Whiteline steel LCAs (WA302L/WA302R)

[Brian_]

Bottom line: If you’re running these LCAs/bushings on a car that sees track time make sure to frequently inspect them. If you’re thinking about buying them, don’t.

I decided to try out Whiteline’s full replacement stamped steel LCAs with their poly bushings pre-installed (WA302L/WA302R) after sales and discounts got them down to $50 each.

Initial impressions after installation were great. They definitely helped sharpen up the front end giving the steering a more precise feeling and helped reduce the car’s tendency to wander under heavy braking.

After a couple months of street driving, 2 auto-x days, and 1 HPDE day I started to notice some inconsistency mid corner during my 2nd HPDE with them installed and had to start feeding in more steering corrections after turn in than I was used too. This event was also my first after switching to a different tire setup so I initially just assumed it was a trait of the new tire.

While swapping my wheels and brake pads back to my street setup I went through my usual post track day inspections and found the rear bushings on both arms were failing.

LCAs were installed with new hardware following service manual procedures including torquing to spec with the suspension loaded. Car is still on stock springs and DCC dampers with an Eibach FSB set to the soft setting, so not an extreme setup by any means but may just have too much suspension travel for these bushings. They may survive on a car with coilovers and high spring rates that doesn’t see as much of the suspension’s full range of travel. The front bushing on both LCAs still look perfectly fine.

 

[scrllock]

+1, these things failed within less than a thousand miles of street driving for me.

FWIW powerflex poly bushings in that location also started to fail quickly, I think that location should be limited to rubber or sphericals due to the axial load they take in that spot.

 

[DerHase]

Correct.

Poly is NOT meant to flex. Like at all (or very very minimally). Poly is basically the absolute worst possible thing you could put in that location (short of a solid metal sleeve, hah). I don't understand why companies continue to make normal poly bushings for applications like this.

 

[Brian_]

+1, these things failed within less than a thousand miles of street driving for me.

FWIW powerflex poly bushings in that location also started to fail quickly, I think that location should be limited to rubber or sphericals due to the axial load they take in that spot.

Correct.

Poly is NOT meant to flex. Like at all (or very very minimally). Poly is basically the absolute worst possible thing you could put in that location (short of a solid metal sleeve, hah). I don't understand why companies continue to make normal poly bushings for applications like this.

Yep, went back to rubber and definitely wouldn’t recommend anything besides rubber or spherical.

 

[nomunic]

Yep, went back to rubber and definitely wouldn’t recommend anything besides rubber or spherical.

Did you go back to oem? Or is there an alternative option?

 

[Brian_]

Did you go back to oem? Or is there an alternative option?

I just went back to OEM as my original LCAs and bushings were still fine, just installed the Whitelines to try them because they were cheap and my subframe was coming down for the swaybar install anyway.

 

[scrllock]

Did you go back to oem? Or is there an alternative option?

TTRS/RS3 bushings should be fine (using some now). The one nice part of the whiteline arms is they're dirt cheap and OE-dimensioned, so you can just put OEM/OEM+ bushings in that spot instead. But even at $50/ea they're kinda questionable.

 

[tigeo]

Superpro LCAs use what they call a "Duraball" which is a spherical type bearing with poly around it to affix it to the LCA so the poly is not seeing the twisting and you get less NVH than a standard spherical. Mine are still going strong after a year/10K miles and 7 track days. There was a batch that the entire bushing came loose from the aluminum arm but that seems isolated. I do inspect mine regularly.

 

[scrllock]

Superpro LCAs use what they call a "Duraball" which is a spherical type bearing with poly around it to affix it to the LCA so the poly is not seeing the twisting and you get less NVH than a standard spherical. Mine are still going strong after a year/10K miles and 7 track days. There was a batch that the entire bushing came loose from the aluminum arm but that seems isolated. I do inspect mine regularly.

Superpro's aluminum replacement arms use the duroball bushings. The drop-in bushings or pre-assembled steel arms with those bushings are not duroball and I'm sure will fail in the same manner.

 

[tigeo]

Superpro's aluminum replacement arms use the duroball bushings. The drop-in bushings or pre-assembled steel arms with those bushings are not duroball and I'm sure will fail in the same manner.

Ah see that now looking at their site. Glad I have the LCAs w/Duraball ones.

 

[GoatAutomotive]

Bottom line: If you’re running these LCAs/bushings on a car that sees track time make sure to frequently inspect them. If you’re thinking about buying them, don’t.

