Keith@FM

iTrader: (1)

I'm really not very excited about different lower control arms. But if you've got some drawings to share, it might be interesting to see how you've dealt with the challenges.

For the front uppers, 2.5mm of movement of the upper ball joint is worth about a degree of camber according to our calculations.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

I'll shoot you an email. My FLCAs also include roll center correction and a better and cheaper than stock lower ball joint (yay american car parts).

bbundy

Adusting the front upper controll arm shorter in order to gain the camber I want is compleatly useless to me. if anything I need longer front uppers and even longer still front lowers.

there is already negative room between the shock top area and a tire to move the top of the tire further in with even 245/40's mounted on 10" wheels with effective 20mm offset wheels and Im stuffing 275's on 11" wheels in there.

It's the front lowers that need to be lengthened and I need adjustability to get around 4 degrees of front camber.

Keith@FM

iTrader: (1)

The reason I'm focusing on the front uppers is because I've seen far too many failed lowers.

Bob, how much more negative camber do you need? You are a bit of an extreme case, but we're definitely going to be seeing a lot more of the 245/10" combo.

bbundy

I've been pretty happy with ~3.8 to 4 degrees up front. 2.2 -2.4 in the rear for high hp off corners and for just straight line grip. The top of the tire inboard clearance issue even gets worse with more camber but the car kept being faster with more. I have the front shocks leaned over a bit more than stock by offsetting the bolt locations in the shock tops Also need 2.25" Id springs instead of 2.5" and I still rub the paint off the springs with the tire after a while.

guttedmiata

Just run bias ply and back your camber off by half.

glade

iTrader: (2)

Well, for me, its generally how most of my ideas are generated. One glass of scotch, and suddenly I'm much brighter intellectually!

k24madness

iTrader: (6)

I have a workable idea to extend the front lower control arm. I have some pieces to share for anyone that wants to undergo the task. It's a DIY that does not require much work and retains the strength of the OEM design. I lost focus when the NB subframe swap accomplished my goals. Maybe Bob would want to take on the challenge?

It's one of those things that would be tough for FM or other vendors to offer as a service. Kinda like welding on the reinforced sway bar tabs.

M.Adamovits

Space in the wheel well is tight enough, even without moving the top of the tire in..

Bundy, you may talk to Danny George (On Facebook if you have it), he`s a drifter but he`s done a couple interesting thing with the front suspension.
All the FormulaD cars seems to require a very wide front track, and IIRC (could be wrong) Danny made front LCAs and UCAs to widen the track.

You can see how wide it is here;


As far as my understanding goes, they do this for steering angle clearance and to loosen the rear end, but it may hold some interesting info.

mcfandango

iTrader: (1)

He wants to go faster not slower.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

Lol everyone knows when you put replace A6's with Avons, add a roll bar, gut it and make more power you go slower.

k24madness

iTrader: (6)

Keith how about making a custom offset lower ball joint? It does not have to move out much (1/4"- 3/8") to gain the extra camber everyone wants. It does not look difficult to achieve. I assume you could just contact a major suspension parts manufacturer and just change the spec a bit.

I bet there would be a broad appeal. Not having to press in bushings is a bonus. Not losing inner tire clearance is another plus.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

Problem is a custom lbj thats going to last is going to cost as much as a set of tubular lowers and will increase the forces on the stock lower control arm which someone who was going to break an off the self tubular arm will probably eventually break anyways.

guttedmiata

Maybe, but I can tell you we bent a lower tubular arm on the very first run at an autocross and the stock arms have held up fine.

bbundy

I really like the way the V8R front lower adjusts as I can make camber and toe adjustments fairly easy and accurately with just a set of hub stands. trying to DIY the adjustments with only the stock inboard camber bolts is a major pain in the **** because caster gets all screwed up and major hard to get them tight without moving them when you are reaching in from the side of the car.

Having said that I don't believe they are as strong as stock and they are slightly heavier than stock. I cracked my first pair within a year and they were replaced. I believe the replacement set has a much thicker wall tube in the tube that cracked.

schmoo

Did anyone share their designs with FM?