1"/1.5" drop: does this require camber bolts?

[mrgtx]

Any thoughts on the Maximum Motorsports camber bolts?

http://www.maximummotorsports.com/S...ing-hardware-kit-2005-2014-Mustang-P1360.aspx

 

[Whiskey11]

Any thoughts on the Maximum Motorsports camber bolts?

http://www.maximummotorsports.com/S...ing-hardware-kit-2005-2014-Mustang-P1360.aspx

Those aren't camber bolts... those are the replacement strut to spindle bolts with the fine thread.

 

[Ingwe]

^^all this feedback is extremely welcome, guys.
Interesting info about the failure point, Whiskey...and very troubling.

So I would love some advice here: with preassembled Bilstein/Eibach springs/GT500 mounts on the way, what's the least painful/expensive way to set up my car so that it won't rapidly eat my fron tires, won't collapse the front suspension and will still handle well?

ANY input would be welcome.

It'll handle fine with your suspension additions. Much, much better than stock. The GT500 upper strut mounts won't net you camber. Most of that will come from lowering the car but once installed, go and get an alignment done on the car and make sure the camber is within OE spec and you won't have any issues with adverse tire wear on the street. As everyone has stated above and without repeating exactly what Norm said above, if you want to track the car, a set of adjustable camber plates will give you the ability to swap from 'street mode' to 'track mode' by dialing in more camber which will help reduce wear on the tires. Although if you're at the track then you should be expecting a fair amount of tire wear anyway.

 

[Norm Peterson]

It'll handle fine with your suspension additions. Much, much better than stock. The GT500 upper strut mounts won't net you camber. Most of that will come from lowering the car but once installed, go and get an alignment done on the car and make sure the camber is within OE spec and you won't have any issues with adverse tire wear on the street.

Maybe. Ford's "spec" for camber is so sloppy-wide (so that Ford doesn't have to work too hard on most cars getting them "in spec" before they roll out the door of the final production facility) that any given car could have camber that's too aggressive for many drivers, while other cars wouldn't have nearly enough camber for more enthusiastic drives . . . and both cars would still be "within spec".

Anybody who fairly consistently drives with more enthusiasm than some average driver in his average nothing-special DD sedan will generally benefit from having camber set to somewhat higher negative values than "factory preferred", and even tire tread wear rates and evenness can benefit. -1° is actually pretty mild as performance street alignments go, and would go well with street driving that isn't overly enthusiastic through the corners and includes lots of highway driving and frequent hard braking.

The problem with simply "getting an alignment" is that you're likely to end up with either the factory preferred settings or just a "toe-and-go" with no camber adjustment at all. You need to go to a place that knows how to work with aftermarket alignment adjustments and will actually listen to you when you give them a slightly different camber setting.

Or you could learn how to DIY your alignments. Seriously. Worst case for those whose cars have a stability control system is you might need to get the steering wheel position sensor reset.


Norm

 

[claudermilk]

When I get my car aligned, I always ask for zero toe. That should help with tire wear, even with camber, and makes it a little more responsive. A side bonus is when throwing it to the track camber setting I get a bit of toe-out which is appropriate for the venue. This was done at a shop that knows how to deal with the weird requests.

 

[Whiskey11]

When I get my car aligned, I always ask for zero toe. That should help with tire wear, even with camber, and makes it a little more responsive. A side bonus is when throwing it to the track camber setting I get a bit of toe-out which is appropriate for the venue. This was done at a shop that knows how to deal with the weird requests.

I found a local shop here that has an alignment tech that actually listens when you instruct him on how to adjust the alignment. Rare in this day and age but it helps that they aren't a chain place. I told him what I was looking for on my alignment and went out and showed him how to adjust the camber and told him the toe was just like any other car and caster wasn't adjustable (yet). When I picked up the car he came out and told me he was able to get the settings I wanted and even brought up the caster bolts (which I had two of sitting at home but hadn't had the time to install) to get more caster. Charged me $70 to do it too which I couldn't complain about.

 

[mrgtx]

Again, thanks to all for the input on this topic.

The word on the street is that the GT500 mounts, when rotated 180* (arrows pointing towards engine) will put a mildly dropped Mustang back near factory camber specs...which while not ideal for racing, is probably best for a non-adjustable car that will see both auto-x and daily driving. So...that's what I'll try before writing another check.

Camber plates are at the top of my shopping list for next year. I still have a mortgage on my house to think about.

FWIW, The torque spec on the Eibach camber bolts is ~100 ft/lb...this is absurd. I won't even try to sell these to somebody...it sounds like a safety hazard.