Uneven camber plate settings

[Cubieman]

Well, another fun, and somewhat alarming issue in my saga of new coilovers.

I have an issue that the camber plate location on each side of the vehicle is drastically different to achieve more or less 1.5° of neg camber.

FWIW I am using some phone app to get these readings.

In fact on the driver's side the 88.5 degrees (or ~1.5) is all I can get out of the plate while on the passenger side can be made to get more than 90°.

I managed to find some photos of my old BC coilovers and their position was similar as well.

I see no signs of damage in the strut towers/surrounding area, so yeah, really unfortunate.

At this point I can't help but think best case scenario is a spindle and/or control arm is out of whack or the vehicle is just twisted which is hard to believe.

Current setup followed by old setup.

[bigjae46]

Is the camber plate is oriented correctly? And is the caster position the same on both sides.

[sapote]

“Current setup followed by old setup.”

I see the red plates slots oriented for caster while the ss plates slots for camber.

[Cubieman]

Is the camber plate is oriented correctly? And is the caster position the same on both sides.

Yes on both accounts, I will double check though. I have the arrows on the plates pointing forward, I assume that is correct.

I can't help but think something is bent somewhere as to align the car on the last set of coils they seemed to be in a similar position.

[Cubieman]

“Current setup followed by old setup.”

I see the red plates slots oriented for caster while the ss plates slots for camber.

The new red plates do not have slots for caster, they use bolts for that, you choose from a couple positions, the sliders are for camber.

[bigjae46]

Yes on both accounts, I will double check though. I have the arrows on the plates pointing forward, I assume that is correct.

I can't help but think something is bent somewhere as to align the car on the last set of coils they seemed to be in a similar position.

Also make sure the plates are on the correct side as well. I know for a fact that people have messed that up...lol. Ok, it was me! I would also check to make sure the strut is seated properly in the knuckle.

I'd also challenge the accuracy of the phone. I went down that route and the resolution is not good enough. I have a Longacre bubble camber gauge. I can loan it to you if needed. Just need it back by Christmas.

[Cubieman]

Also make sure the plates are on the correct side as well. I know for a fact that people have messed that up...lol. Ok, it was me! I would also check to make sure the strut is seated properly in the knuckle.

I'd also challenge the accuracy of the phone. I went down that route and the resolution is not good enough. I have a Longacre bubble camber gauge. I can loan it to you if needed. Just need it back by Christmas.

I appreciate that offer, there is a local speed shop that sells the Longacre, was looking at that.

My worry is even though the phone is inaccurate the old camber plates were set in a similar position and I had it aligned about 2 years ago.

I don't want to throw parts at it but I do have all brand new front end components minus spindles, looking at CSL spindles anyway.

For now I just want to see wtf is going on, its hard to imagine I have a bent spindle and/or control arm with zero marks on them, but who knows. Starting to wonder if TCK wasnt right about my "frame" not being square. Clean carfax, but you never know really.

[Slideways]

If you are curious, you can check if a knuckle is bent by mounting a wheel and measuring the distance from the top point of the inner rim to fixed point on the strut/damper. If one side is closer than the other, a knuckle could be bent.

Hard to tell if lower control arms are bent due to their shape, but there is probably a way to measure those in relation to the knuckle.

Phone app can probably tell you camber difference from side to side, but not great at giving actual camber value.

[Cubieman]

If you are curious, you can check if a knuckle is bent by mounting a wheel and measuring the distance from the top point of the inner rim to fixed point on the strut/damper. If one side is closer than the other, a knuckle could be bent.

Hard to tell if lower control arms are bent due to their shape, but there is probably a way to measure those in relation to the knuckle.

Phone app can probably tell you camber difference from side to side, but not great at giving actual camber value.

I will try that, thanks, I can only assume it would take a significant impact to bend the knuckles, less so for the control arms as designed.

I may use this as an excuse to buy CSL knuckles/install my new front end stuff/bearings as I am going down a rabbit hole here

Any downsides to running CSL vs. stock?

[Slideways]

I will try that, thanks, I can only assume it would take a significant impact to bend the knuckles, less so for the control arms as designed.

I may use this as an excuse to buy CSL knuckles/install my new front end stuff/bearings as I am going down a rabbit hole here

Any downsides to running CSL vs. stock?

About -1 degree camber gain at the knuckle IIRC

[Cubieman]

Well after measuring strut>wheel its the same, on a side note non-CSL LH spindles are listed as NLA/backorder, great.

[1000hp]

Looks like you have two different plates.

The passenger side plate is centered and the driver side plate is all the way at the outside of the bore.

Unbolt them and look for part numbers. This happened to me with my ISC coilovers.

Also, if you intend to adjust camber with these, it looks like you need to orient them the other way. Unless these plates are intended to provide a wide range of caster adjustment and a couple of fixed options for camber, it looks like you've got them in the wrong way.
If they are in wrong, it might just be the orientation that's wrong on both sides.

[bigjae46]

Now that I look at it closer I think the passenger side plate is facing backwards and has a different caster position.

[Cubieman]

Now that I look at it closer I think the passenger side plate is facing backwards and has a different caster position.

Both camber plates have markings, "RF" and "LF", as well as arrows.

I have the arrows facing towards the front of the car and the RF LF markings are on their respective sides. The camber is in the same position, double checked last night. It likely looks odd in the photos as one is adjusted so differently than the other.

From measurements it seems my spindles all OK, thinking of replacing the control arms as I have new ones on hand.

Here is a photo of the plates so people can see the adjustments.

[bigjae46]

Both camber plates have markings, "RF" and "LF", as well as arrows.

I have the arrows facing towards the front of the car and the RF LF markings are on their respective sides. The camber is in the same position, double checked last night. It likely looks odd in the photos as one is adjusted so differently than the other.

From measurements it seems my spindles all OK, thinking of replacing the control arms as I have new ones on hand.

Here is a photo of the plates so people can see the adjustments.

that was before I had my coffee. Can't think of anything else other than something is bent. I know my car is about .25 degrees different if I set the camber plates to max camber. TCKs and the Vorshlag non-M plates at max caster. Can't say whether my setup is comparable.