I decided to try out Whiteline’s full replacement stamped steel LCAs with their poly bushings pre-installed (WA302L/WA302R) after sales and discounts got them down to $50 each.

Initial impressions after installation were great. They definitely helped sharpen up the front end giving the steering a more precise feeling and helped reduce the car’s tendency to wander under heavy braking.

After a couple months of street driving, 2 auto-x days, and 1 HPDE day I started to notice some inconsistency mid corner during my 2nd HPDE with them installed and had to start feeding in more steering corrections after turn in than I was used too. This event was also my first after switching to a different tire setup so I initially just assumed it was a trait of the new tire.

While swapping my wheels and brake pads back to my street setup I went through my usual post track day inspections and found the rear bushings on both arms were failing.

LCAs were installed with new hardware following service manual procedures including torquing to spec with the suspension loaded. Car is still on stock springs and DCC dampers with an Eibach FSB set to the soft setting, so not an extreme setup by any means but may just have too much suspension travel for these bushings. They may survive on a car with coilovers and high spring rates that doesn’t see as much of the suspension’s full range of travel. The front bushing on both LCAs still look perfectly fine.

Sharing for posterity:

...my car encountered the SAME effing thing in a matter of months and just 2 track days with Whiteline steel LCAs. Likely less than 3k miles on them.



I didn't know the LCA bushings were bad until a post-HPDE inspection of the car after 3 events, but my escape hatch felt notably unstable at the last track day in June. I actually had my first ever off-track event in a corner that is one of the easier at HHR. Steering felt off and I spent a TON of time calibrating the chassis before each event.

Consequently, I get to pull my new LCAs back out and press in some RS3 bushings. Deeply disappointing and educational, but one could argue that for the price I paid, it's not surprising. Just irritating.

For the time and money, I could have invested in the aluminum LCAs that add camber and caster and come out ahead. The clunks and noises of the (Superpro?) Al LCAs had me afraid to make the plunge.

A good handful of folks complained off noise issues related to that bushing design.

Hope this helps readers and researchers considering these arms:

Pressing RS3 bushings into stock steel arms is the way. Upgrade the front position bushings at the same time if you really push your car hard in car clubs, track days, etc.

Those don’t mind being poly at the pivot point location. It’s the rear donut that is asked to flex every time you life the car that just takes it’s toll.

TLD:

Bigger budget = Al LCAs and never look back...

Smaller budget: RS3 solid rear rubber bushings and profit.

Hope this hells some folks.

Thank you to the OP for putting this info together for the community.

 

[geokilla]

I just came across this thread. Had I seen this before, I wouldn't have installed the KTA252 and instead stuck with OEM. They convinced me to buy KTA252 because aluminum is the way to go as the WA302 are meant to go with the Golf and not GTI. Now I have to remove their strut mounts and lower control arm because they're crap.

Anyone know where I can find RS3 control arms that work with the GTI? I heard the shops aren't a fan of pushing the bushings in.

 

[scrllock]

I just came across this thread. Had I seen this before, I wouldn't have installed the KTA252 and instead stuck with OEM. They convinced me to buy KTA252 because aluminum is the way to go as the WA302 are meant to go with the Golf and not GTI. Now I have to remove their strut mounts and lower control arm because they're crap.

Anyone know where I can find RS3 control arms that work with the GTI? I heard the shops aren't a fan of pushing the bushings in.

who said that? the arms are identical, it's just the rear bushing that's different. nothing special to it. any shop with a hydraulic press should be able to do both in under 5 minutes.

 

[Brian_]

I just came across this thread. Had I seen this before, I wouldn't have installed the KTA252 and instead stuck with OEM. They convinced me to buy KTA252 because aluminum is the way to go as the WA302 are meant to go with the Golf and not GTI. Now I have to remove their strut mounts and lower control arm because they're crap.

Anyone know where I can find RS3 control arms that work with the GTI? I heard the shops aren't a fan of pushing the bushings in.

The WA302 are definitely designed for the GTI, they just have a bad rear bushing design.

RS3 control arms use the same stamped steel design just with different bushings, so any 8V RS3 control arm will work with the GTI.

It looks like those KTA252 aluminum arms have a different rear bushing design and if it's like the superpro "duroball" design with built in articulation before it starts compressing/flexing the urethane it will probably be fine.

 

[tigeo]

There is no design difference here between the GTI and base Golf for LCAs...they are all interchangeable.