Kenny Brown IRS tubular control arm Delrin bushing sets, another run.

[ac427cobra]

Four years ago, myself and a few other Track Dawgz I know had Kenny Brown tubular IRS control arms in our cars. I was disappointed in the fitment of these parts when I installed them in my IRS. (pics below)

Well, I made 10 Delrin bushing kits for these KB IRS control arms and they all sold almost immediately. I've been getting continuing requests for them and I've had to turn people away. Well that's all changed now because I've decided to make another run and now's the time to get your kit if you want one. Not sure if I'm going to make them again so don't hesitate.

Drop me a PM if you're interested in reserving a kit and I can send you my canned payment speech.



Here's a photo of the complete KB Delrin control arm bushing set.

The Delrin bushing set also comes with a grease fitting kit:

Here's the UCA with the Delrin bushings installed along with the grease fitting:

Here is how it will look assembled, LCA front inner:

LCA front outer:

Installed in sub frame showing shimming washers to take up excessive room in out of tolerance subframes:

I ran into an issue in the middle of the manufacturing process when I found out how out of round the eyes were on the KB LCA's. I had to make steel insert sleeves to fit inside of the eyes to make them round again. Well, that corrected the out of round condition but it really didn't do a anything for the mis-alignment of the eyes! They were terribly out of alignment. So.............. I made an alignment tool to get these eyes on the same plane. Here are some pics to show the details:

This is how poorly aligned the Kenny Brown LCA eyes are:

This is a slightly closer look at the mis-alignment:

And then finally, by shaping the O.D.'s of the larger inserts, the tool will pass straight into the second eye being aligned perfectly using my new alignment fixture so the fulcrums of the pivot eyes are on the same plane:

Now the steel eye inserts can be tack welded in place now that they are aligned. Here are some assembly shots. Welding of the inserts after tack welding with the alignment tool:

Right side LCA complete, installed in the subframe this control arm articulates like it's on ball bearings:

In case anyone wonders why I made these kits, this is how the control arms originally mounted into my subframe with the poly bushings that were supplied in them. The flanges of the poly bushings didn't even fit properly to the eye of the control arm. They all pretty much looked like this. This was the front of the right rear control arm:

You can clearly see the torque these poly bushings are under and the shoulder of the poly is nowhere NEAR where it needs to be. It took great force to actuate the control arms. This is why the steel realigning sleeves that go into the eyes of the control arms were necessary to realign the eyes.

I'll be happy to answer any questions anyone might have.

 

[brkntrxn]

Another quality product from FTBR.


BTW, from what I remember about 9 miles from WI, the sun was ALWAYS at an angle!

 

[ac427cobra]

BTW, from what I remember about 9 miles from WI, the sun was ALWAYS at an angle!

Only around "Miller Time". :beer:

 

[rjw1]

Other than a possible weight savings is there any performance gain with these control arms? How are they for durability? Are you still running them?

Thanks

 

[ac427cobra]

Other than a possible weight savings is there any performance gain with these control arms? How are they for durability? Are you still running them?

Thanks

Yes, there is a performance advantage. They prevent the camber gain in bump that the Ford arms are noted for.

Talk to anyone that aggressively tracks or races an IRS and they will tell you outer edges of the left rear tires get eaten up.

Durability issues? Yes. But nothing I couldn't fix.

:thumbsup::coolman::beer:

 

[rjw1]

Are you selling just the bushings alone or are you altering the control arms as well?

Are these just lower arms or upper & lower?

 

[ac427cobra]

Are you selling just the bushings alone or are you altering the control arms as well?

Are these just lower arms or upper & lower?

I'm selling only the bushing kits to correct the control arm issues with the poly bushings and the mis-aligned eyes in the control arms. Kit buyers are responsible for the installation. Instructions are included with the kit.

These bushing kits are for a combined upper and lower set of control arms. Photo #10 shows the bushings in the UCA installed in the subframe.

:thumbsup::coolman::beer:

 

[rjw1]

Will installing the bushings take care of the durability issue you eluded too? Or is there something else that needs to be done?

 

[ac427cobra]

Will installing the bushings take care of the durability issue you eluded too? Or is there something else that needs to be done?

The bushings were more for 'performance' and poor manufacturing 'correction' issues. The durability was more of a material choice and design issue.

See this thread:

https://www.svtperformance.com/threads/why-i-never-had-much-confidence-in-kenny-brown-parts.257959/

starting at post #75.

:thumbsup::coolman::beer:

 

[rjw1]

Looks like they’re not up to running Sebring 4/5 times a year even with the upgraded bushings. If you ever decide to make & sell IRS control arms that are up to the task, I’m in.

 

[gmsux]

+1^^^^The KB arms look too unsafe for me to be interested in buying. If someone made a better set, I'd be interested.

 

[DevilSun]

Bruce, as you know I'm quite interested in this bushing kit as I've always been interested in getting rid of the OEM UCA/LCA in the rear even though they're pretty nice as is for OEM. I honestly had not researched the Kenny Brown arms, but was well aware they were basically the only aftermarket IRS arms out there. That being said, I'm honestly floored by your experiences with these arms, and the downfalls of the design/implementation of them...especially for the price.

Do you know if they still make the arms the same, meaning that this is an on-going and very likely scenario even still?

I take it that the ears bent under the hard forces of road course driving and not because of wheel to wheel racing, is that correct?

Do you feel that your kit sufficiently helps alleviate the problems you've experienced, or do you feel that gusseting and bracing them as you did is still required?

 

[ac427cobra]

Do you know if they still make the arms the same, meaning that this is an on-going and very likely scenario even still?

As far as I know they still offer the arms. They have had a few minor design changes but I doubt they have addressed the areas I had issues with.

I take it that the ears bent under the hard forces of road course driving and not because of wheel to wheel racing, is that correct?

The LCA knuckle attachment point bend because of the attachment bolt misalignment issue and not from track abuse. Also, that material thickness they chose for that area is insufficient for the load it carries.

Do you feel that your kit sufficiently helps alleviate the problems you've experienced, or do you feel that gusseting and bracing them as you did is still required?

My kit alleviates the misalignment and binding issue regarding the bushing eyes and the poly bushings they come with.

:thumbsup::coolman::beer:

 

[DevilSun]

So in short, your kit will not help to prevent (or at least not to any major degree) the LCA knuckle attachment point from bending because that is just plain and simple a design flaw and way to thin of material...but it will fix misalignment, binding, and of course deflection; meaning most people will still need to highly consider adding rigidity at and around the LCA knuckle attachment point, or most likely will encounter the same problems you encountered?

Your kit seems to be a very needed addition to these arms, more so than the stock arms, but there is a much more major underlying issue that needs addressing as well. I appreciate your honesty and candor Bruce :beer: It's a shame that the only aftermarket IRS arms are built with an attachment point equivalent to the thickness of construction paper.

 

[ac427cobra]

The shoddy manufacturing of the LCA had this bolt misalignment issue:

Which caused this damage:

Which required this work to repair:

Ironically this was the right side LCA. The left side, which takes the majority of the cornering forces, never had any issues but I did end up eventually reinforcing the left side as well.

 

[rjw1]

Now where do I send my deposit for the new FTBR SUPER IRS CONTROL ARMS???