S14 control arms in my s12!!!

Just put them in. I used s14 arms fitted with s12 ball joints. There a tad longer than s13 ones, and way longer than s12 ones.
Parts used
1. S14 control arms
2. s12 ball joints
3. s12 tention rods
4. s12 swaybar
5. 1/2'' pipe cut to 1/4" spacers for the rack (for more lock) :)

[s14 arms]
1. Cut the stop off.
2. Fit them with new s12 ball joints.
3. Drill one hole so the s12 tention rod will line up.

[tention rods]
You can use z31 rods (will need to be shortened alot), or use s12 ones (still need to be shortened a couple inches)

[swaybar]
The stock one is way better than the s13 and s14. Ours is solid. The s13 & s14 are hollow! Why change it.

[inner tie rod spacer]
Cut a 1/2'' pipe or whatever will fit over the threads, and cut it into two 1/4'' spacers (You may want to cut them shorter than 1/4'') And use lock tight. Make shure the spacer's outsied diamiter is no bigger than the rack piston!!!
****EDIT the spacer on the Left side (drivers side) only has to be 1/8 to 3/16

The only thing that I didn't do yet is shorten the tention rods. The machine shop next door wouldn't do it becouse it's a "liability".
The castor sux right now :( but I have more camber. :) the turning radious kicks ass but it seems like I have more to the right than left.

Got any pics? I was considering S14 arms to make a 5 stud conversion easy but i'd have to run silly camber to get my wheels under the guards (16x7s) how did yours go?

so are u using the s14 hubs and struts as well

Well he's using S12 ball joints so he must be using S12 or S13 struts on it. S14 balljoints are bigger as is the bolts that join the hub assembly to the upright (when compared to a S13, the S12 has a completely different setup)

there is some saftey issue with using s13 ball joint with a s14 hub so I imagine it would be the same for an s12 ball joint.

I'm using s12 strut/hub assy.

My rack is leaking bad now :( Did you have a problem Neb?

Nah my rack is sweet, it was leaking at the top where the steering column goes in but that was just seal that had been left sitting to dry for to long i think. I do have trouble with my power steering lines leaking but i think thats just old s12 lines, they all seem to do it on my car, i'm getting new lines made up for the damn thing.

Hey Neb. Did you use the s13 rack? Will it fit the s12?

so whats the perk of doing this minus the added wheel base

The perks are the added camber (looks like the rear maybe more) and the extra room for the added turning radious (so the wheels don't rub at full lock.

Sofar I like this mod.:) There is still a few things to do untill it will work like it should.(darn rack) I took a clover leaf on ramp at a good speed with crappy bald doughnut steelies 65 70 with no problems. there is alot more bite on the corners!!

LOL Pump your tire pressure up to max rated psi and you will notice even more of a difference. Camber can be a lot of fun. 8-)

LOL Pump your tire pressure up to max rated psi and you will notice even more of a difference. Camber can be a lot of fun. 8-)
LOL I run 5psi over:)

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_img_a/724194_1_full.jpg
Stock steering @ full lock
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_img_a/724194_28_full.jpg
modded rack, s14 countrol arms, and shortened z31 tention rods
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_img_a/724194_20_full.jpg
my castor. It looks good :)
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_img_a/724194_27_full.jpg
My angle (full lock)
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_img_a/724194_19_full.jpg
My camber
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_img_a/724194_38_full.jpg
steering wheel @ full lock

I know it took forever to get these up but here ya go. :)

holy ****! lol is that more than neb's???

OK I asume this is of benefit to drifting, right? I can't see the use for road racing. For street I could I suppose, you could U-turn (or "flip a bit ch" as we often say) on narrower streets than before.

