cdf arb
 

Bought a cdf arb from scoobyworld. When I came to fit it, after 3 hours or trying all different ways an getting the old drop links off I found out it was the wrong one. It is about 2 inches shorter in width than the one I took of the car. After ringing scoobyworld and them ringing cdf I was told my car is a rare widetrack model. My car is an 04 sti UK with 100 pcd wheels and no extra trim round the rear arch. Also doesn't have dccd. Is this possible an is what they are telling me legit? Thanks dave

That's very odd?

Tell me about it. They said there was a very short crossover period where a very limited amount of cars were made with the 100 pcd wheels which are still widetrack. I can't think of any other reason why the bar is shorter because the classic is a completely different Shape. If It were to be bigger than I could see why. Maybe there was a manufacturing fault but can't see that. They also said they had come across this before when they had fitted coilovers on there handling packs but it's very rare.

So have you tried fitting a widetrack one and see what happens?

My Widetrack CDF ARBs didn't fit right on my Widetrack car anyway. Whiteline ones went straight on.

They are sending me one. I initially ordered the whiteline bar but as there was a 6-8 week wait due to them moving factory I opted for the cdf for the same price. If there was a small difference between the bars I would just put it down to a manufacturing fault as aftermarket stuff never seems to fit the same but there is a 2 inch difference in them.

I can't say that my CDF bar was ill-fitting like yours was, I simply had castor issues in which the bar would foul the control arms.

The CDF item at the time was listed as 01-07 STIs so I don't think there was an awareness that the widetrack front bars are different as well as the rears, Whiteline sold a front bar specifically for the Widetracks.

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I would be amazed if your car is wide track.

My guess would be a manufacturing issue with the cdf bar.

If it were me I would wait for the whiteline bar, no fitting issues in my experience, tried and tested and work very well too.

Siv :thumb:

daveriley123:

Scoobyworld showed me the photo of your bar you sent them , and is is 100% a widetrack bar which we have in stock, when they ordered the bar they did ask for a none wide track bar . Like I told them happy to swap it over no problem :)

Fonzey, just to clear a few things up here as you said our bar didn't fit correctly and the whiteline bar did .... Our parts are actually made for us in the same factory as Whiteline to their same spec ..

Chris

Also, there is no difference in the front newage bars , all 01-07 bars are the same

So in fact a cdf bar is a whiteline bar powder coated by cdf ?

I didn't know this, I just assumed a cdf bar was made by cdf and a whiteline bar was made by whiteline.

Was this pointed out when the cdf bars came on the market ?

Siv.

I wasn't aware it was a 'rebadged' Whiteline either - but my Whiteline bar is very different to the CDF one I took off.

It doesn't catch on the control arms, which apparently is due to slightly more castor that the widetrack runs(?)

Nearly, the treatment is slightly different before they leave the factory and come to us, to let us coat them the way we do ,

End of the day we wanted to offer a proven product performance wise ,. and there is not a better product than the white line bars , apart from the coating letting them down as they are prone to flake or rust, We did have another manufacturer abroad o make us some bars, which we just binned due to the poor quality. The bars they make for us are on a private label ,. so we have to buy in bulk to be able to offer them at a reasonable price ..

I have never denied these were made in the same factory,. and to be honest I don't see why there should be a problem with it. :)

are you saying ours catches the arm or the whiteline one?

I don't have a problem with them being orange whiteline bars, I don't recall paying any premium over whiteline prices so I'm a happy shopper.

The CDF bar I had was catching the control arm but only under heavy load - I barely noticed it whilst driving, I had the car into Chevron for setup of some new suspension and part of what they wanted to do was to customize the control arms for more castor, but couldn't due to the ARB. We fitted a Whiteline one instead, which gave loads more clearance and allowed us to stack on the castor.

I wish we took some side by side photos of the ARBs in hindsight - but I didn't expect this to be a "problem", I just assumed I'd bought the wrong ARB.

I think on a standard car this wouldn't crop up, but with an ALK you start getting into catching territory.

I don't have a problem with it, we all know how poor the finish was on the whiteline bars although I think it has improved, my latest one is a year old with no sign of rusting yet :thumb:

The only reason I didn't buy cdf bars was that I couldn't find any info on quality and performance.

If it's widely known that your bar is manufactured by whiteline and finished by yourselves I expect you would sell a hell of a lot more.

Is it the same scenario with your anti lift kits ?

Siv :thumb:

No,. the bars are the only product we don't make in house :thumb:

I don't think the whiteline ALK and droplinks are cnc machined, i "think" they are made from extruded bar

You should of said mate, i'm sure i could of got you sorted

Thanks for the reply cdf. I really didn't expect to get a reply of the supplier to this thread. Have you ever come across this before? I've spoke to loads of people in my club and they are all amazed that my car is a wide track seeing as the wheels are 100 pcd, has no extra trim around the rear arches and doesn't have dccd. Also that my car is an 04 UK. Some people have seen the odd 54 with widetrack but even then had the extra trim.

Only one other car in the last two years of doing them :)

If anyone is unsure they are welcome to contact me before ,. the widetrack bars are straight on the ends

Dave out of interest does one of your rear lateral arms, forward one I think have what looks like an alloy end on the inboard attachment point?

Sorry for the late reply. I haven't had chance to come on here for a while. I'm not sure about the alloy end but when I fit the new bar I will be sure to have a look and let you know. Why do you ask by the way

I have a 55plate blob wrx which was one of the last ones and I don't think the lateral arms are the same as earlier WRX's.