After a trip to Sears to pick up a 25-250lb-ft torque wrench (and another $150 in crap I didn't need) I decided to take on the LCA install. Pretty straight forward except the axle shifted back about an inch so it was a PITA to move it forward to get the rear mounting bolt through. Picture a guy curled up in the fetal position underneath the rear of the car pushing the axle forward with his legs while trying to situate the control arm and bolt with his hands. I am so sore.

Rear end feels a little smoother/more controlled when I have wheel spin on the street, but I'll put it to the test at the 1/8th mile this Wednesday.

Edit:

 

 

As requested:

 

Now really getting a chance to drive them around today, I noticed obviously an increase in noise. I can hear more driveline/rear end clunking and all-in-all the car sounds more "lively."

However, I have picked up a bit of a gear whine under load. It's most notable between 60-80 MPH and it's a pretty prominent gear whine from the rear end. Everything feels 100% normal, it's just the sound. I am pretty sure if this whine was evident prior the the LCA install I would have heard it. I had the axle shift on me a bit when I removed the rear LCA bolts (it'd shift back about 1" for both sides) which required quite a bit of finagling to get it to move back forward so I could get the bolts back in. I'm thinking this shifting of the axle is what might have done it and I probably need to take the car to a shop to have them open it up and fix it or else I just deal with it...

Any thoughts?

Kind of frustrated with myself at the moment.

 

I don't think it was something you did. I believe it is a by-product of the LCA's. Call Steeda and ask just to be sure.

P.S. They look great. Steeda makes good stuff.

 

Yeah, I did some more searching and thinking and I'm pretty sure that's the case. I can hear everything from the rear end of the car now... it's pretty chatty!

I am happy with them so far. No track testing yet (rained out for tonight) but the car does feel more solid at the rear. Exhaust is next on the list.

 

It's amazing how much sound isolation you get from the stock rubber bushings in the LCA's... The gear whine you hear now was most certainly there before you installed these, it's just now you hear it a lot more because there is a more solid (poly bushings) connection between the axle housing and the body sheet metal. This is part of the additional "noise" Steeda says you will have when these are installed.

 

Yup, I just wasn't expecting the whine. I heard some faint clunking before and knew I'd definitely hear a lot more of it, but the factory did a good job at isolating the whine and getting rid of it in stock form.

Oh well... exhaust on the way!

BTW, I might FINALLY get to put these to the test tomorrow at the 1/8th mile assuming we don't get rained out. I'll keep you guys posted on the results.

 

Unfortunately, even with a muffler delete, the whine is very apparent (to me) in the cabin while at my optimum cruising speed (75-80 mph), so I doubt any real muffler would even come close to hiding it.

 

That's a bummer. I have a lot of sound deadening stuff so I guess if it's annoying enough I can get rid of it in an afternoon.

 

Strangely enough, it might be dependent on the road surface you're on. My drive to work today, I strained myself to hear even a shimmer of gear whine, and got nothing. Tried between 50-60, and 70-90 mph cruise. Nada.

 

Maybe it's not gear whine then, maybe it's tire noise being transmitted. Gear whine doesn't come and go depending on road surface but tire noise does.

 

Yeah, it's most likely tire noise in your case.