Originally Posted by
rctitus
zip439,
Just saw this post after I purchased Jim's front upper control arms and also noted a 7/8" offset of the outer mount point (ball joint) which suggests added caster. Did you get your money back? I haven't mounted mine, yet, and am in dialogue with Jim about this issue and why he makes them this way. I need to understand. I'm on H&R lowered springs and the "popular" camber-adjustable bolts for the lower arm didn't get me within factory setting (probably intended for age-related sagging, not lowered springs). Who else might have a solution for -.07 camber outside factory range (-2.2 total) of -0.9 to -1.5 degrees?
Thanks,
Ron
Ron, I returned the front upper control arm to Jim . He never made me a set I suggested nor did he return my money. His response via email is good, but he doesn’t act or return your money.
Using his upper control arm will require adjustment of caster. I never put CamberKing upper control arm on my car, just returned them. The set he sent me wasn’t what is pictured on his website; I got a set where the end of the horizontal tube that mounts the bolt to your car was one large diameter from end to end. It did not taper smaller at the ends. I did not like that either.
My car has H&R sport (lowered) coil springs, H&R shock absorbers and H&R sway bars in the front and rear. This is on my Limited. My SRY6 is different. I want a set up where the upper control (camber) is adjusted in and out. That should keep caster and toe pretty close, but CamberKing setup changes everything so making adjustments for a weekend event becomes a real job rather than one simple adjustment. I also have the Kmac adjustable bolts in both lower A frame bushings.
FYI On my car I run with no toe; the wheels are pointed straight ahead, caster is about OEM recommended and my camber runs -1.8 both left and right on the front. I have a little over 15000 mi on front Michelin Pilot Sport 4S and they still have plenty of tread depth nor are they wearing thin on the inside.
Try running your car with zero toe and get the negative chamber as low as you can. Then just watch the front tires for wear.
Someday when I’m bored and feel wealthier than I am I’ll fabricate an adjustable upper front control arm that just moves inboard and outboard, but until then I’ll run with what I have. I made my rear set up with chromoly tubing and Aurora end fittings.
PS. If you want to just set the alignment once and forget it CamberKing arm will probably work. I didn’t install it, so I’m not 100% on how much it affects the caster and toe. Once you get the camber down to -1.2 then you will need to adjust caster and finally toe, but once that is done(assuming you can gat it all to within specs) you shouldn’t have a need to adjust again. I wanted to be able to adjust camber at weekend events and then go back to a street set up without all the bother of going thru caster and toe each time.