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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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