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Camber adjustment at the hub

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Anyone know how much camber adjustment we have at the hub? My friend (Ford engineer) says he can get -5 from adjusting the hub on his V6 track pack, usually runs -2 for a track/street compromise, without any need for camber plates. But he isn't sure they are the same hubs, he thinks they are but he didn't work on the Boss. I want to try -2, but my last car the built in adjustment was only up to -1.5. I don't want to look like an idiot when I pull into the suspension place and ask for more camber than they allow ;D


Also, if they have so much adjustability built in, why are people going with camber plates? He says he has no need for them and he tracks his car pretty hard.
 

JScheier

Too Hot for the Boss!
I had the Eibach eccentric bolts and was able to get some additional camber, but there isn't really that much available via the bolt. I'm at -2.5* with camber plates... think it was -1.8* with the bolts.

-5* with eccentric bolts isn't going to happen. Your wheel / tire will make contact with the strut body before you even get close to that number. What the eccentric bolt basically does is narrow the upper bolt in the strut to spindle mount. You basically get 1/2 the thickness of the bolt (max) worth of movement in or out. What then happens is the top of the spindle lays in closer towards the strut body (which maintains it's same line). The line of the wheel moves in along with the line of the spindle... resulting in tire/wheel to strut body contact if it moves in too far.

Also, -5* on the track is NOT going to be good for you. While it may assist you in turning, you will be reducing your front tire contact patch which will result in decreased braking grip, not to mention the tramling you will get in straight line driving.
 
That is basically what I thought, as my last car had eccentric bolts that maxed at -1.5

He doesn't run -5, he said that is the max it will go but he runs it at -2. He also said it isn't a eccentric bolt, you just loosen the top bolt where the strut attaches and slide it and there is a bit of a slot to the hole. I specifically asked about the bolt since that is what my old car used. It sounded about as silly to me as it seems to sound to you, and I would have just assumed he was talking out his behind but for him being an engineer for Ford who worked on the Mustang set up. I'm going to ask him for pics, I haven't seen him since he bought his Mustang and -2 probably will be pretty visible.
 

JScheier

Too Hot for the Boss!
CaliMR said:
He also said it isn't a eccentric bolt, you just loosen the top bolt where the strut attaches and slide it and there is a bit of a slot to the hole.

Ask him what he does with the 5" spring that is in the 6" strut tower ;)

If there were that much room, OEM, then no one would make a dime selling camber plates.

I specifically asked about the bolt since that is what my old car used. It sounded about as silly to me as it seems to sound to you, and I would have just assumed he was talking out his behind but for him being an engineer for Ford who worked on the Mustang set up.

:D Be nice though... you may need his help some day!
 
CaliMR said:
That is basically what I thought, as my last car had eccentric bolts that maxed at -1.5

He doesn't run -5, he said that is the max it will go but he runs it at -2. He also said it isn't a eccentric bolt, you just loosen the top bolt where the strut attaches and slide it and there is a bit of a slot to the hole. I specifically asked about the bolt since that is what my old car used. It sounded about as silly to me as it seems to sound to you, and I would have just assumed he was talking out his behind but for him being an engineer for Ford who worked on the Mustang set up. I'm going to ask him for pics, I haven't seen him since he bought his Mustang and -2 probably will be pretty visible.
The tech at my dealership did this for me before I bought c/c plates and we got -1.7. I ran it that way for a couple of events before going to the c/c plates and have since run -2.2 and now -2.7 which is the max I can get on both sides. I'm not 100% convinced -2.7 isn't too much but tire temps seemed to still be pretty even. I'll run this way this spring, but may go back to -2.5 when I put new springs in the car.

If you do run these strut to spindle camber bolts and they are a coarse thread, make sure you check torque regularly. Ford switched from coarse thread bolts to fine thread on the Mustang somewhere along the line due to them loosening. My '07 GT500 has the coarse thread.
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
I think the max range you would want adjustment for is down to -3*, not sure what the hell you would need -5 for, you'd have to be driving the car straddling the apron at Daytona...
 
You wouldn't, he said that is how far it will go not how much you would actually run. Here is a pic, he has aftermarket struts but he says it works with the factory ones too. He is running the track pack wheels so his tires are 255/40/19.

camber.jpg

He sent me a pic of it at an ax event and it definitely has some camber to it, by the angle vs the rear wheel. And he does not have camber plates.
 
cloud9 said:
CaliMR said:
That is basically what I thought, as my last car had eccentric bolts that maxed at -1.5

He doesn't run -5, he said that is the max it will go but he runs it at -2. He also said it isn't a eccentric bolt, you just loosen the top bolt where the strut attaches and slide it and there is a bit of a slot to the hole. I specifically asked about the bolt since that is what my old car used. It sounded about as silly to me as it seems to sound to you, and I would have just assumed he was talking out his behind but for him being an engineer for Ford who worked on the Mustang set up. I'm going to ask him for pics, I haven't seen him since he bought his Mustang and -2 probably will be pretty visible.


The tech at my dealership did this for me before I bought c/c plates and we got -1.7. I ran it that way for a couple of events before going to the c/c plates and have since run -2.2 and now -2.7 which is the max I can get on both sides. I'm not 100% convinced -2.7 isn't too much but tire temps seemed to still be pretty even. I'll run this way this spring, but may go back to -2.5 when I put new springs in the car.

If you do run these strut to spindle camber bolts and they are a coarse thread, make sure you check torque regularly. Ford switched from coarse thread bolts to fine thread on the Mustang somewhere along the line due to them loosening. My '07 GT500 has the coarse thread.

I doubt -2.7 is to much. On my last two cars, a WRX and an E46 M3, both liked -3 to -3.5 negative camber when on the track. I know this isn't the case for all different cars though. It can vary from different tires as well. Have you shoe polished your sidewalls to see if you are still rolling them over? I imagine you have because you seem pretty experienced from your posts I have read.
 
bolecailey said:
I doubt -2.7 is to much. On my last two cars, a WRX and an E46 M3, both liked -3 to -3.5 negative camber when on the track. I know this isn't the case for all different cars though. It can vary from different tires as well. Have you shoe polished your sidewalls to see if you are still rolling them over? I imagine you have because you seem pretty experienced from your posts I have read.
Yea I'm still rolling them a bit based on cording the front outside edges first, but temps are pretty even and so is wear, however it's still slightly biased to the outer eges. It's just a nose heavy car and it's hard to get away from that. Mustang is another word for tire-eater. Like John said, you don't want to go too far though or you start to lose braking ability.
 
My E30 is at -3, and it wants more. Spec rules won't allow it. At -1.8 my Evo was rolling the tires so bad it was rubbing the Firestone on the sidewall in turn 2 at THill... but that was more of a tire issue imo.
 
So do we know what's the max negative camber you can go without modifications?

Personally, I'm going with MM camber plates. Most likely I will have it dial in at -2 to -2.5.

Thank you Cloud9 ;D
 
If you have a shop do the alignment and they have an electronic/laser rig then it should provide the factory settings. At least it has for my other cars.
 

drano38

Wayne
1,130
318
ihatepotholess said:
Does anybody know what's the factory caster spec?

I pulled the dealer report from my MM plate install and the alignment done immediately after. Shows 5.7 and 5.6 degrees caster on my car. "Specified Range" says 6.3-7.8 degrees.
 

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