was driving out of a parking space on the way to work. I might of been going 1 mph, not so bad for me just BAM! Then no go. I thought about what if I was on the highway when this happened I would have totaled the civic and broke a few limbs.
Good your ok, sorry about the rex getting damaged.

Colin

Colin - what specific part of the arm broke? Any pics of the broken part?
thanks
Kurt

[ef91]

Colin - what specific part of the arm broke? Any pics of the broken part?
thanks
Kurt

Kurt, let me check my old photos.

Colin

[ef91]

Colin - what specific part of the arm broke? Any pics of the broken part?
thanks
Kurt

Kurt, can't find any pictures of the lower control arm, the ball joint separated from the LCA/Radius Arm. The arm was fine, the ball joint was still in the steering knuckle.
hope that helps, you can check my image gallery for the aftermath.
Colin

[EuphoricBlue]

Kurt, can't find any pictures of the lower control arm, the ball joint separated from the LCA/Radius Arm. The arm was fine, the ball joint was still in the steering knuckle.
hope that helps, you can check my image gallery for the aftermath.
Colin

Nah, that's exactly the kind explenation he was looking for.

This has definatly been hapening for a while. It's the typical faliure mode for ball joints. They'll wear progrisively smaller and eventually become small enough to pop out. Usually this wearing is caught before the balljoint seperates, but sometimes it goes un-noticed.

[NurburgRinger]

Kurt, can't find any pictures of the lower control arm, the ball joint separated from the LCA/Radius Arm. The arm was fine, the ball joint was still in the steering knuckle.
hope that helps, you can check my image gallery for the aftermath.
Colin

thanks Colin - Blue's right that's what I was curious about. There aren't too many ways these can fail, but I thought someone else's broke in the threaded portion at the cotter-pin location. Must have been a rather thin nut.
Since there are quite a few different manufacturers of these arms (as shown in the thread linked in my post I put on 2 different ones earlier this year, and Rockauto has at least 3 other 'brands') it would be interesting to have evidence of any one type's deficiencies/superiority, but it sounds like yours was an OEM part so it's not all that surprising to have one go after ~25 years I suppose.

So far it seems people here are quite lucky to have this happen at low speeds....

[pvbcrx]

thanks Colin - Blue's right that's what I was curious about. There aren't too many ways these can fail, but I thought someone else's broke in the threaded portion at the cotter-pin location. Must have been a rather thin nut.

That was mine - it cracked right through at the cotter pin hole, and then the nut backed off. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, a fatigue crack started because the hole finish was really crappy. I doubt the aftermarket manufacturers pay their workers much, nor do they splurge on quality tools.

Kinda fun looking through a high-powered microscope at the crack. Couldn't wrangle any SEM photos out of my lab bud, though.

[NurburgRinger]

That was mine - it cracked right through at the cotter pin hole, and then the nut backed off. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, a fatigue crack started because the hole finish was really crappy. I doubt the aftermarket manufacturers pay their workers much, nor do they splurge on quality tools.

Kinda fun looking through a high-powered microscope at the crack. Couldn't wrangle any SEM photos out of my lab bud, though.

ah thanks. Do you remember the arm's brand/source? It must have been a really poor part, since I imagine the vast majority of the forces are seen in the thread area below the cotter pin hole. As shown in my link both arms I bought from Rockauto had chamfered holes (no guarantee in and of itself that the material and/or prep is up to snuff, but a good sign nonetheless), but were otherwise suprisingly different in machining of the castings, color/paint, and ball joint.

[pvbcrx]

ah thanks. Do you remember the arm's brand/source? It must have been a really poor part, since I imagine the vast majority of the forces are seen in the thread area below the cotter pin hole. As shown in my link both arms I bought from Rockauto had chamfered holes (no guarantee in and of itself that the material and/or prep is up to snuff, but a good sign nonetheless), but were otherwise suprisingly different in machining of the castings, color/paint, and ball joint.

Indeed - I was quite surprised to see where the arm broke. This was about 3 1/2 years ago and I can't recall the exact brand, aside from it being an inexpensive eBay item. I chucked the "mishap exhibit" and its counterpart because we were in the process of moving. Fortunately I don't think they were a well-known aftermarket brand, such as Beck/Arnley. The arms looked really rough, so I should have known better.

Doug

[ef91]

Indeed - I was quite surprised to see where the arm broke. This was about 3 1/2 years ago and I can't recall the exact brand, aside from it being an inexpensive eBay item. I chucked the "mishap exhibit" and its counterpart because we were in the process of moving. Fortunately I don't think they were a well-known aftermarket brand, such as Beck/Arnley. The arms looked really rough, so I should have known better.

Doug

Doug and Kurt, the ones on my car were 23 years old OEM Honda LCA/Radius Arms. The problem with the Arms was it looked like the ball joint was pressed out of the Radius Arm. Cotter pin and ball joint were left in the steering knuckle with no cracks or any other damage.
For the replacement I bought two new OEM Honda LCA/Radius Arms, long story short I ruined one of the boots on the new Honda Arm.
Replaced that one with a LCA/Radius Arm from Bap-Geon, can't remember the brand it was, anyway 18,000 miles later i checked the boots one day while changing oil and the Aftermarket Arm boot was ripped, still had some grease in the boot but nonetheless I'll need another replacement later on.
Another 12,000 miles later no squeaks on the aftermarket LCA/Radius Arm also checked the Honda LCA/R Arm and still no rips or tears.

My civic is lowered 1.5" and I do shred the off ramps on the daily.

Colin