SPC vs SPL Rear Camber Arms (Reliability vs Durability)
 

Hello guys, I'm doing some research and planning ahead on lowering my Z soon. I'm going with Swift Springs and looking to get some rear camber arms. A vendor told me he doesn't carry SPC anymore because he's gotten complaints that they have broken on customer's Zs and only carries SPL.

Average pricing from various vendors:

SPC: $160-170
SPL: $260-280

So I'm wondering if anyone out there who went with SPC Rear Camber Arms had theirs break on them? There's about a $100 difference so I dont know if I should bite the bullet and try SPC or be safe and fork out extra cash for SPL.

I use my Z as a DD in Houston and I keep a good eye out for potholes even on stock height. I rarely push my car suspension-wise.

Any feedback or advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Ive had the SPC for a little over a month now and havent had any issues. I am a little more aggressive with my suspension and havent had any movement or issues. On amazon you can get the camber arm and toe bolts for $86 per side. not a bad price.

Had spc for over a year now, never had any issues.
And I'm also from Houston

http://www.the370z.com/brakes-suspen...-parts-16.html

Scroll down, member Martin82. General consensus is fine for street car, may want extra quality for track car.

What cv129 said. If you don't track the car, buy SPC. If you do track the car, SPL.

I had SPC on the 350 and never had an issue. But for the 370 I went with SPL everything in the back. Ive never tracked the car but I would like to eventually. For me personally, I just feel like SPL was a better product and I wanted a good quality product.

Oh, the SPL parts are better. There's no question there.They're just overkill for a street car. That's not to say the SPC arms aren't also a quality product. Z1 talked me out of the SPL arms when I bought my SPC arms.

Agree with Chuck. I went with SPC for the rear, based on exactly this sentiment. I think the SPL arms are better quality, and even look better, but I didn't see the sense in spending an extra $150 on them...

Here you go. ;)

Lol man I read all these replies and decided on SPC then I see the pics Rusty posted and im like -_-

I don't plan to track my car at all it's just a DD that needs to last me for years to come. So that being said I'm going to give SPC a shot. Thanks for the replies everyone, especially those from Houston.. we all know traffic and construction is killing us right now.

SPL! Do it right the first time! Tired of people buying $1000+ CBE's because someone said the quality fit and finish is so much better but for a part that could save your life people cheap out on less than $100! I don't get people's priorities!

The SPL part is built more solidly, but going with the SPC isn't "cheaping out". They're pretty solidly built. We're not talking about some Kinetix POS. Also, many of us didn't want the SPLs simply because spherical bearings can be unpleasant to run on a daily driven street car.

Say if the car sees track once or twice a year, is SPL recommended? How much more unpleasant is the SPL would you say compare the two? Thanks.:tiphat:

I haven't had both. I can't tell you specifically how many track days you need to justify the SPL parts. Spherical bearings will transmit loads more NVH than a rubber or poly bushing. It's metal on metal, there's nothing to absorb anything.

But it depends on location. I've had solid sway bar endlinks before and not an ounce of added NVH. Had harder poly engine mounts and those ratted the fillings out of people's teeth! I don't think a little camber arm would do a damn thing. Maybe if you have a full stock exhaust, windows up, and rear trunk gutted, you might hear something.

I've solid endlinks at the moment, and they don't transmit anything. It's really a cumulative thing. One or two probably wont make a difference. The more you add, the worse it gets until driving it on crappy roads rattles your teeth out.

All I can say about SPL comes from my installer. He said he appreciated the quality, ease of adjustment, and the design of the camber arms. He was impressed by it. Bought the part new from Fontana Nissan when he had it on ebay LY (NissanRaceShop.com) for 229 and he threw in the toe bolts. Hit or miss in terms of availability. Good luck.

I run SPL arms in my daily driven 240sx (and will run these in my Z). Just the camber arms, like what he said, you won't feel much of a difference in terms of vibration, if any at all.

