GC Camber Plates

#1

Jeez, I installed the IE’s on a friend’s car and didn’t have any trouble.

I have the new GC camber plates and just want to make sure I’ve got the mounting straight.

Is the sequence from the bottom up:

Spring
Factory Spring hat
Camber Plate
Washer
M12 Lock nut

If I use the factory large washer under the Camber plate, the nut will barley snug down.

Also, with it attached as above, the camber plate does not want to spin freely as the factory strut bearings do. Is this normal?

JP

#2

You don’t need the washers. When new the GC camber plate will be tighter than the OE mounts. So from the bottom it should be spring, hat, camber plate, nut.

#3

Sweet!

Thanks for the help. :side:

#4

Hey guys,

I’m doing this right now. Did your nylon lock nut fully thread on the shaft? I’m using no washers, exactly the sequence listed above. Id say its 4/5ths threaded, but not fully.

That ok?

Mine also don’t rotate, but i see that when the bearing loosens up (very snug now) it should.

Thanks

#5

Hey guys,

I’m doing this right now. Did your nylon lock nut fully thread on the shaft? I’m using no washers, exactly the sequence listed above. Id say its 4/5ths threaded, but not fully.

That ok?

Mine also don’t rotate, but i see that when the bearing loosens up (very snug now) it should.

Thanks

#6

I just installed mine today. The top nut did not go all the way on as you stated. Mine turns OK just make sure that the top spring pearch in not binding aginst the body.

Michael Ol

#7

Mine did not fully thread on either - just barely over the nylon ring on the nylock.

I think I did use a washer though, but I really like the fit.
Ed

#8

edavidson wrote:

[quote]Mine did not fully thread on either - just barely over the nylon ring on the nylock.

I think I did use a washer though, but I really like the fit.
Ed[/quote] the torque value of that center nut is very low. It is simply there to keep the strut from falling out of the car. If you crank it too tight, the strut piston will break. Ask Mr. Cobetto.

#9

Or, the previous owner can torque it down so much that it spins the threads so it will neither tighten or loosen thereby preventing you from removing your camber plates so you can spend even more money. . . . . . .

:angry:

JP

#10

I got the car aligned yesterday and came out w/ these specs:

front:
-3.1camber
0 toe
10.3deg of castor

rear (non adjustable):
-2.8/-2.9
1/6th total toe out

Sound reasonable? I’m running offset bushings up front, spec suspension, and GC camber plates.

I’m having a litte problem though. It feels like the springs or plates are binding and getting sort of stuck in a position. ie, if i make a right hand turn, the car will sort of want to keep turning right and sort of springy return toward the right. then if i give it a good left, itll stick to the left. if going straight, i can kinda wiggle the crap out of it back and forth and it straightens out again. When doin the alignment, we maxed the camber out against the strut towers, but then backed off a little so i dont think i’m rubbing the towers much… maybe in the castor direction?

Or maybe these bearings are still tight. Like i said, when i had the struts assembled, the strut shaft would rotate in the shock before the strut bearings would turn. the bearing/plates were also tough to rock around by hand.

I’m hoping if idrive it around for a bit things will loosen up. Any experience w/ these issues?

Thanks again

#11

I would say that you are rubbing. As the strut turns I don’t think it stays exactly on the same axis. So as it turns it may be moving closer to the body.

As far as alignment, I would use a little toe out on the front and get rid of any toe out on the rear. On the rear especially, toe out is very bad. Get it to zero or maybe 1/16 in.

On the front toe-in is OK for tire wear on the street and straight line stability but a little toe out sure makes it turn in well. On my ITS car I run about 1/4 toe out on the front. Trust me you will love it.

Camber will depend on tire temps to set right. Caster is just where it falls to get the camber.

No expert but just my opinions.

Michael O.

#12

Yeh, the guy who did my alignment is an E30 guy and said i should look into some adjustments for that rear toe.

It looks like the weld in adjustment kits are illegal. I hear the eccentric RTABs are a pain in the butt. Any other tricks to reduce the toe?

I JUST redid all that crap and frankly, i’d rather spin all day than go through that again. :slight_smile:

Exactly how bad would my car be? i guess there’s only one way to find out…

I’m going to keep driving around in hopes that things work themselves out. If not i’ll go visit the alignment guy again :confused:

#13

I just installed a set of AKG eccentric RTAB’s (thanks to Steven’s help).

I wouldn’t say they are a PITA (to install). AKG has made some refinements to their design and they may do the trick for you.

I’ll give a full report after I gget my alignment

#14

TXBDan wrote:

:slight_smile: I wish weld in kit would be legal. IMO, in the long run it would be cheaper and less time consuming for us. I posted about that here
I also have AKG RTABs but that’s still not very easy adjustment (in principal it is, design wise, but practically it will be PITA). I mentioned this in the "rules" thread" for admins consideration…
Regards,
Igor

#15

Tip: i took the stock upper rubber spring pads off the spring hat and it frees up a few mm sideways to get a tick more negative camber w/o binding against the strut towers. the car seems fine w/o them

#16

for reference, use the stock washer above the spring hat. its there to reinforce the spring hat. itll bend w/o it.

#17

TXBDan wrote:

+1
I had the same problem. If you can’t get the nut to fit on top delete the top washer, but definately use the washer between the hat and camber plate.