Caster Camber Plates

[jayman33]

I installed them but haven't tested them out yet. I really like the setup, the quality from GC has always been great for me and their customer service is even better. There were a few guys on here that ran into a few issues with their plates but GC took care of it extremely fast.

 

[Whiskey11]

I installed them but haven't tested them out yet. I really like the setup, the quality from GC has always been great for me and their customer service is even better. There were a few guys on here that ran into a few issues with their plates but GC took care of it extremely fast.

What did your spring rates end up being? I ended up on 440/200 with the "School" valving. I was also very impressed with my kit with only a few very, very, very small complaints (fit and finish type things that don't effect performance). I'm a bit miffed by the fact that their "race" camber/caster plates require modification to the strut tower. When I asked Adam on the phone he mentioned that he didn't know specifically what it was, but he could get the information for me if I wanted those instead. I asked the price difference and he said it was a good bit more expensive (like $1800 for the full kit) and that was enough for me to go with the "Street" plates.

The Street plates allowed up to -2.9º of camber at an inch and a halfish lower than stock.

 

[jayman33]

Went with the same spring rates and valving as you did. I deal with Trevor over there whenever I have any questions that I may not be 100% on with their product. Fitment was pretty spot on, setting them into the strut hole by myself was fun! lol

 

[Whiskey11]

Went with the same spring rates and valving as you did. I deal with Trevor over there whenever I have any questions that I may not be 100% on with their product. Fitment was pretty spot on, setting them into the strut hole by myself was fun! lol

Yeah that was one of the complaints. The "ears" for the bolts on the camber plates are not captured to the plate so to install them you have to do one side of the bolts, then the other. I found that even with my big hands it was quite easy to get them installed by sticking one hand up there. Of course that required starting the strut to spindle bolts to keep the strut from falling and jacking up the whole assembly to the right height.

The biggest complaints I have were, and in no particular order:

-The Street Plates do NOT have articulation built into them. They use a rubber or poly donut to allow the strut to rotate when the suspension compresses. Not too much unlike the stock setup.

-The rear spring perches are upside down since they use the same perches as the fronts. They did this so that the spring sits on the perch correctly and doesn't move. The problem is that the "up and down" with arrows is backwards.

-There is some cross talk in the rear shocks between the compression and rebound settings. If that amounts to anything substantial I'll be really annoyed but I'm hopeful it doesn't.

-Koni's adjustment tools are kinda "meh" in my opinion. They really should be metal and not have as much give to them.

Anyway, the camber plates themselves are works of art and are exactly what I've come to expect from their machining. My buddy has a set of their Race plates to put on his Evo IX SE and they are even more beautiful. I realize it is stupid to talk about machining on something that needs to be functional but I have to admit, I admire high quality machining. I have no doubt their customer service is insanely good. My conversation with Adam when I purchased mine was already more than I was expecting and the fact that they chose spring rates that are close to what others run on these cars for mixed autocross/street was pretty impressive. I didn't even have to fight with them!

 

[Napoleon85]

-Koni's adjustment tools are kinda "meh" in my opinion. They really should be metal and not have as much give to them.

This thing?

I've been tempted to give one to my brother who's a welder/fabricator and seeing if he can make me something out of metal that sucks a lot less.

 

[Whiskey11]

This thing?
http://www.performancepartsinc.com/images/koniknob.jpg

I've been tempted to give one to my brother who's a welder/fabricator and seeing if he can make me something out of metal that sucks a lot less.

That's the one! Probably the only thing I actually liked about the D Specs was the adjustment tool feels solid.

 

[Napoleon85]

That's the one! Probably the only thing I actually liked about the D Specs was the adjustment tool feels solid.

I've never used the D Spec tool, but I'm with you in that the Koni tool leaves a lot to be desired. It's not a huge issue since I don't plan on adjusting my dampers (I'll just deal with track settings on the streets lol), but if I was going to on a regular basis it would be painful with those.

 

[speedfreak1000]

This thing?

I've been tempted to give one to my brother who's a welder/fabricator and seeing if he can make me something out of metal that sucks a lot less.

if you do and he does, then let me know cause i'd i buy one if it looked nice and was abit more solid. even somekind of little T-handle would be nice.

 

[Napoleon85]

Check this out:


(click for link)

Koni sells these flat steel plates that are notched for the damper. It should be super easy to weld a t-handle on top of this!

 

[speedfreak1000]

cool, thanks! i just ordered one

 

[Mike K]

Damn the Vorshlag plates are spendy but they are nice. When the funds allow I'll be going with those.