SPL is definitely higher quality...but the SPC kit gets the job done for a daily. Save the $100- and put it towards your allignment.

Save $100 now...but if an arm breaks while going over a pothole or manhole cover..while going through an intersection... The alignment slips and you plow into a school bus ..that $100 really was a big savings
Just sayin

Thank you!

I heard SPC = Eibach, can any one confirm?

Looks like it. Like 99% of everything, its all made in china so I'm sure they both buy from the same supplier but put their name on it.

Yes a vendor confirmed this for me when I ordered my SPC. Syno explained it pretty well that's what I would've guessed too.

The spl front is like $800 so just go with spc in front and spl in the rear?

Eibach, a German company biting a design off a chinese company. Awesome. Is it TUV approved? From what I've read and who I've talked to so far SPC is okay for street but the rear arms break under track use.

At low speeds I can hear the all metal bushings with my toe arms and camber arms. But once your at speed you can't hear them. I can say after my new suspension my wife does not like to drive or ride in our z because she says it feels so bumpy and loud. I just turn up the music. It is rough but not unbearable.

What about SPC front camber arm vs SPL?

I ran spc front and rear prior, rear arm snapped on the track at close to 80mph on compression and caused severe damage all rear arms and bushings. I emailed Spc with pictures and the failure and said they would send me a new one and never did. I will make a separate post about it in the track section. The front spc control arm will slip when driven hard unless you torque the **** out of them. Not worth saving and cheaping out. I could have easily have hit the track flag post but was lucky I didn't.

what martin said. for the front though you could also safety wire the big nut or do the mod someone did with a welded screw so the nut wouldnt slip. personally SPC and kinetix look fine for the front since they are just a huge peice of steel but the bushing would need to be replaced with the plastic stuff (delrin??) on both. the SPC would need locked some how (like i said) and the kinetix needs modded since it doesnt do that much camber. so for both after you spend time and money on them, might as well just get the SPL.

O and SPL does caster and is easy where SPC is a PITA and kinetix does none.

What the hell, I just installed SPC rear arms.. didnt think those would snap.. low grade steel?

I googled and found another post saying Ichiba arm snapped, and the look exactly the same, perhaps same product?

Ichiba rear camber arms almost killed me - G35Driver

You can see the crack on the non snapped side also, where the rod width decreases right before the thread.

welding around that problem area before it snaps might help?

http://g35driver.com/forums/attachme...e-dscf2086.jpg

http://g35driver.com/forums/attachme...e-dscf2089.jpg

**** that! Spl does an exchange program if you turn in your junk *** **** and discounts theirs. Do it.

For real, I just had SPL upper arm installed and I have SPC rear arms and toe bolts! I was thinking about changing them out, but didn't know if it is really worth it. I just haven't seen any real data on failure rates. Parts fail even from the best factories with the best quality control.

Ok SPL it is then thanks everyone!!!

many parts can fail but suspension arm SNAPPING OFF is something I don't wanna experience ever.

I think I should take this off and SPL instead. Or something else?

SPC replacing broken part does not fix anything, its my head at the stake, not the cheap suspension arms. Several posts over the net sharing the same problem, snapping off at the exact same place tells me this is a design fault. Probably good for cars that do not get driven hard, but mine does get driven pretty hard, it is pretty much for track day fun only..

Didnt get the SPL in the first place because I do not have any other suspension parts that are using pillow ball bearing ends, and they all go clunky after a while, but I think I should start looking at alternatives now.

They'll become clunky after awhile? Hope not!

This is true but then even the best quality control can't stop a crap *** design from breaking.

They all do eventually, it's just the way it is because it is pretty much a solid mount with nothing absorbing the vibration/shock.

Some last longer than others, usually smaller ones tend to start making the noise earlier, and some cheap bearings start making noise from day 1 because they are not really tight even when new. but often people using such mount do not really care much about noise because it still serves the purpose - solid bush

ended up ordering SPL.. bit of a weight saving too lol