Camber plate kit help
06-27-2009, 01:30 AM
#1
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Camber plate kit help
Guys,
I got a hardbar camber kit but could not get hold of gary today before he closed and I wanted to install the kit this weekend. There were no instructions. The Kit basically has 12 plates and 6 bolts to replace the ecentric stock bolts. I thought a camber kit allowed you to adjust camber to settings you need and lock them somewhere around factory to max negative camber. So my guess is that since this kit only has 12 plates it must lock the camber at somewhere close to max negative camber. So since the car from the factory is not perfect I could expect say -3 on LF and -2.5 on RF quite possibly. Obviously that not what you want so with only 12 plates how to you get either another -.5 degrees on the LF or add -.5 degrees on the RF? I think it is kind of lame to have to shim the upper A-arms plus the "kit" has no upper A-arm shims plus that just moves the caster off more right? What am I overlooking?
If I am forced to shim the upper A-arms where do you buy a box of shims so I can vary the alignment as needed?
Thanks!
I got a hardbar camber kit but could not get hold of gary today before he closed and I wanted to install the kit this weekend. There were no instructions. The Kit basically has 12 plates and 6 bolts to replace the ecentric stock bolts. I thought a camber kit allowed you to adjust camber to settings you need and lock them somewhere around factory to max negative camber. So my guess is that since this kit only has 12 plates it must lock the camber at somewhere close to max negative camber. So since the car from the factory is not perfect I could expect say -3 on LF and -2.5 on RF quite possibly. Obviously that not what you want so with only 12 plates how to you get either another -.5 degrees on the LF or add -.5 degrees on the RF? I think it is kind of lame to have to shim the upper A-arms plus the "kit" has no upper A-arm shims plus that just moves the caster off more right? What am I overlooking?
If I am forced to shim the upper A-arms where do you buy a box of shims so I can vary the alignment as needed?
Thanks!
06-27-2009, 10:57 AM
#2
Drifting
I have the Pfadt kit, it has a lot of plates so you can really dial in what you want. I think you are right in that the Hardbar kit locks you in at max. I hope the studs are pretty long as it may take quite a bit of shimming if you drive on the street. The instructions at his website don't look exactly like the kit on the ordering page, but it should be the same principal. Just make sure that you leave a enough of the studs exposed to be able to do the shimming you want, the locking nuts have to have enough room to grab the studs and the A-arm is pretty thick. I put mine is a little too short and I don't have a lot of room for shimming, but I can dial in the plates really well with the Pfadt kit so its not too bad.
Not sure where you can get shims at, there are a lot of places to order on-line but have not bought any locally.
To be honest, I'd wait until you have everything and a chance to talk to Hardbar about how much shimming you may need. I also hope you have some reliable way to measure the toe and chamber. I have to do one wheel at a time so I can measure toe, that is use the other wheel as a reference point. If you don't you can get the toe really far off by changing the camber, you can eye ball it enough to be able to drive to an alignment shop if you have to.
David Farmer has an alignment guide, and some other good stuff, if you don't already have it: http://www.davidfarmerstuff.com/
Its not an easy job, even with my old bushings. But, I'm glad I did it, I had a chamber bolt come loose on the track, it was scary. Good luck with it.
Not sure where you can get shims at, there are a lot of places to order on-line but have not bought any locally.
To be honest, I'd wait until you have everything and a chance to talk to Hardbar about how much shimming you may need. I also hope you have some reliable way to measure the toe and chamber. I have to do one wheel at a time so I can measure toe, that is use the other wheel as a reference point. If you don't you can get the toe really far off by changing the camber, you can eye ball it enough to be able to drive to an alignment shop if you have to.
David Farmer has an alignment guide, and some other good stuff, if you don't already have it: http://www.davidfarmerstuff.com/
Its not an easy job, even with my old bushings. But, I'm glad I did it, I had a chamber bolt come loose on the track, it was scary. Good luck with it.
06-27-2009, 11:03 AM
#3
Drifting
Oh, forgot to add. The way Pfadt says to do the shimming is to shim both the front and back of the upper a-arm to set the chamber. Then move shims between them to set the caster. If you go to their website they have instructions for their chamber kit.
http://www.pfadtracing.com/docs/camber-kit-install.pdf
http://www.pfadtracing.com/docs/camber-kit-install.pdf
