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Hey,
I have Speed Direct Aluminum Upper A-Arms and have too much negative camber (-1.5*) on the passenger side. All the shims are removed. Is there an offset ball joint available that will correct this problem? Or an adaptor that will allow me to use a "Press-in" style offset ball joint?
Thanks,
John
Last edited by JohnRR; Feb 3, 2020 at 09:22 PM.
Reason: Mixed up Castor for Camber.
Hey,
I have Speed Direct Aluminum Upper A-Arms and have too much negative caster(-1.5*) on the passenger side. All the shims are removed. Is there an offset ball joint available that will correct this problem? Or an adaptor that will allow me to use a "Press-in" style offset ball joint?
Thanks,
John
There’s a specific measurement for the distance between upper arms. If the arms are less than this specific number you’ll need a spreader bar which would take care of the negative camber.
Is it possible that you installed the passenger side A-Arm upside-down? This is certainly a possibility with SPC arms, for example, which come as a pair of arms for one side, requiring you to disassemble and mirror the pieces for the other side of the car.
If you measure from the bushing to the center of the ball-joint, the longer leg should be towards the front of the car, moving the ball-joint rearward to give you positive caster.
Last edited by Bikespace; Feb 2, 2020 at 06:39 AM.
The taper on the cross-bar makes it easy to see that the ball joint is being moved toward the rear for increased caster. The cross-bar can't be rotated 180* because there is a large pivot bolt on the inboard side. I'm a little afraid to have the frame tweaked to correct this problem because it might crack one of the fiberglass body panels.
There’s a specific measurement for the distance between upper arms. If the arms are less than this specific number you’ll need a spreader bar which would take care of the negative camber.
Can you share what this "specific measurement" is supposed to be?
Thanks for providing the link to the old post. It sounds like I have to take my Vette to a frame shop and get the shock towers stretched apart a little bit.
John
Hey,
I have Speed Direct Aluminum Upper A-Arms and have too much negative caster(-1.5*) on the passenger side. All the shims are removed. Is there an offset ball joint available that will correct this problem? Or an adaptor that will allow me to use a "Press-in" style offset ball joint?
Thanks,
John
caster or camber.? With no shims you won't get positive caster.
Also, it looks like you don't have a body on that frame. Perhaps the radiator is removed? Lots of room in any case. How long are the "legs" of the A-Arm? Are both the same? It looks like, if anything, the front one is longer. I don't see how you could have negative caster with that setup, but adding shims at the rear is still your next likely step.
Last edited by Bikespace; Feb 3, 2020 at 07:42 AM.
OOPS! I mixed up my Caster and Camber words. The problem is too much negative Camber (-1.5*) on the passenger side. Probably because of frame cradle sag. The driver's side Camber is set to -0.5*.
The Caster is fine because the new upper A-Arms are offset to give additional Caster over stock.
What is the point or why would you try to align a car without the body and other missing pieces on it which will compress the springs due to the weight?
What is the point or why would you try to align a car without the body and other missing pieces on it which will compress the springs due to the weight?
I'm not trying to align the wheels with pieces missing. When the car was drivable, I had it aligned and found that the front passenger wheel alignment couldn't be fixed. Now that it's Winter here in PA, and I'm doing lots of other things to the car, I would like to fix the alignment problem. I was hoping that there was a simple fix like an offset ball joint.
Looking at the Speed Direct site you can order their arms with a "High Performance" ball joint which provides more camber gain than stock, which ball joints are you using?
have you contacted Speed Direct with your questions? https://cmc.speeddirect.com/itemdesc...D87416&eq=&Tp=
Looking at the Speed Direct site you can order their arms with a "High Performance" ball joint which provides more camber gain than stock, which ball joints are you using?
have you contacted Speed Direct with your questions? https://cmc.speeddirect.com/itemdesc...D87416&eq=&Tp=
Originally, I ordered the A-Arms with the "High Performance" ball joint. I didn't like this ball joint for 2 reasons. First, it has a longer stud which raises the upper A-Arm above the horizontal plane which creates even more negative camber. Secondly, the dust boot provided was too large in diameter for the ball joint so it had to be rolled and tied with a zip tie to stay on the ball joint. It looked like Buba did the job. So I exchanged it for the standard ball joint which helped the camber issue, and it had the correct dust boot installed.
Yes, I contacted Speed Direct and they didn't have a solution.
John
Offset Ball Joint to correct alignment
