RTAB Limiters

T

TomCar

Member
Solihull
I'm just about to change my H&R springs (which will be for sale shortly) for Eibach's in the hope of curing some perceived floatiness and thought I'd fit RTAB limiters whilst the back end was in the air.
My god... HOW MUCH? - for 4 pieces of plastic!

I've no doubt they work as described and will be beautifully made, but at £15+ each for a plastic washer (or £25+ for an ally one) there must be a better i.e cheaper way.
Does anybody know the dimensions of these limiters?
I've found a local 'washer-maker' and will be looking for something off-the-shelf to do the job. If I find anything I'll share the details for the benefit of others contemplating this.

Thanks
Tom
 
The 'plastic' is actually UHMWP as supplied by Rogue, Vorschlag etc. Turner MS parts are aluminium but both will be dimensionally the same. If I fail with some custom washers, there are limiters on Pelican for $20 but shipping by DHL is $55, they have be available somehwere in UK for $20 price levels.
 
If you're putting limiters on you're replacing the OE bushings, right?

Poly RTABs are about £40, no preload faff and I've not found them to be harsh or squeaky.
 
The cage in which the rear trailing arms fits does not have flat walls, therefore any limiter, which properly prevents lateral movement of the rear trailing arm, must be shaped to fill this void. In the case of a plastic/poly limiter, this requires the cost of tooling to make a mould for injection and would be prohibitive for making just 2 pairs for one car. In the case of aluminium limiters, these require machining and then the limiter would need to have threaded retaining holes put in them to keep them stable in the cage. I doubt if you'll actually save much if you factor in the cost of the time to produce 4 of them. I agree that, for what they are, they seem expensive, but they really do work and it's an effective mod.
 
I'd imagine the plastic limiters are made on a lathe or mill?
But it is indeed a complex shape with a concave center.
UHMWPE is not easy on a lathe (I'd recon you can use in this application better HDPE), milling is fine though.
I have no idea in what numbers these are made, but injection molding is expensive in low numbers.
Polyurethane is obviously made with a mold, but a much simpeler mold than for injection molding.
Maybe POM is suitable too.
 
Several very affordable kits on ebay with both new RTAB's and limiters included.
Mine's are from AKG Motorsport.
 
Scooba_Steve said:
If you're putting limiters on you're replacing the OE bushings, right?

Poly RTABs are about £40, no preload faff and I've not found them to be harsh or squeaky.
Click to expand...

This, although my experience is on 3.0i :tumbleweed:
 
My RTAB bushes are in good condition, in the end I decided to go with Pelican limiters at $20 plus shipping, total around £50 delivered.
Looking forward to a more solid set up after new springs and a geometry, probably at BMTR in Birmingham. It will be interesting to see any differences following a track day eve at Donington. I'll get back with results in case any others are interested.
Cheers Tom
 
A few trawls through and there are also vorshlag limiters which seem to get a better write up.

Don't have a clue myself why they would be but I can go along with the Poly bush possibly binding on road use and why an aluminium limiter (Turner) is better than a plastic limiter but find it hard to believe that there will be much difference between two sorts of plastic limiter.
 
AlfaScozzesi said:
A few trawls through and there are also vorshlag limiters which seem to get a better write up.

Don't have a clue myself why they would be but I can go along with the Poly bush possibly binding on road use and why an aluminium limiter (Turner) is better than a plastic limiter but find it hard to believe that there will be much difference between two sorts of plastic limiter.
Click to expand...
Aren't the Turner RTAB limiters also teflon-coated? If so, I presume this would help prevent binding?
 
Argenta said:
Are all oem RTAB bushings the same?
From the base level 318 E46 to the M3 or Z4M, same part number..?
Click to expand...

no, I thought they were but it seems not. http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/33326770817/

eta: actually looking at that it's weird. Lists all E85 models but only M3 versions of E46 and E36
 
PerryGunn said:
AlfaScozzesi said:
A few trawls through and there are also vorshlag limiters which seem to get a better write up.

Don't have a clue myself why they would be but I can go along with the Poly bush possibly binding on road use and why an aluminium limiter (Turner) is better than a plastic limiter but find it hard to believe that there will be much difference between two sorts of plastic limiter.
Click to expand...
Aren't the Turner RTAB limiters also teflon-coated? If so, I presume this would help prevent binding?
Click to expand...


I don t know and in the absence of anyone convincing me I will probably get the turner ones but has to be after the holidays and booked paint correction/ treatment.
 
TomK said:
Argenta said:
Are all oem RTAB bushings the same?
From the base level 318 E46 to the M3 or Z4M, same part number..?
Click to expand...

no, I thought they were but it seems not. http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/33326770817/

eta: actually looking at that it's weird. Lists all E85 models but only M3 versions of E46 and E36
Click to expand...

Indeed!
This is my kit: https://www.ebay.com/itm/401130364371

They actually display the correct part nr, despite listing all e46 & e85/86 cars...?

They did look identical to my old ones tho.
Its just that my rears feel a bit more sloppy than expected.
 
Thought I would provide a quick update.
My Pelican limiters arrived in no time and looked about $20 worth. I took a day off and with a following wind expected to get these in, change the H&R's to Eibach's & at the same time get my new rear pads on.
Despite its age (2006)and 59k miles, everything underneath was clean so all came apart easily. Rears were dead easy and completed in around 2 hours.
Fronts were a bit more involved but again straight forward. I managed to fit one spring upside down, which isn't a problem for performance but my OCD kicked in preventing me from fitting the other upside down.
Faffing about completed and by 6pm all was done and booked into BMTR in 2 days later.
£85 and the geometry was done to my spec. The car felt very planted, which is possibly placebo, but the lack of movement from the rear is very noticeable now that it has been reduced. Turn in and front grip is brilliant and overall the car feels more balanced.
I would recommend fitting limiters and getting a geo on any car, well worth it.
Next up is to get a track evening at Donington booked, but first is ZFEST on Sunday; hope to meet some of you there.
Tom
 
Couldnt agree more as they are a simple component. I did look into material availability but lack of access to a lathe led me to give up and just go with the Pelican bits. I've used Pelican before for 911 parts and found them to be a good supplier, had to swallow hard to cough up for the delivery charges though!
 
Machine monkey said:
I made my own if you can use a lathe they are very easy to do.
Click to expand...

Can you remember the dimensions? I'm changing my bushes soon and as I have use of a machine shop I might as well make some up.
Thanks
 
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