Cutting control arm bad idea? SAFE? HELP!!!

i recently had my 95 civic ex lowered and also a camber kit, after they installed it i took it home, jacked it up and took a look under there. they had cut the control arm almost completely down to the big ball bearing leaving barely any supporting metal between it. I assume they did this to clear a part of the inner fender that sticks out but i cant figure out why they didnt just cut part of the inner fender for clearance, but thats not the point.. my question is can this control arm break, crack, snap etc. if i hit a big enough hole or something and do the aftermarket control arms allow more clearance than a stock one, any suggestions are welcome, i just dont want it breaking and i put my tire through my fender!!!!

Im no expert, but I would be very nervous riding on cut control arms. I just have a problem with it because it could compromise the strength of the suspension.

There are products out there that can safely modify your suspension, I recall special control arms made by Zspeed? I do not understand how this cutting of the arms was necessary, but I would definitely look into other means. This method sounds like its right up there with cutting springs, if not worse.

suspension techniques had a different lowering system than using springs. they had new control arms that lowered the car and used the stock suspension. i think its $1500 or so for the setup.

i would take my car back to the place that did it and make them buy me a new set of contol arms. you didn't sign anything that said "do what ever it takes to get my alignment right on my lowered car" did you? that is fucked up. i've never heard of that kinda thing.

You shouldn't ever cut ANYTHING in your suspension system. Can you take some pictures of this?

here is the pic, as you can see it has been cut almost completely down to the ball bearing, and i would like to add they did not tell me a damn thing, had to find out for myself!

one word SUE!!!!! then buy something else for the car

yeah, there's a reason that ain't right is on those lists of "famous" last words

Damn man....i think they took the word "modification" a bit too far on that one.

i talked to the shop today, they said they would give me 2 more control arms, i am obviously not going to get them installed there but what are my options for putting these in.. they keep on telling me that they HAVE to be trimmed for lowered cars and that trimming the wheel well is not an option, how should i get these installed and do they definitely have to be trimmed at least a little bit?

I've never heard of that......how exactly did you lower you car...what setup are you running?

skunk2 adjustable coilovers w ingalls camber kit.

what size rims?

they are 16s... but look at this other pic... there is plenty of clearance room, i dont think they had to cut THAT much off... here, take a look.

Stupid question... are you POSITIVE they cut this? Like, are you the only owner? Technically you cant sue yet... but if you want find a road, whip the car back and forth frantically with witnesses there and then hit a pole at like ohh... 25-30mph... the airbag will go off, you will walk away with a busted nose and now you can sue the bastards -- just make sure no one ever sees this post :finger:

But in all seriousness... I would bring it back to the place and ask for them to replace your control arms -- if they decline, contact a lawyer and im sure they would be happy to get them replaced for you. They are endangering your safety and by not telling you that they did this -- is considered neglagence... or however you spell it :D

ok check it out, we lower Civics at work alot and I have never heard of cutting control arms... It is just plain stupid... That is what the camber kit is for. It corects the way that the control arm sits to adjust you camber and to give you the proper clearance. Tell them that they should not be lowering cars if they dont know what they are doing...

Maybe they forgot to put the camber kit in...

The postive camber the camber kit adds would cause the upper A arm to hit that ridge there. That's why they cut it, so it would clear. If you need more clearence, you can always hammer the ridge back a little. I've thought about cutting the ridge out all together where the A arm would be, but my car is already low enough in the front :D

If the upper A arm was in danger of contacting the tire well, then you should've gotten a whole upper A arm replacement camber kit like a skunk 2 kit or somthing. Bending may have been better but it's still ghetto-ing it up.

So you don't have a camber kit? How low is this thing?

If you must resort to cutting things like this, I would think twice about lowering it to such an extent. Otherwise that camber kit is a must (Skunk2 or Ingalls like others have suggested) Don't sacrifice safety for a lower center of gravity, or worse a "cooler" looking ride.

Just another reason you shouldn't take your car to Pep Boys for any "modifications".

I didn't read the rest of the posts in this thread, but I read enough to see that you bought an Ingalls camber kit. Everyone I know that has bought an ingalls camber kit, let alone any bolt-replacement camber kits don't clear the inner support frame for the fender. It's almost necissary to buy control-arm replacement camber kits, like my Skunk2.

I've seen people pound out their inner fenders, grind down their control-arms, etc. etc. without problems, but I wouldn't run that risk on my car. If you can, try and get them to pay for a control-arm camber kit.

I thought Ingalls made a replacement control arm for their kits?

The two that my friends have bought Ingalls were bolt-replacement kits and neither one have the control-arm clearing the inner-fender. I believe you may be right, I think Ingalls did come out with control-arm replacement kits since their product before was virtually worthless.

Originally posted by Si2000 Vtec
The two that my friends have bought Ingalls were bolt-replacement kits and neither one have the control-arm clearing the inner-fender. I believe you may be right, I think Ingalls did come out with control-arm replacement kits since their product before was virtually worthless.

I saw one for the 96-00 Civic, its on groupbuy for 190 shipped. ;)