[rand49er]

Okay, I'm up for a set of Level 2 in black. If these aren't one of the colors in the two set you have in stock, then I'll order one you have. I'll have cores back to you in due time.

How do you want to do this? Do you want us to PM the info (shipping address, etc) to you then Paypal the buck$?


ORDER QUEUE
1. FuzzyLogic (thanks for all you've done man!) - Level 2 (what color?)
2. rand49er - Level 2 black

 

[rand49er]

Just send the paypal and I'll put it in the first post as soon as I get it. I haven't powder coated anything until I get an order and a color specified. I can do yours in black if you want

Black is fine.

Money sent.



EDIT: Fuzzy's right: by all means, post up a thread on ls1tech. Also, maybe you should let Zoeb know what you've got. He may feel awkward telling people to buy his wheels and, oh you need some arms for a couple hundred more, but you do represent a solution to him selling more wheels of this type to V1 owners. Just a thought.

 

[rand49er]

Is this a valid procedure to follow for installation? In particular, does the cradle have to be lowered, and does the caliper have to be removed? Just preparing a block of time to git 'r done.

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forum...maperformance-trailing-arm-install-guide.html

 

[rand49er]

UPS man brought 'em today, and this afternoon I put 'em on. Just called my insurance agent to put the insurance back on, and I'm about to go for a ride ... it's been THREE MONTHS !!!!

 

[rand49er]

... Any problems with installation? Did they arrive ok? ...

Arrived okay. All the UPS guys did was to wrap a little heavy brown paper around the bubble wrap that you put on, but they used a reasonably stout box, so they were just fine.

Regarding the install, I did not have to take off the calipers. Not sure why the MAP guy did that ... doesn't make any sense. I did, however, have to remove the rear (lower) bolt of control arm (?) to allow the bolt holding the back end of the trailing arm to be removed. As usual, first side took a little while, but the other side went much faster. Lowering the cradle is a PITA what with the torque specs on those darn bolts, but used a cheater piece of pipe on my breaker bar and got them out. BTW, I had to do all four bolts to get the cradle to lower far enough. I got the impression that the MAP thread on how to do it suggested that you need only do the front two and the cradle would "droop." That's not correct ... it does not droop at all. You need to at a minimum remove the front two bolts and back the two rear ones out pretty far. Took be about two hours, and I wasn't hurrying.


Arms sitting on shipping box:

View showing kink (driver side):

Inner lip of Linea Corse wheel where rubbing was occurring:

Took a ride in the car and heard absolutely no rubbing. Wow, I had forgotten just how quick the car is. Woo hoo!

 

[rand49er]

... My install process was identical to Rand49er, with the exception that I got pissed off on the front two cradle bolts (didn't have to remove all four, by the way--but the bolts BARELY made it out) and cut off a little bit of excess with my Sawzall so that I could install them upside down (bolt pointing up, nut on top). ...

I barely managed to retain my cool with these two bolts. I am not a patient mechanic (<-- this term is used very loosely) at all. It always helps to have done a job before so you know what to expect and how to deal with it. Alas, how often does THAT happen? :thehand:

Great pics, Fuzzy. They perfectly show the added clearance the arms provide.

 

[rand49er]

... I need to mention is that I had to wedge a rubber mallet between the subframe and the bottom of the car in order to open up a gap wide enough to sneak the bolts out. ...

Ha! I used a 1 x 4 board I found in the corner of the garage.

I failed to mention that.

 

[rand49er]

Did you break it? I snapped the wooden handle off my mallet. Bastard had it coming.

No, but I smacked my head on the bolt that was laying on the floor of the garage when I was wrestling with the bugger. Got a little knot just above my ear. No blood, though, so I'm good.




Killer: Say, can you PM me your address so I can send the OEM arms back to you and get my credit? Thanks.

 

[rand49er]

OEM arms sent UPS today. You should get them Friday.

Good job, killer!

 

[rand49er]

No hard launches here, but several 2nd gear runs, and all is well.

Sure is nice to be able to enjoy those 19x10" wheels in back without listening to constant scraping on the trailing arms. :yup:

 

[rand49er]

If you're ever feeling nostalgic, I can burn you a CD filled with "ghhhhkxxxghxxxxx" (<--- trailing arms scraping) to play while you drive.

I used to cringe at every undulation of the road surface 'cause that's when I'd get a real ear full. I kept thinking, "I'm ruining those gorgeous wheels! A-r-r-g-g-h-h!" Not sure why, but it seemed to not do it in the very beginning when I first put the wheels on, but then I started hearing it as it just got worse and worse. Maybe I wasn't tuned into the noise at first. Not sure.

Oh well. Glad Killer jumped up and did this.

 

[rand49er]

I'm curious about installing the bolts upside down & have a remark:

FACTORY: If the nut comes loose, rattles off, or shears off for any reason, the bolt will stay in place & keep the arms in place.

YOUR METHOD: If the nut comes lose, rattles off, or shears off for any reason, the bolt drops & the arm goes willy nilly about underneath.

Just torque the snot out of it, and you'll be fine. Those bolts won't go anywhere.

 

[rand49er]

I keep meaning to send you mine, but grad school keeps getting in the way.

Funny. I was your age when I finished grad school ... one month before I turned the big "three oh." You're gonna love being done.

 

[rand49er]

... Whenever I get this last set of cores, I may just stop making them since interest seems to have faded.:crying2: ...

You've apparently satisfied the pent-up demand. If you've got cores, you may want to shelve a few sets and mothball the production line for later use or adapt it for use with another car or cars. The new ATS-V comes to mind. :yup:

 

[rand49er]

When you get the new wheels on be sure to take some sharp high speed corners to flex the stock trailing arms. Mine didn't rub until I took hard right turns, then they scraped like crazy.

I swear this is true. Mine did not rub at first, then seemed to develop a pronounced, persistent rubbing only after several days of driving.

 

[rand49er]

Is it possible that you began cornering harder than you had been before due to the improved traction provided by the bigger wheels?

Nope. I'm only very rarely close to the limit of cornering. The only plausible explanation I can come up with is that my ears just weren't tuned into hearing that particular sound ... as hard as it is to believe since after I started hearing that scrapping, that's the ONLY thing I could hear.

 

[rand49er]

There is a sweet left sweeper on my way to my parent's house that I used to be able to take at about 70 (35 suggested :devil ...

Your parents live in Mexico?

 

[rand49er]

... If not then imma have I figure out another solution

Good luck. Killer is about the only quality solution out there.

I still think that if he could get, say, a half dozen or so sets of cores, he should put some finished arms on his shelf. The demand is more of a constant dribble.

 

[rand49er]

Darn. I want red ones.

 

[rand49er]

UPDATE: I'm currently looking to start a fabrication/race shop with a talented group of guys for the sole purpose of doing projects like this. I've been pretty busy with commercial real estate guys and trying to get something organized. I promise that one of my first tasks will be disassembling my V and building jigs for a whole suite of fabricated parts (control arms, diff braces, diff swaps, bracing, bushings, etc). Be patient guys!

Then you need to buy an ATS-V before I get one so you're ready to do some things on it.