Front Monoball lifetime

[dede911]

Hi,

To get more neg camber for my R888 trackday tires, I purchased here in Germany modified camberplates with monoballs.
Initially the fit of the bearing was not as it had to be but finaly I managed to install Fluro bearing (GE20) in the camber plates.

After ca 3000km, the left side is making a ticking noise.....the clearence in the monoball is increasing...this means wear...

What is your experience wirth monoballs regarding lifetime?

I'm considering to go back to standard strut plates with polyurethane bushes..

Thx,

André

[tonythetarga]

I had ER monoballs in the front of my Carrera after removing all rubber components in the front end. The car was crisp on turn in, which I loved. The monoball on the FL started to bang after three or four years of track use. The play was minimal but the noise was a distraction. I sent it back to ER and they rebuilt it for me at a reasonable cost and it went back in. I'd stay with the monoball but know you'll need to have them rebuilt periodically.

[KTL]

These do wear out. I had a similar problem with clacking in the strut plates on a set of Tarett units. Replaced the spherical bearings and all was good. We have to ensure the shock/damper shaft and upper nut are fully secure with no axial play in the assembly. Even the slightest amount of play will cause rattling and then the resulting slide-hammering effect will wear out the monoball spherical bearing in short order.

Ideally these bearings are supposed to support mostly radial loads. Too much axial loading will abuse them.

Lastly, a better way to gain negative camber, or reduce the loss of it during suspension travel, for a lowered car is to have the knuckles/spindles raised on the struts. This makes a BIG difference in the geometric behavior of the front suspension and reduces the amount of negative camber the car needs. If one is debating the choice between camber plates and spindle raising, the spindle raising is the more beneficial choice. The results of the spindle adjustment are much greater than those from the camber plates.

[dede911]

bump