8th Generation Honda Civic Forum banner

Full-Race 06+ Traction balls!!!

12952 Views 319 Replies 69 Participants Last post by  Midknight
Need more traction? We got the solution.

2006+ Honda Civics that need increased traction, reduced wheelhop and better handling - the large rubber LCA bushing is your enemy. During acceleration, braking or turning, the Honda Lower control arm has a large rubber bushing that distorts under load. This distortion allows the lower arm to move back and forth as the forces from the tire and car compress and squish the bushing into different shapes.




**Highly worn bushings will develop a "thump/pop" sound coming from the suspension pivots during low speed bumps.

The soft bushing was designed to give a smooth cushioned ride, but the downside of this smooth ride is low precision and low accuracy of the suspension components. This movement known as "Deflection" of the Lower Control Arm (LCA) allows the wheel to shift forwards, backwards, up and down, completely out of the geometrically intended location. This is due to the fact that the stock Honda suspension was not designed to handle the forces introduced from a high power/high speed vehicle with wide wheels and sticky tires. Because of this deflection, the alignment settings of the car become useless, and the wheel actually moves forwards into the fender well (on high power cars, the tire can actually hit the bumper cover). As the suspension geometry and alignment move around, the car toes out and caster changes erratically. The available traction of the vehicle decreases as overall traction is reduced and wheelhop can result - repeatedly doing this on a high power car can mean damaging axles and gears in your transmission.





The concept of the Traction Ball is very simple. If the suspension does not have any inaccurate or sloppy movement (due to bushing flex) the suspension geometry will be correct. By eliminating the big rubber compliance bushing in the 2006+ Honda Civic front suspension, we are able to eliminate slop in the LCA and significantly improve handling. Traction balls stop deflection because bushings cannot flex/move/change with the solid-mounted heim joints.




With traction balls installed, the LCA does not flex at all - it is completely rigid. The steering and suspension is immediately and drastically improved; you can new feel every input and change in the road surface. Steering is now very sensitive and a lot lighter. The durability of these units is superior to the stock units and they are perfectly suited to both street and track use. This design is not uncomfortably harsh during driving and really an improvement in all regards. This product requires no maintenance, however it is a good idea to inspect them everytime you change your oil. Tap the LCA with a rubber mallet and listen for any noises. Bearings can easily be replaced if needed, however we have not had to replace one yet.

********

For installation info please take a look a this thread.

http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/suspension/242952-diy-full-race-traction-ball-install-7.html

Full-Race would like to thank everyone who participated in the introductory sale on the traction balls. We have officially ended our introductory pricing and is now set at the suggested retail price of 299 shipped anywhere in the continental U.S. Thanks to all the 8thgen members for all of your support, build threads and reviews! Like always, please feel free to PM me or email me at [email protected] if you have any tech questions, concerns, and inquiries.


If you like to place an order you can email me at [email protected], send payment via pay pal to [email protected] and entering screen name in notes field, or by giving us a call @ 602-437-2101 ext:20

Thanks for looking!

[email protected]
See less See more
5
1 - 20 of 320 Posts
Am I crazy or did the price go up? I swear I saw this an hour ago and it was $199, hah.

Anyways, good price. I'll be ordering shortly
I think that all depends on if you have the tools to press the bushings in and out in your garage.
I gotta say, just removing the vibrations at low RPMs makes it worth it to me LOL
Are you guys behind on shipping these out or something?
No sir! Im pretty sure that we have shipped same day on all of the purchases
I ordered mine last Sunday (22nd) and they aren't here yet. Do you know how long it usually takes to arrive? Thanks
I was told putting these on my car would be a bad idea for a dd car as sand and salt will get in them and wreak havoc. A very knowledgeable car guy told me this, so what's your take on that?
look at the stock bushing, then look at our traction ball, you'd have to be crazy to think the stock bushing was better suited to a high power turbo honda. YES things can wear over time but we havent had to replace a single one yet. Either way, the replacement spherical bearings are not expensive
I think you missed my point. I'm not saying the stock bushings are better suited for the power, I was merely asking if they're better suited for a daily driver in general.