 

[Lgs SGT]

As mentioned, we at Vorshlag make S197 camber-caster plates to fit anything.



We use a very strong spherical bearing, a very unique form of upper spring perch (with integral, sealed, double-row radial bearing), and a modular system to work with various strut stem profiles and spring perches.

Adjusting camber takes seconds per side - raise the wheel off the ground, loosen the four M8 top nuts at the strut tower, slide the wheel in or out, tighten, done.

See more here: http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_179&products_id=274

Cheers,

If comparing the Vorshlag C/C plates to MMS are there only slight differences in manufacturing and/or design theory, or are there significance difference like comparing apples to oranges?

Are they both for the same intended use (street & track) or not?
Thanks

 

[Vorshlag-Fair]

If comparing the Vorshlag C/C plates to MMS are there only slight differences in manufacturing and/or design theory, or are there significance difference like comparing apples to oranges?

Are they both for the same intended use (street & track) or not?
Thanks

I can't speak for other units, but our Vorshlag plates are designed for both street and race use. Sometimes street (ab)use can be harder to design for than track use, as race cars get a lot more attention than typical street car parts. This sounds backwards but if you think about how often a race car gets inspected and maintained it makes sense. Our sealed radial bearing upper spring perches, for one, are something meant to be installed and ignored for many years. Rain and grit won't wash out the grease from the double row ball bearing design, as they have grease seals on both sides - unlike a lot of the Torrington style, flat needle bearings used for radial loads on many camber plate designs. Not as much of a concern on a race car, but for street use, people don't want to be taking their camber plates apart every other month to re-grease the bearings. Otherwise they bind up, click and rattle, and have steering wheel feedback.



For race cars we make a single row radial bearing upper perch option that is 5mm shorter, for less stack-up height and more bump travel (these are not applicable to our OEM perch S197 units). The camber adjustment on our plates is also very easy to adjust track side, which I've had many customers comment about - that have used various brands of plates. Other brands sometimes have to be partially disassembled just to alter the camber. We try to concentrate on not only the big picture engineering aspects (load ratings, material strength, coatings), but also the little things that make your life easier.

Cheers,

 

[Whiskey11]

I'm curious, since we are on this subject. For those of us in states with snow (and the sand and salt that goes with it), how many of you guys are having trouble adjusting your camber plates? Case and point, not that I have anything against the build quality of my GC plates, this past weekend was a double header autocross Test'n'Tune and Solo event at the Nationals site. Upon arrival, I drove my car up onto some 2x4's, jacked up the car, loosened the 4 strut bolts on the plates and tried my damnedest to get the plates to move.

It took an awful lot of wiggling to get the grit and grime loose enough to adjust the plates. I washed this car literally the night before, drove 3 miles home from the car wash, then drove to Lincoln (about 45 minutes on mostly interstate but some street driving with gravel left over from winter). Pulling them out back to the street setting was easy as pie, but getting them in all the way for the track setting was harder than hell and this was with all of the bolts loose enough that they would wiggle (the GC plates don't have "captured" bolts) and the wheels in the air freely rotating.

It's a minor annoyance, but one that could be more prevalent at the beginning of every year in the snow states. I don't anticipate this being much of an issue for those of you fortunate enough to never see snow or salted roads so that's why I'm asking for those of us in the snow belt!

 

[Norm Peterson]

-Koni's adjustment tools are kinda "meh" in my opinion. They really should be metal and not have as much give to them.

Not as pretty as what Koni will sell you, but maybe easier to gauge adjustments.


Norm

 

[Vorshlag-Fair]

Come on guys... you are letting the old man "out Google" you: this took 1.3 seconds to find: CNC aluminum knobs for adjusting Koni shocks, $10, engraved with which way is what...

http://www.genuinesaab.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=828

 

[Jefro]

I like my ground control CC plates that I got from Jay.

Ground Control's customer service is top notch as well.

 

[Napoleon85]

Come on guys... you are letting the old man "out Google" you: this took 1.3 seconds to find: CNC aluminum knobs for adjusting Koni shocks, $10, engraved with which way is what...

http://www.genuinesaab.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=828

Nice find! What did you Google to find those? I searched for Koni Adjustment Knob and just got endless hits on the plastic thing. Have you used these?

 

[zquez]

Vorshlag all the way. Easy adjustment, and zero noise on the street.

 

[modernbeat]

Nice find! What did you Google to find those? I searched for Koni Adjustment Knob and just got endless hits on the plastic thing. Have you used these?

"CNC aluminum koni knobs", the very first hit is it.

I haven't used them, but have made some similar knobs and also an extended version with a slotted rod that would reach down into an extended top nut.