seen some conflicting posts on here about products from the ebay seller 2fast2cool. the conclusion seemed to be they were good products for non-critical stuff.....but what about tension rods. obviously they are key safety parts but has anyone had any experience of these....?

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=012&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=220129701102&rd=1&rd=1

 

is pillowball the same as rose jointed?

 

what are the advantages of these over standard ones for £20 less?

They look similar to the ones you can buy of the traders on here, but can you be sure they are the same quality, remember the Z is a fast heavy car. That can create a lot of stress on steering and suspension parts, do you really want to risk saving £20 on a component as safety critical as a tension rod.

Quite a few on here including myself have had other products off this company , mainly their de-cat pipes , the quality of these are superb but i,ve not seen the arms in the flesh so can,t really comment , i,d probably go with what Ossian said , better the devil you know :hyper:

I had their rear adjustable top camber arms and found these to be very well made.If I recall SlickPete had a set as well.The front tension arms look well up to the job in my opinion.

They look just the same as the powertrix (?) ones I have just paid £120 for, not seen em close up though.

Rest assured they ain't mate ;)

I only know of Powertrix and SPL who will openely state the relevant info on adjustable suspension parts in relation to exact material used, the use of Koyo sealed bearings, the offset and the max static load that can be used.

That is what gives a customer peace of mind he's buying the correct item for the job in hand and consider adjustable suspenion parts are what keep your Z on the ground without failing.

I won't knock the ebay ones cos i don't know who the manufacturer is and don't have a set here to compare, but based on pics alone thinking they "look upto the job", erm no thanks.

Btw the comment in relation to his other hard parts he sells being quality, i can only speak in relation to to his headers and exhausts (Z32) and that is your getting exactly what you pay for and no more, that means as his prices are often cheap don't expect the performance to match the shiny appearances you see. Anyone who works with stainless and knows about different flow characteristics would spot these, but yer average joe? no!

smithy

ok i think i will give the 2fast2cool ones a miss so it is either the standard non-adjustable ones with normal bushes for £70 or the smithy adjustable ones for double that.

 

can i just ask what is the advantage of being able to adjust these arms? for other adjustable suspension parts they are adjustbale to be able to adjust the hardness of the ride or the tracking of the wheels, but as these are about taking breaking strain i cant understand why they would need to be adjustable.

The only time you really need to adjust them is when you have different springs / shocks as then you lower to car and you need to adjust the tension to compensate.

ahh! my car is lowered so i guess i will have to go for the adjustable rods? they are adjustable at the moment bad look in bad condition and need replacing.

Hi mate mines lowered running on coilovers and I just had some standard ones put on and they are just fine so if you want to buy standard thats ok too.

my car felt so much better with more caster, gives a much better feel when cornering IMO

Hi mate mines lowered running on coilovers and I just had some standard ones put on and they are just fine so if you want to buy standard thats ok too.

 

Except your alignment is all wrong...... which will have detremental affect on handling and tyre wear.

 

You need Adjustble upper arms to correct camber when lowering, and you must fit adjustable tension rods when fitting adjustable upper arms becuase of the strain the adjustable arms put on the busings and arm.

 

Plus as Paul C says, its nice to dial in some extra castor angle.

bugger!

ok Smithy. hows your stock for these tension rods? i will give you a ring first thing monday morning.

I would avoid any cheap or unbranded suspension parts .These parts are made in the far east and copied from people like tein etc with cheap materials and bearings especaily avoid rear upper arms /toe arms/traction arms with grease nipples for the rose joints .Ive seen these cheap arms in lots of diffrent colours some uk companys paint them a diffrent colour and brand them as there own .