euclid

i know alot of people are using this kit so i wanted to post my experience. if you have this on your car now i'd suggest inspecting it for damage b/c a potentially serious problem may be developing.

first of all the balljoint boots on both sides basically destroyed themselves after some very short use... this is no surprise, skunk released an upgraded design balljoint which i had to buy from them for about 70$/pair. they blamed the problem on me, saying the car was too low and claimed it to be an isolated incident, yet i read a few complaints about this problem on h-t, and if it wasnt a problem they wouldnt have starting using a new balljoint, but what they say goes. so thats that.

i just took off the whole a-arm from my car about 2 weeks ago to find that the mounting tracks for the sliding balljoint have collapsed, and the metal is actually starting to crack

i had the balljoint positioned at the farthest point towards the outside of the a-arm(closest to the wheel-well) because i read stories about these kits slipping (which mine did as you can see from the worn paint in the picture) so i wanted the bolts to be resting securely at the end of the tracks... the inside of the tracks are what broke, so i have no idea how this would happen.

i was using tein RA coilovers that i lowered about 2", i had no wheel tuck and from what i know the a-arms were not contacting the upper strut tower. the metal is just too thin imho to support the weight of a car under spirited driving. enjoy the pics. i'm going to contact group-A about it soon.

Kendall

Yet another reason why I completely refuse to use Skunk2 products.

euclid

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kendall &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yet another reason why I completely refuse to use Skunk2 products.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i broke a few skunk2 extended lug studs awhile back, almost lost the wheel at 70mph.

2kgs-R

why is the skunk2 camber kit bent up? Mine isn't bent, maybe this has attributed the messed up joint?

baonest

skunk 2 stinks. haha get it. skunk, stink..

euclid

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 2kgs-R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">why is the skunk2 camber kit bent up? Mine isn't bent, maybe this has attributed the messed up joint?</TD></TR></TABLE>

i dont know how it bent that way either.

balljoint was still rotating, it did not sieze

function83

wow makes me loose faith in there products. only thing i'd use is cams and the manifold. i've had good experiences with that.

btw why did you use a complete new a-arm compared to say ingalls?
i've never had a problem with my ingalls kit.

euclid

i bought these 2 summers ago, they seemed to be the most adjustable at the time. up to 3degrees negative correction, but it turns out i didnt need that much anyway.

tC_Dragon

wwow... i'm really surprised that ur kit got so fucked up... i inspected mine last week while gettin some new tires put on, and mine were fine... keep us updated on how groupA responds to your particular incident.

CRX-RX

Was your lower ball joint still in good order as well?

MattD@Stoptech

It's tough to tell from the pictures, but it appears that you were bottoming out and hence the bent rails...

What is the mark on the left upper side (in picture) of the rail, looks like some kind of bolt was hitting that part of arm. Also you can see marks from contact on the inner shoulder of the a-arm in the middle picture.

Could that be the problem?

ultimatehonda

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by euclid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">



</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have the skunk 2 arms too and wanted to know if this was the updated ball joint that you bought? I have the sameones. Sorry to hear about that.....good thing you caught it now and not on a track day

RTW DC2R

they are easily tweaked like that. One cause is supposedly over tightening them. Another is more obviously from driving rough roads. Hit enough potholes or bumps and thats what will happen. I fabricated two thin reinforced plates and got longer bolts for the arms and that seems to be nice and strong and so far no problems. The ball joints themselves are notorious for busting though.

Wai

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by euclid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">first of all the balljoint boots on both sides basically destroyed themselves after some very short use... this is no surprise, skunk released an upgraded design balljoint which i had to buy from them for about 70$/pair</TD></TR></TABLE>

AFAIK they didn't release the new balljoint because of the easily torn boot. A certain batch of balljoints they made had a problem of the joint SEPARATING from the plate because of bad weld. It had nothing to do with the boots.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by euclid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i was using tein RA coilovers that i lowered about 2", i had no wheel tuck and from what i know the a-arms were not contacting the upper strut tower. the metal is just too thin imho to support the weight of a car under spirited driving. enjoy the pics. i'm going to contact group-A about it soon.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not sure what kind of car you installed this kit on. But even tho the wheels aren't "tuck", you could still experience the a-arm hitting the shock tower --- especially if you're using RA with 14K springs in the front. I ran 18K before and while my wheels were far from being tucked in, I still found that the shock tower had a slight bump caused by the a-arm hitting it from the underside. Imagine that with only 14K springs.

I remember someone else on HT had the exact same problem as you, with the a-arm getting all mangled up exactly like yours. After I suggested the possible cause, he did find that he had small bumps and paint chips on his shock towers.

MattD@Stoptech

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by euclid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i know alot of people are using this kit &lt;snip&gt;</TD></TR></TABLE>

Question, do you have/had a mugen or similar upper shock brace? What length were/are the bolts?

Rodney

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by euclid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
</TD></TR></TABLE>

this is the OLD STYLE balljoint. the new ones do not have a circlip holding the ball joint in and are of a gunmetal like color. the one above is chrome and has the circlip in it. if you have these, remove them asap.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by euclid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"></TD></TR></TABLE>

that arm was most definatley hitting somthing up top. either that, or the bolts were loose. skunk allen head bolts are notorious for loosening. i replaced mine with grade 10.9 standard hex (10mm) bolts, with star washers and loctite, and torqued them to 10ft/lb. i have used them for 3 years with no issues.

B18CXr

yep,

Skunk and/or Junk, they have the same meaning....

Willard

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18CXr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Skunk and/or Junk, they have the same meaning....</TD></TR></TABLE>
well how do YOU add negative camber to the front of a car without a DROP, Y0!??

MattD@Stoptech

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Willard &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
well how do YOU add negative camber to the front of a car without a DROP, Y0!??</TD></TR></TABLE>

Camber plates?

.RJ

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Willard &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well how do YOU add negative camber to the front of a car without a DROP, Y0!??</TD></TR></TABLE>

Make an adjustment with this

Phoenix_ITR

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by El Pollo Diablo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Camber plates?

</TD></TR></TABLE>

not on a car with fully independent suspension.

.RJ

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by delinquent &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">not on a car with fully independent suspension.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not on a car that doesnt use struts....

MattD@Stoptech

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by delinquent &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

not on a car with fully independent suspension.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Since ppl are missing a pun...Will was asking Jack, Jack who has an EP...

thank you and good night...


BTW, pretty much all hondas I can think of have fully independent suspension...

Dave-ROR

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Not on a car that doesnt use struts.... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Correct.

Willard

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by El Pollo Diablo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Will was asking Jack, Jack who has an EP...
</TD></TR></TABLE>I asked him on 'a' car not 'his' car.

Plates = easy to do.
Arms = harder to do.

Since he was quick to belittle the Skunk2 arms and did not offer a reason nor an alternative to them... I asked my question.