Front camber & castor adjuster plates

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astondg
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Post Sat Apr 23, 2005 6:09 am

I just got some front camber & castor adjuster plates and rear camber and toe adjustable polyurethane trailing arm bushes. I haven't had much of a chance to try them out yet but it might feel a little pointier at the front. The fronts are set on max negative camber. I don't know how much that is at the moment, the guy that set it up wasn't there when I picked it up. - Edited this bit :)

BUT I have been looking at the front of the car for a while now and it seems to be a little bit higher than it use to be. Will the adjuster plates lift the front up? I didn't measure it before and after :( but it just seems to have a little more gap between the front wheel arch and the top of the tyre. I could be imagining it though because I haven't seen it for a week and someone told me that the plates would lift it up about 15mm.

I don't really want it to be any higher than it was so I might have to go back to standard if I can :( . I could go for lower springs but then I loose travel and probably ride quality which I don't really want to do either.

Aston
Last edited by astondg on Mon Apr 25, 2005 1:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
BMW E30 323i with some stuff

1:05.17 @ Queensland Raceway Sprint track
1:10.09 @ Queensland Raceway Clubman track
1:21.67 @ Morgan Park Raceway
astondg
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Post Sun Apr 24, 2005 1:51 pm

Surely somebody knows? Someone must have these plates fitted to their E30, or even to another car? Anybody?

Thanks,

Aston
BMW E30 323i with some stuff

1:05.17 @ Queensland Raceway Sprint track
1:10.09 @ Queensland Raceway Clubman track
1:21.67 @ Morgan Park Raceway
E30Adam
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Post Sun Apr 24, 2005 2:20 pm

Who set them up?

Suspension is very difficult to get set up right. You say that you've put it on max negative camber but you don't even know what that means. With suspension, you can't just guess and make it up as you go along.

It needs fine tuning by someone who knows what they're doing especially with so many variables which you now have from your upgrades.

You will also need to find out the stock setup geometry as a starting point before you can begin making adjustments. This sort of setup is only really any good for track cars, it's not necessary for street use.
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astondg
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Post Mon Apr 25, 2005 1:15 am

E30Adam wrote:Who set them up?

Suspension is very difficult to get set up right. You say that you've put it on max negative camber but you don't even know what that means. With suspension, you can't just guess and make it up as you go along.

It needs fine tuning by someone who knows what they're doing especially with so many variables which you now have from your upgrades.

You will also need to find out the stock setup geometry as a starting point before you can begin making adjustments. This sort of setup is only really any good for track cars, it's not necessary for street use.
Sorry, I know what max negative camber means. I just don't know what the max negative camber of this kit is. Like if it's 1 degree, 1 1/2 degrees, 2 degrees, etc. I haven't had a chance to talk to the guy who set it up yet, he wasn't there when I picked up the car.

It was installed and setup by a proffesional at a tyre store. They sell motorsport tyres and parts and run a car in fairly high level motorsport (Konica V8's which are a cheaper version of the V8 Supercars which are Australia's "main" race series). They have facilities to perform a proper wheel alignment.

I know I needed more front negative because I am destroying the outside edge of my left front tyre at the track. I also want to make it turn in just a little bit better. My car is used for racing on a dirt circuit and also for track days on bitumen fairly frequently (last year I probably did a total of 16+ races and track days). I am also fairly sure that this kit won't go any further than 3 degrees (maybe not even that far) so that isn't exactly a race setup anyway. Most race cars have 5+ degrees.

Sorry I didn't explain that at the start :( , but thank you for your reply. At least people are looking at my thread and trying to help.

I really just wanted to know if these plates raise the front of the car? I thought maybe some people had experience with these?

Aston
BMW E30 323i with some stuff

1:05.17 @ Queensland Raceway Sprint track
1:10.09 @ Queensland Raceway Clubman track
1:21.67 @ Morgan Park Raceway
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Boots_Walker
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Post Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:00 am

there are some camber plates that use the standard strut mount - these will definitely raise the front a little. if yours dont use the stock mount (from what i have seen the ones that offer both camber and castor usually dont) then it'd probably be easiet to ask the manufacturer
astondg
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Post Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:08 am

Ok, thanks.

I have sent an e-mail to the manufacturer (K-Mac) and I'll see what they say.

Aston
BMW E30 323i with some stuff

1:05.17 @ Queensland Raceway Sprint track
1:10.09 @ Queensland Raceway Clubman track
1:21.67 @ Morgan Park Raceway