spf_lexus
Active Member
I just took off my lat arms (big long ones in the very back of car) to re-grease a bush that never got enough grease and got to thinking about these puny stamped POS's and how much flex they gave. I have a lot of suspension mods on my LS, its pretty stiff and one weak link faces more stress than in any stock situation. These arms are stamped on the top/sides but has an open bottom. What i did was I went to a local metal shop and picked up 3' of 1/5'' thick by 3'' strip of mild steel. I just took some paper and traced the bottom shape and cut out a plate to be welded to the other sides, effectively making this flexy piece a fully boxed arm. The actual procedure is cake if you're a pretty decent mig welder. Just trace a plate thats 2'' short of each end (clearance reasons) and weld in place. I used the sides of plate/flange seam for the welding. What i did since the arms arn't perfectly flat (it has a slight curve to it) I took 2 vice grips and held the plate to that flange that protrudes out at the bottom of the arm... this place is the spot where I welded the whole piece together.
You can see in the pics how I used a vice/vice grips and welded the piece when its held tightly together, this creates a more solid arm, more solidity means less flex. This mod will make a noticeable difference in handling. i used to pull into my driveway at an angle and the car would creek/ flex a little and now you dont feel the arms flexing when all the vehicle weight hits the rear and less body roll.
You can see in the pics how I used a vice/vice grips and welded the piece when its held tightly together, this creates a more solid arm, more solidity means less flex. This mod will make a noticeable difference in handling. i used to pull into my driveway at an angle and the car would creek/ flex a little and now you dont feel the arms flexing when all the vehicle weight hits the rear and less body roll.
