dannyboyemt

I ended up buying these lower control arms from Founders since my old Hotchkis units were not compatible with the LCARB's from Founders. If they were compatible i would have kept the Hotchkis ones but after comparing the two i am glad i went with the ones from Founders. Here in the pictures you can see a huge weight difference with the arms from Hotchkis weighing double that of the Founders arms. If you compare the price of each you can also see the benefit of going with Founders(less than a 1/3 of the price) over Hotchkis. Just thought i would share my experience and hopefully help people save a few pennies in the long run as well as getting a better product IMHO.

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

Ive got the same rod ended founders... so far so good. They said they use FK rod ends (Although who knows which ones).

So far they've worked great. I needed something that was adjustable so a double-rod ended LCA is nice for that too.

luvofjah

iTrader: (2)

I bought the 3 part poly ends ones... street car, no drag strip... having them put in soon, I already have aftermarket ones, but don't flex as easily as these, should take some harshness out of the rear end.... getting them put in when I get newly rebuilt rear end, Spohn Torque arm, Mcleod Clutch and plate...

Louis_84

That'g good to know. I never heard of founders though. Would you say its better quality at 1/3 of the price of hotchkis?

dannyboyemt

In my opinion i would say Hotchkis might have a slight edge when it comes to quality. Most of my Hotchkis stuff is pretty old bought back in like 2000. So i cant speak for the current stuff they sell. They might have outsourced or might not have. All of their stuff came powder coated and the welds look top notch. Founders stuff comes with a light coat of paint and the welds look decent.

When i got my LCARB's from founders 1 of the 2 was not perfectly squared and needed some massaging to fit correctly. Might have got too hot during welding. I was disappointed they wouldnt work with my Hotchkis control arms which is why i had to buy Founders. Hotchkis is just to way over priced considering their competition of other vendors on this site. Is Founders the best? In my opinion no. But they have great products at budget prices that are hard to beat. I would buy from them again for sure. I doubt i would ever buy a Hotchkis product again. UMI's stuff is really great too. I havent tried any BMR stuff yet but im not opposed to it. To me they seem like another top notch vendor on the site but i havent tried any of their products, just going off of what i have read here.

mathewstephson

Hi,
Hotchkis are the old ones whereas the Founders are the new ones.I always prefer the Hotchkis but recently I used the Founders to replace my Infiniti Control Arm & Suspension bushings. They are very light weighted and easy to use.

Johnny Blaze

iTrader: (15)

Curious why the hotchkis would not work. The spacing on the lcarbs should be the same.

The founders might not handle as much abuse being a thinner material, thus less weight.

dannyboyemt

The material around the bushing on the Hotchkis unit was just too beefy. It was actually causing contact between the LCARB and LCA on the back side of the LCA.

Zeifer

Founder's stuff is powdercoated black or red (they have some pieces that come bare, for weld-in applications, I think). I got an on-car APHB from Founder's and I love it.

Did you contact Founder's about the LCARB you received being uneven?

dannyboyemt

No i got it straightened out myself. They are listed as being powder coated but man it sure seems like a thin powder coat. Compared to the Hotchkis units they have a pretty thick heavy powder coat to them versus the Founders units. I have scratched the Founders LCARBS pretty easily which is why i thought it was just a thin coat of paint.

SLEEPER 86

I have older Hotchkis lcas and just installed Founders lcarbs, no problem here. Maybe one or the other is a bad casting?
Do you have a pic of the clearance issue?

dannyboyemt

Yea i will go take some pics and post them. The clearance seemed tighter on the driver side compared to the passenger but still tight enough to cause contact. You can see when i post some pics the LCARB rubbing the LCA and taking some of the powder coat with it.

SLEEPER 86

Mine isn't on the road yet, so this is a concern to me. I didn't notice any issues, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. I would probably grind to resolve them.

dannyboyemt

Having trouble upload the pics. Keeps saying upload failed. I will keep trying. Just be careful what you grind off if you have to clearance them. The LCARB was making contact right on the weld of the LCA which is why i didnt want to grind them down. I have read that during autoX/roadrace duty that they can be subjected to huge amounts of stress. Some guy over on LS1tech ripped the sub frame off the body in his 4th gen where the front of the LCA mounts to the body. See post #27
http://ls1tech.com/forums/road-racin...our-car-2.html

dannyboyemt

here it is