Is that all though?
:dontknow:

Either way I'm assuming in advance of an answer to my above question that this is a useful thing for some people to do, and since it is so well documented I am stickying it :)

Most folks would run s13/s14 hubs and coilovers so they can bolt up Z32 4 pot brakes. (also good for lowering of course). But Rand doesn't need to as he has a V6 s12 the calipers Z32 calipers bolt up to them, so all he needs is the Z31 88-89 turbo hubs and then the Z32 rotors will slip straight on also.
Or you can use your existing rotors and hubs, but you would need steel spacers behind the pads as the rotors are thinner.

The only thing that I don't like after adding castor is the sway bar bushings
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_img_a/724194_29_full.jpg
they just dont "look" right. still dose its job though so I can't complain.

Fitting an s13 240sx sway bar will fix that, and should match the new control arms nicely. Check one out you'll understand as soon as you see how they fit. I have one on my s12.

the stock one worked fine until I crancked up the castor and I wanted to confirm that the s14 bar dosent fit properly. I'll try the s13 though.

I used a S13 one.

thats some steer camber is that 10 degrees positive holy shish kebab

interesting does the outside wheel go positive in steer as well or negative?

another plus would be the possible use of the S14 poly-bushings. I had thought of doing this for a wider track but was hoing to push the upper mount out also to avoid the camber issues. Its nice to see some ones done it.

thats some steer camber is that 10 degrees positive holy shish kebab

interesting does the outside wheel go positive in steer as well or negative?
Yup. One will + and the other will -

another plus would be the possible use of the S14 poly-bushings. I had thought of doing this for a wider track but was hoing to push the upper mount out also to avoid the camber issues. Its nice to see some ones done it.
I could fix it with camber plates but I love the camber:)

Ditto! And there's s14 in the yards too! ARRGHHHH!!! NO MONEY!!! WHY DIDN'T YOU SOONER!!! THAT'S TOO COOL! Have you tested out to it's full potential though? Like drifting and stuff?

Not yet. No power steering or reverse yet. It would kinda suck if I over throw it and stop directly in front of a gardrail.:) (I've done it a fiew times) I love all wheel drifts though.

Yup. One will + and the other will -
guess it gives you a bit more grip in the outside wheel....... how is the corner entry turn in compared with before? also is the camber (apart from direction) on the inside wheel similar to the outside wheel?

Could I see a pic of ur tension rods? I only see a little bit of it in the other pic.

Could I see a pic of ur tension rods? I only see a little bit of it in the other pic.
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_img_a/724194_30_full.jpg here you go the other half

I'm glad you put before and after shots of your steering lock on your cardomain site...somthing i forgot to do. How wide are your front rims? They look a little narrower than mine and with the extra track from the S14 arms over my S13 items you should be able to push that last little bit of lock out of the car that i can't get (my tyres currently stop about 3mm from the chassis rails so i'm at my limit hehe). There is a tiny bit of lock left in my knuckles cos the knuckle and tie rod end don't quite make a straight line at full lock so i'm limited by my track, i might wind a bit of camber off soon tho and see if that tilts the wheel away from the car much and if the rim will fit under my guards (5 degrees of camber currently...)

How wide are your front rims?
I have no idea I think they are 90's ford crown victoria rims though with 195/60/15's. I love the offset but not the style. Perfict offset but not wide enough.

Fitting an s13 240sx sway bar will fix that, and should match the new control arms nicely. Check one out you'll understand as soon as you see how they fit. I have one on my s12.

Hi Gerry,

does the s13 front bar clear and FJ20 sump? I have a CA20/S12 bar an it fowels on the sump, also is the lever arm about the same and what thickness do they come in from who?

cheers
Michael

what i dont understand with having these "spacers" is.... how do you not end up with major toe-in once its all done ? seeing as the rods will be so long ?!

what i dont understand with having these "spacers" is.... how do you not end up with major toe-in once its all done ? seeing as the rods will be so long ?! The stock rods are adjustable for alignment purpose. You will have enough adjustment with s13, s14. :) I don't know about stock cont. arms though.

Dang Randy, you are a genious! I'm gonna have to look into that too before August. There's just too many different things. Geeze.