DanJer wide control arms?

[2002dude]

Hi, first post.

 

Im am building a 1976 2002 and am starting to collect suspension bits. So far i have Bilstein sport shocks and IE springs. The front control arms are looking worse for wear and i’ve been seeing DanJer is selling their wider control arms again. 
 

My question, are these worth it and will they actually improve handling?  Is anyone running these?

 

These are the control arms. 
 

2002 Extended Front Control Arms

WWW.DANJERMOTORSPORTS.COM

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BMW 2002 Control Arms

 

[Lorin]

What is your definition of “improve handling” ? 

[2002dude]

4 hours ago, Lorin said:

What is your definition of “improve handling” ? 

I had an E46 M3 before this with coilovers and GC camber plates. It had around -2° camber front and -1° front, which made for a very fun car on spirited drive and local autocross days. 
 

I’d like something like that. I think -2 front/-1 rear is perfect for a street car?

[DanJer Motorsports]

They will definitely improve handling. Though most things that increase negative camber will as well. Some ways are better that others and our arms are a great way to gain camber. They are strong, stiff and don’t require any permanent modifications to the car. 
 

I think somewhere between -1° to -2.5° is ideal for a street car. With our extended arms you get -0.7° to -1° on a stock car without modifying the strut. You can add fixed camber plates from Blunttech and get close to -1.5°

 

I think people are worried about the tire moving out but the balljoint is very low relative to the spindle so the top of the tire only moves out roughly 3/8”, which is a small amount. If you add the fixed camber plates the top of the tire moves back in some so that number is even less. 
 

If you install our extended control arms, fixed camber plates and bump steer spacers you will improve the handling of the front of the car night and day. Keep in mind this goes hand in hand with quality springs, shocks and swaybars. Don’t forget correcting alignment numbers in the back of you lower the car. 

[Hans]

don't E3/E9 arms do the same thing?

[TobyB]

The Bav arms add more-  I forget the number, but it's at least a couple of degrees.  They are also forged, and heavy.

They USED to be inexpensive, but I doubt they are, now, if they're even available.  They also move the wheel forward,

as the connection for the radius arm is farther out.  I used them on the racey car and had fun, but eventually took 

them back off, as the fitment issues with wide tires that didn't want so much camber were a pain.

 

Since everyone has their own opinions, I found that each brand of tire had a camber setting that worked best.

I tend to keep my street cars balanced at -1.5 or so, just because much more makes them follow ruts.

 

t

 

 

[Tommy]

I also have used E3 arms in racecar but IMO they didn't fit too well. Things just didn't align like they should. I have only read positive comments about DanJer.

[DanJer Motorsports]

2 hours ago, Hans said:

don't E3/E9 arms do the same thing?

Our extended arms are 381mm. Don’t quote me on this as it’s off memory but I think E9 arms are 402mm and oem 2002 arms are 362mm.

 

E9 arms are 402mm and move the radius arm mount way out. This pulls the arms forward so it puts side load on all the bushings. 
 

Our arms keep everything in the stock location and use stock components with the exception of moving the ball joint. By only moving the ball joint location nothing sees extra stress. 
 

1st pic - E9 vs stock. (Pulled from Google)

2nd pic - DanJer extended arms vs stock. 

[chargin]

I installed a Danjer set in front including GC upper strut mounts, noticeably more turn in now but not crazy oversteer, also paired with a rear adjustable subframe and Tii reinforced f trailing arms 

Painted in Clear since they looked so cool 

 

Added under brace for good measure - Just Ignore the 6 speed, were talking Arms here 

 

IE Sway Bars as well 

Edited January 19, 2023 by chargin

[Einspritz]

Danjer!

 

Why don't you make them so you can use stock bar links?

[2002dude]

4 hours ago, chargin said:

I installed a Danjer set in front including GC upper strut mounts, noticeably more turn in now but not crazy oversteer, also paired with a rear adjustable subframe and Tii reinforced f trailing arms 

Painted in Clear since they looked so cool 

 

Added under brace for good measure - Just Ignore the 6 speed, were talking Arms here 

 

IE Sway Bars as well 

How long have you had the arms installed?  Car looks great!

[chargin]

1 hour ago, 2002dude said:

How long have you had the arms installed?

 

Installed June 2021, Monterey and back as a tester.  

 

Trip 1

 

Trip 2

 

[cda951]

13 hours ago, Hans said:

don't E3/E9 arms do the same thing?

 

As others mentioned, E3/E9 arms do a bit too much of the same thing for a street car (a lot of negative camber), don't fit well, and have built-in ball joints, so when those wear out, you need to replace the entire arm.

 

I've had the Danjer arms for a bit over a year and I'm quite pleased. They work especially well for my particular car, a '73 tii that was modified by the previous owner in the late 1980s/early 1990s with smoothed-in Turbo style fender flares , and uses 15x7 OZ fakey Alpina wheels to fill the arches. This looks great, but widening the track by moving the centerline of the tires further outboard from the steering axis (imaginary line from the strut top pivot bearing to the lower ball joint) increases the scrub radius, which makes the steering quite heavy, and the front tires would rub the rear of the wheel housings at full steering lock.

 

I wanted more negative camber without resorting to coilovers and camber plates (already have a track-focused car with all that, wanted the 2002 to still be able to traverse the rough/rutted backroads of CA), so I first tried the IE offset roll center spacers, which helped turn-in and mid-corner grip but of course exacerbated the scrub radius issue.

 

The Danjer control arms solved the issue (along with IE non-offset roll center spacers), still got about -1.5 degrees camber, steering is slightly lighter, no more rubbing, front end never gives up even in the tightest of hairpins during the road rallies this car is meant for. Last pic shows the outer edge of the front tire after a 3-day road rally, I thought -1.5 degrees camber wouldn't be enough, but the tire wear shows it was perfect, never a hint of understeer. Autocross or track days would require more negative camber, probably -2 to -3 degrees.

Edited January 20, 2023 by cda951

[DanJer Motorsports]

15 hours ago, Einspritz said:

Danjer!

 

Why don't you make them so you can use stock bar links?

Mainly because it would add a lot to the expense due to them being boxed. 
 

You can actually get better geometry with the swaybar ends with our arms because you can mount the lower rodend between the two tabs or we include a spacer so you can mount it in front. 

[Einspritz]

Agreed, however, I and most cars don't have the knife edge bars. I've spent a lot of time engineering my suspension and bar's (25 mm) effect on the total suspension and am happy with the results, on and off track.

 

Do you think it would be possible to drill holes through the box (sans tabs) and use a longer bolt with the standard rubber or polyurethane mounts?

 

Thanks for your thoughts.