[killernoodle]

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 !!!!

Wow, you work fast! Any problems with installation? Did they arrive ok? The ups guy boxed them up, so I dunno how he did it.

Also, make double sure they are on the right side too. I probably should have mentioned that the grease zerk should be on the outside and the arm's bend should droop down. That should put the extension I welded to the flex joint facing up and the threaded part of the flex joint facing down.

 

[FuzzyLogic]

Just got arms from Killer today--they look spectacular. Well done, sir. I may not be able to install them until next weekend, but when I do, I'll try to get some comparison pictures up.

Also, I think you deserve some kind of award for packing something that was already basically bulletproof with 3-4 layers of bubble wrap. UPS probably could've tied a rope to the box and dragged it all the way to the Northeast and it would've been just fine.

 

[killernoodle]

I only packed it in one layer with zip ties. Then I handed it to the guy a the ups store and he did the rest.

I was only really concerned with the powder coat chipping, as it was almost impossible to assemble the flex joints without chipping it. I didn't want them banging together. Powder is hard, but not harder than a steel tool

 

[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!

 

[raguncajn]

Killer they look great man! I just sent the money for a set of level 2s. Are they still in stock as the original post says?

 

[killernoodle]

No, unfortunately I can't edit the original post

I could for the first couple days, but now I can't for some reason.

In either case, I can whip you up a set this weekend and get it shipped early next week probably.

ORDER QUEUE
1. FuzzyLogic (thanks for all you've done man!) - Level 2 DELIVERED
2. rand49er - Level 2 DELIVERED
3. raguncajn - Level 2

 

[FuzzyLogic]

I'm in the middle of 5-6 different mods to my car right now, but I just wanted to quickly mention that I installed Killer's arms and they work great. 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).

Can't wait to get those Forgestar F14s this spring. Thanks Killer! I still think you should take every picture from the two threads, put them together, and post a new thread here and on LS1Tech.

 

[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.

 

[FuzzyLogic]

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.

The thing with the subframe that I think 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. I tried raising the subframe with the unmodified bolts in the inverted orientation and realized that the top of the bolts would have been in contact with the bottom of the car. That's when I whipped out the Sawzall and cut four threads off the end.

If you want, bigger individual pictures of before and after are available. I had to shrink everything down (including the above pic) because the LS1Tech forums don't automatically resize things.

 

[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.

 

[FuzzyLogic]

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

I failed to mention that.

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

 

[killernoodle]

raguncajn - I ran out of shielding gas this weekend in the middle of your arms. I'm probably going to spring for a bigger cylinder when I go to airgas Tuesday. I should have your arms shipped out Wednesday.

 

[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.

 

[sciroccokid]

I have cores for the cause. Will send a pm

 

[sciroccokid]

Hey guys if anyone needs a set of cores, i'll sell you mine for $75.

They come with used stock, and new MAP bushings.

 

[raguncajn]

No worries, work is CRAZY right now! I probably won't have time to install them for 2 or 3 weeks anyway.

raguncajn - I ran out of shielding gas this weekend in the middle of your arms. I'm probably going to spring for a bigger cylinder when I go to airgas Tuesday. I should have your arms shipped out Wednesday.

 

[rand49er]

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

Good job, killer!

 

[killernoodle]

Alright raguncajn, your arms will be at your house Monday. I accidentally welded the flex joint cup on one of your arms upside down and didn't notice until I went to assemble the flex joint (after it was powder coated). It won't hurt anything though, one will just look different than the other one (the threaded preload adjuster that squishes the races will be on the top rather than the bottom on one of them). If you want, I can knock a little off the price for the mistake.

 

[JCaddyV]

nice work killer!

 

[cam3439]

Killer: Just ordered a set of the Level II's in black.