front camber, reducing negative camber Options

[tomburdge]

I am trying to reduce the front negative camber on my SCCA F prod car.

Currently the stock camber plate will only allow about 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 neg. I want to get closer to 1 deg neg.

I looked at the Weltmiester billet alum camber plates and thought about reversing them side to side to create more positive or in my case less negative camber.

Anybody have any ideas or solutions to my dilema.Any and all responses are greatly appreciated.

[Eric_Shea]

Sounds like you have droopy spindles. This happens over the years. Since most people want just the opposite (more camber) this can be a difficult one.

If your stock plates will no longer allow 1 deg. your struts are probably toast. You may want to check with Chris Foley (sortof in your neck of the woods) and see if he has any solutions.

The only other thing I can think of is to get new struts because a stock camber plate should easily allow what you're after -and- if it doesn't it seems the struts (spindles) are dangerously out of spec.

Good luck.

[Aaron Cox]

i think elephant racing makes offset ball joints... maybe they are to increase camber?

[Eric_Shea]

yup... this is why it's a problem

[John]

Here is the answer. But you won't want to hear it.

It won't work for you.





Raise the car up!



You could also:

A ) Replace your struts
B ) Section about 1/2" out of your "A-ARM" to move the ball joint in at the bottom. (BUT DO NOT TELL ANYONE)
C ) You could install a pair of decambered ball joints (put them in backwards) You would modify your a-arm for this as well.
D ) You could move the strut top mounts more outboard.

I just don't see any easy things to try other than raising the car up.

[Eric_Shea]

You could install a pair of decambered ball joints (put them in backwards) You would modify your a-arm for this as well.

Lot's of modifying (modified your post a little too BTW). Not only the little tab but the upper portion of the a-arm as it forms the cup for the ball joint. It would hit there for sure.

I tend to agree... no easy fixes.

The one that sticks with me is to have someone like Chris reinstall the spindle at the desired geometry and... I don't even now if that's possible. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

[r_towle]

take out the strut and the top bearing plate.
Take a dremel and grind the three holes oval towards the outside of the fender.
You may have to grind away either the edge of the large hole, or possibly notch the top plate just a bit if you need alot more movement.

Put it all back together, now you can get a bit more adjustment.

Rich

[Joe Ricard]

I reversed my Weltmiester camber plates and can get as much as -.3 degrees camber. not quite straight up but pretty damn close.
I have found that my Goodyear 23 x 9 x 15 Cantilevered slicks like -.5 to -.7

[tomburdge]

I reversed my Weltmiester camber plates and can get as much as -.3 degrees camber. not quite straight up but pretty damn close.
I have found that my Goodyear 23 x 9 x 15 Cantilevered slicks like -.5 to -.7

Joe,You are running the same tires as I am and you seem to have achieved what I want to do.

The camber plates that you are talking about.Are they the billet alum $400 ones that Performance products sell?

I was reluctant to buy them,given their less then friendly return policy if they didn't work.

If they've worked for you,I'll give them a try.

Pleas let me know if we are both on the same page.

Thanks,
Tom Burdge

[groot]

Hey, Tom.

Did you see this post?
Goodyear tire info
Just some rarely shared info on racing tires. We test production tires like this all the time...it's useful stuff.


You know I'm opinionated about these things, so keep that in mind.


Anyway...
I would work on the camber plates. I made my own with the goal of having the ability to adjust from 0 to -1.5 degrees. Now, having been through that exercise, I wouldn't do it again. I don't remember what your current camber plate looks like. I really don't think the $400 performance products parts are worth the investment. I think you can make a better camber plate work for less money, but more fabrication time.

Now, a caveat.... I don't like Ground Control the company, from my experience, they have crappy customer service. But, as far as camber plates are concerned, they have a superior product. I plan on installing them in my car over next the next winter. The key is modifying your strut tower to accept them....including installing them so that you get the appropriate range for your tire. That's the hard part. Since it's a custom install, you need to find an appropriate part to use.
My suggestion
I'm not sure these are the right ones, but they look like the best compromise.


BTW....Please don't shorten your A-arm, it only makes the geometry worse than it is.

[groot]

Hmmmmm... something just occured to me.

Are you running torsion bars? If so, that reduces the benefit of the ground control camber plates since their "magic" is in how they support the spring load.

Quote from Ground control website regarding their camber plates: "The Ground Control camber plates feature two sets of bearings, a proprietary bearing, made to our specs by Aurora in the USA, which allows for articulation of the shock shaft. This spherical bearing is very understressed, as the Ground Control design does NOT support the weight of the car on the spherical bearing. Instead, the weight of the car is supported by a completely separate articulating needle bearing, which is also manufactured for Ground Control in the USA."

It still might be a good way to go.

[ChrisFoley]

... Instead, the weight of the car is supported by a completely separate articulating needle bearing..."

Their design is good but the camber plate must be nearly perpendicular to the shock shaft. Any significant deviation in camber plate angle will result in binding issues that defeat the benefits of the design.
I make my own camber boxes using the matching steel plate Ground Control sells. Careful camber box positioning is critical to this modification.