Want to give a shout out to Jordan @ JDP & show off my latest upgrades I just installed.
First off, a big thanks to Jordan for the awesome deals he does!!
Plus his customer service is second to none and is what keeps me coming back. He went above and beyond to give me peace of mind when ordering the Spohn forged AL front control arm set. I had read only one post about them but it was enough to give me concerns...
Pics of them and the radiator are at the end of the post.
The install for the arms was straight forward. A little tough to break the taper at the ball joints when removing the stockers but nothing I hadn't run into before in my years wrenching. You can either rent/buy a pickle fork tool for breaking the taper or simply use a hammer and strike the knuckle right where the taper is.
As for the initial concern about the arms. I had read a post elsewhere in which it was stated that after installation and when getting the car aligned, the caster was reduced to zero! This would be a big deal as there is no built in caster adjustment on our cars. Well I am happy to say that I had no such issue. My caster was EXACTLY as it was before install (6.4 degrees positive). I was busy directing my alignment guy to not touch my camber etc that I forgot to take pics of them on the car...
Spohn isn't lying when he says these things are light. 13lbs lighter!! I almost broke my toe when removing the first stock radius arm thinking I had a good hold on it. It was so heavy and the angle at which I had it held couldn't stop it from hitting the ground (no lift for me! ) just missing my foot.
On to the radiator!! My stock radiator cap had actually come apart on me when checking the level a month or so previous. The top separated and came off but the guts of the cap were stuck in the radiator. Car was driveable if I put the top part back on so I told myself one day I would use it as an excuse to replace the radiator with something special if a deal presented itself. Enter Jordan @ JDP and a CSF full aluminum 4-core radiator with "B Tube" technology!!
This install was a *****. I chock it up to the fact I have a heat exchanger for my SC fastened to my AC condenser that added weight and reduced movement. Plus there are "tanks" at either end of the AC condenser that double as "mounts" that slide into receivers at the bottom of the radiator. These are coolers for the power steering. They protruded so far through the lower rad guides it was a pure ***** to lift the condenser/heat exchanger assembly high enough and forward enough while wrangling the radiator out of the way!!
After a few choice words (OK, more than a few
) and a brief break (so I didn't break anything on the car!) I wrangled it out and got the new one installed. I had to unbolt the mounting brackets for the PS cooler line on the passenger side to get more slack to allow more movement but other than that it was straight forward:
1. Disconnect fan assy wiring coupler near fuse box, unbolt and remove
2. Remove top mounting brackets on rad
3. Disconnect hoses and drain radiator
4. Unbolt AC condenser-to-rad top bolts
5. Disconnect trans cooler lines (remove quick clips and pull and have some caps handy to stop fluid loss/mess)
6. Wrangle the bastard out...
Reverse steps to re-install....
The car runs about 10 degrees cooler when moving and does not have temp rise when stopped with the new radiator. I have my fans programmed as part of my tune to come as soon as possible to pull air across the SC heat exchanger and aide in cooling. Even with this the car would rise to 200 with the hood closed and not moving for about 10 mins. Now it stays at 185. Trans fluid and oil temps are down about 10 degrees!
Pics as promised:
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