Now, if what sox said is right and it's sealed, perfect. I live in MN where we heavily salt/sand roads.. if these are gonna go to crap in one winter, then nah, these are not better suited for (my) turbo'd car.
I live in MA where we have just as much sand and salt as you guys and I went with these. The advantage is so huge over the stock bushings that even having to replace the bearing once a year it's worth it. Trust me. When you drive the car after you take those crappy rubber bushings out you will understand. Like I said all you have to do is spray them down with water to clean them off. You can do it at one of those self service car wash bays.
Mike, I think you forget that what is easy for you is not easy for most of us lol. I don't have access to a press, a lift, years of mechanical experience, nor do I want to do an alignment every year when I take these off if these things did wear out yearly. It's not worth it to me to pay someone to replace stuff yearly, nor is it worth it to me to invest in tools to do it myself. I'm just going to see what my mechanic says, if he puts the kabosh on it, I'll just sell them. Hopefully he looks them over and thinks they'll be ok, but we'll see.
Dude you are making way too much of a big deal out of this. Keeping them clean has nothing to do with my mechanical ability or access to presses or lifts. lol..These things will last the life of your car if you keep them clean.

Second of all you should align your car every year anyway. 9 out of 10 cars on the road are out of alignment. So I don't understand that argument. The advantages of these things is so immense that I can't understand your hesitation because some mechanic said it's not a good idea. I already looked at them and own them. Trust me when I say that as long as you keep them clean in the winter they will last forever. You have big power now. These things will save your tranny so much dude. If you are so worried about this then keep the crappy stock ones and have fun. lol..
Ok ok, but if these things start squealing after a year I'm coming for you lol
Gotcha.... I kinda figured they were the same. I just didn't know why people were acting like this product never existed before Full Race made them.

$299 is steep, I really wish I knew about these during the intro pricing. Not sure if I will be able to get them now... :/
Suck it up, it's a $100. If you can afford to aimlessly throw $200 into a car part, you can afford a $300 car part lol. Quality parts cost $$, so I don't really think $300 is steep for a well-made part.
Weren't you just complaining about the workmanship Jeremy?
Where? Quote the post. I was merely asking about the entire concept of the product, not the quality of it. The quality of it is seemingly very good. I'm just not sure the upkeep is something I want to take on, so I'm just going to wait on installing them a bit and see if anyone starts complaining about crap getting in them before putting mine on.
Haha, I use that same bit with my gf, but I dont' actually believe it. Anything short of necessary car maintenance is aimlessly throwing away money as far as I'm concerned
Yep, I sure do haha, but that's exactly my point - it's aimlessly throwing money around.

And a car is most certainly not an investment.. but I digress :D
the new final design can be seen here...
Wait wait wait.. there's a new final design...? As in the people who bought them when the intro pricing was released didn't get the final design? :shady: Or am I reading that incorrectly?
Yep, me too, and him saying "new final design" two months after they were released. I guess to me that would mean there is something "new", as something released two months ago isn't new in my mind. It'd be a little disheartening to hear that they were already tweaking the design after releasing them to the public, but perhaps he only meant the material used.
Since you guys have been absent in the other Blox traction ball thread...



The guy who put that up is claiming that that happened in 2 months of use, in normal conditions, not even rainy conditions. He's also claiming that you're trying to charge him to upgrade to the new traction balls.

I won't jump to any conclusions before I hear your guys side, but I would like to hear what you have to say about that. I live in MN, if that happened to his traction balls in neutral weather, mine won't last a month in ours.
See less See more
That's really disappointing that you sold a product that's extremely rusted after two months, and your solution is to scrub it with a scotch pad. Never once was the prospect of these things rusting up mentioned, and now this guy is stuck with these things that he says are clunking a lot. Whether or not you meant to, you kind of just threw everyone who purchased the first batch "under the bus" with a product that's apparently extremely prone to rusting. Seems more or less pointless for me to even install mine now since I live in an area where it snows for 5+ months of the year.
Bottom line, if FR doesn't see what's wrong with that picture, I donno what to say. It amazes me that a company that prides itself on making the _best_, highest quality parts could then turn around and say that it rusting after two months and clunking around is OK. Surface rust or not, all that indicates is the crappy "nickel coating" that was put on it.

I realize maintenance is an important part of any car part, but 2 months just isn't an acceptable amount of time for that to be happening.
1 - 20 of 320 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top