Read all the posts to find regarding them. Seems that ground control had some issues (not sure they've been resolved), cusco causes a higher ride height, works is just $$ as normal, and the tein's are sort of "are they sold, or not"

Lookin for some fresh ideas from some new faces on the issue. Right now, i'm on the stock mr suspension, no thoughts of swapping. Ran a few track days and have 13k on the stock tires with wear on the insides (toe issue, i'm thinkin). the middle/outsides of all the tires still have a decent amount of tread on them.

The question, on a daily driven car ( for now, are the camber plates really worth it? ) is it worth it to set the toe to basically 0 and run -2 on the fronts daily? I'll be runnin track wheels/and daily's so thats not an issue, but the consensus is you either run -1 up front for street, or -3 for track, that theres no in between.

opinions greatly appreciated.

 

I ran maximum front camber (on the stock suspension) as a daily driver all through Winter 2004, on snow tires no less. No complaints at all. Tire wear was not an issue. Handling in rain/snow was excellent -- less so in the dry, but that was an issue of the tires, rather than the alignment.

Non zero toe settings contribute much more to accelerated tire wear, compared to camber. Setting your toe to zero all around is the best thing you can do for tire wear, and not a bad choice for handling either.

 

I've been running -2.5 camber in the front ever since I got my JIC's a year ago. No complaints here, except from the high $$ iron I pass on the track.

 

I have the Woks Plates - I needed them; I wasn't able to get any camber on the drivers side OE hats.

And yes, I had installation issues with the Ground Control Plates - the kicker was that I was not able to get any tech support from the vendor or GC to help with the issues

 

the works didn't raise the car at all, correct? (ride height?)

 

I'm running the Tein camber plates with the stock struts and no issues as of yet. They did raise the ride height a fraction but that's okay since I'm running hotchkis springs. The spherical bearing took some getting used to because it is a little different.

 

I have the Ohlin R & T coilovers and Cusco camber plates. I still use my stock rear shock mounts though. I'm looking at these Works rear pillow ball shock mounts:

http://www.worksevo.com/store/produc...roducts_id=157

Should I get them? They are 250 bucks. Should I use another brand. Are the stock ones fine?

 

I used to have the same setup as smogrunner, the Ohlins R&T with cusco plates. But after about a year of use (daily driver and lot's of autocross) the bearings in the cusco plates started creaking.

I have the ground control plates now. The install is not straight forward to install, but the gains from the extra caster is worth the effort. The GC plates are a little noisey on the street but there are a number of design points that I really like about them. For instance, the GC plates come with their own upper spring perch that is cupped at the top to fit on this machined surface on the camber slider (where the bearing is mounted) so that the force of the damper action is transmitted directly to the camber plate bypassing the bearing entirely. the second part I like is the upper spring perch contains a trust bearing which helps to keep the insert from twisting, and reduces the resistance in the steering wheel when turning.


I don't think the ground control plates are meant for a street driven car, but for better or worse, I am going to try and see what happens. It's too bad that meanmud had so many issues. I bought my GC plates used (In a works box I might add) and had to send them to GC for repairs. Not only did GC provide quick, pleasent and professional service, they also complete refurbished my GC plates within a weeks turn around time.


As for the rear camber plates, so far I don't see the point. I am still using my stock top hats and that seems to keep the street ride nice and quite while running the high spring rates I use in autocrossing. After a year of use like this, the stock mounts appear to be holding up to the abuse.

 

what chrisw said about the GC's plates is what made them so attractive, but you know the rest....

I too have the Ohlins R/T - A current issue I am having with my set-up is a very strange vibration (sort of like mini rumble-strips) when turning the car at partial throttle

 

from what i've seen, all camber plates will cause your struts to mount a bit lower , effectively causing your car to ride higher than the stock mounts. that's what happens when you replace a squishy piece of rubber with two aluminum plates.

i really think those people (and i've only come across one that i can recall) who insist that their plates did not change their ride height simply weren't paying attention, or didn't measure before and after.

that said, PDE makes a plate i really like the looks of- i'd only seen the suby fitment until a recent track day, where i saw some on an evo, but couldn't find the owner to ask what he thought of em. i like the control you have over adjustment, and the fact that you have some caster adjustment as well, which my cusco's don't.

i don't see any mention on the PDE site of an evo fitment, but i saw em there, plain as day. haven't snooped around much, since i'm not in the market.

the GC's on my buddy's M3 have caster adjustment, but in the form of a big gaping hole, it's impossible to adjust camber only, or caster only. haven't seen the evo setup to comment, but i didn't like his for that reason.

just more food for thought.

 

oh, and one more thing- i actually think raising the ride height is a good thing, btw- goes nicely with the increased front drop in most properly made sport springs- i'm pretty sure the two are actually made to work together (gasp!)....

 

The PDE plates for the EVO are sold with DMS. Any DMS vendor should be able to help you get a set.

Caster adjustment on the GC plates is accomplished by a set of slots on the plate itself, it's not like the BMW plates at all. With the EVO application it is possible to set the caster separately from the camber.

 

I have Tein TYpe RA that comes with pillow mount. When I set the camber plate on the 0 position, front camber is measuring -1.2left -1.3right. I move almost all the way inboard but it seems like the camber gain is not that much. The other option I can do is to turn the cam bolt that attach the strut to spindle 180 degree to gain more negative camber.
I set the front toe to 0 degree which improve turn in and reduce understeer but sacrefice straight line stability.

 

What do you mean "a little different"? Are you talking about ride quality/noise?

 

"The PDE plates for the EVO are sold with DMS. Any DMS vendor should be able to help you get a set.

Caster adjustment on the GC plates is accomplished by a set of slots on the plate itself, it's not like the BMW plates at all. With the EVO application it is possible to set the caster separately from the camber."

Uh, PDE does not make DMS top mounts anymore. These are manufactured IN HOUSE at DMS North America. Also, PDE does not have an EVO top mount or subaru rear or evo rear.
In the next 3 months we will have mazda, honda and GTO applications ready as well.

DMS manufactured mounts are all clear anodized, design has also been upgraded to accomodate strut tower bars as well. Units willl fit on OEM struts, must specify this fitment kit when ordering though.

Regards,
mark