rear camber adjust

[Alan L]

My suspension guy tells me we may need to open out the camber adjust holes in the trailing arms on my 930 - to get more adjustment. The spring plates need slotting, but I just want to check that opening these holes in the trailing arm casting is normal. Seems rather permanent and want to make sure we are on the right track. It is either the toe or camber adjust that requires this - can't remember which.
Is this normally done - want to get 2-3 deg neg camber range, which also affects the toe adjust range apparently. Currently can only get bit over 1 deg neg.
Thanks
Alan

[Eagledriver]

This is very common in cars for the track. It is no big deal. I don't think you need to open up the castings just the springplate holes. I used a rat-tail file on mine.

-Andy

[barney911rs]

Check with Chuck at Elephant racing. He has a camber adjuster you may want to look at. I have a set I'm putting on my car.

http://www.elephantracing.com/suspension/rearcamber/911rearcamber.htm

[Alan L]

OK I'll check. The spring plates I know is a deal - this is common so I know I'm doing the right thing down that track. Just not heard of modifying the holes in the trailing arm - and want to make sure we aren't making a mistake here. I'm about to fit the elephant monoballs to the arms, so now is the time to do it.
Will check with Chuck.
Thanks for the link.
Alan

[Cory M]

Originally Posted by barney911rs

Check with Chuck at Elephant racing. He has a camber adjuster you may want to look at. I have a set I'm putting on my car.

http://www.elephantracing.com/suspension/rearcamber/911rearcamber.htm

+1

The "cambermax" makes it a lot easier to adjust

[Garen]

ASP (also from Elephant) makes it even ea$ier!!

[barney911rs]

I saw those on the web page, big bucks. I would not bother unless it's a serious track car. It looks like a pretty trick setup. I sent Chuck an email asking what he thought about those compared to the 935 style spring plates. (The 935 only work with coil-overs and no torsion bars)

[Alan L]

OK guys, thanks for the tips. If it costs big bucks, I'll probably sidestep it in favour of other options.This car is a black hole - it is eating all my money faster than I can make it. AArrgh.
Alan

[JP911]

This is a pretty trick device. Do you know if this is designed to be left on the car after you've set the camber? Or is it removed once you're done?

Originally Posted by barney911rs

Check with Chuck at Elephant racing. He has a camber adjuster you may want to look at. I have a set I'm putting on my car.

http://www.elephantracing.com/suspension/rearcamber/911rearcamber.htm

[Alan L]

Thanks for the tip. That is a good site, and the unit looks good. I could go $120 to get 3 deg neg camber.
Have emailed them - not sure of is $120 both sides, or you need two, does it stay on permanent etc - they don't really explain.
But looks good.
Thx
Alan

[barney911rs]

I pretty sure it stays on. That is how I'm planning to use it. I did not get the eccentric bolts with the used aluminum arms I got, and the ones from my steel arms were too short. I'm using regular high grade nuts, bolts, and washers to clamp things down once the camber and toe are set where I want it.

I believe that price ($120) is for a pair, as it was not much more to get this, then to get a set of the correct camber hardware. ($53.25 per side for nut, bolt, and washers) For me to get the ease of adjustability was easily worth the additional $13.50. If you look at the PDF installation instructions, this mounts onto the toe adjuster bolt. Since my toe is changed on the heim joint of the spring plate, I wont be using the eccentric bolts to adjust either toe or camber. This is what I'm doing on my GT style race car. I can only suggest using the part as the instructions suggest.

I had to modify them just a little bit to fit my Racers Edge 935 spring plates. I have a friend that is a machinist, and all we had to do is open up the slot about 1mm to get them to fit over the thicker material these plates are made from. I don't know if that's the only thing from keeping them from fitting the Sway-Away plates or not. I can not endorse the use of these parts for anything other then what the Elephant site says they are designed for. Just telling you what I did.

[Alan L]

I've ordered one.
Thanks for the pdf link - I didn't find it. Pretty well answers things.
When you bring in more -ve camber, do you need to slot the camber and rear trailing holes both. And do you slot them toward the spline end of the arm?
Alan

[barney911rs]

My suspension hardware is not going to be the same as yours, so I can not answer that. Also because of the tires I use, I'm only looking to get -1 to -1.5 negative, so that is well within the stock range.

[KTL]

I've got these camber widgets on the rear of my car. They do stay in place all the time and they work very well. Adding camber is a piece of cake with these. It's much easier to adjust since you've got a simple M8 bolt to turn instead of struggling with the pesky eccentric.

My advice is to get an appropriate sized M12 bolt to replace the camber eccentric. Reason being is because with the widgets, the eccentric now only acts as a sandwich bolt to hold the setting- any bolt can do this, you don't need the eccentric. When you max out the camber with the widget, sometimes the camber eccentric doesn't want to go back into it's hole due to the offset nature of the eccentric bolt. A regular bolt takes care of this problem.

[JP911]

Yeah, I read the instructions as well. But, it was still unclear. I emailed Elephant Racing and Chuck replied stating that you can leave it on or take it off. I'm asking this question after reading the following statement in the Cambermax instructions: "Note – The Camber Adjuster will not support the trailing arm during vehicle operation. It is necessary to reinstall factory camber adjuster to clamp spring plate and trailing arm together."

[KTL]

I see no reason to take the widget off, other than concerns of the cambermax adjuster bolt receiving damage from hanging down. I'd leave it in place because you'll find it takes some effort to install it- a slight press fit on the spring plate.

The adjuster bolt (the M8 bolts that is part of the cambermax assembly) can be removed , if desired, once you reinstall the camber eccentric or a substitute bolt to clamp down the camber setting, which also fastens the spring plate to the trailing arm.

Summary:

-cambermax plate can be left on or taken off. IMO leave it on and take out the little adjuster bolt if your'e concerned about it getting damaged.

-Even though the cambermax is a "replacement" for the camber eccentric, you MUST reinstall a bolt in the trailing arm to properly hold the camber setting and also fasten the spring plate to the trailing arm.

[Hotrod911T]

You leave the CamberMax on, but you can't rely on the adjustment bolt to maintain the camber setting so you have to clamp the trailing arm and spring plate together with a bolt where the camber eccentric would normally go. The CamberMax is made out of hardened aluminum and can bend down under pressure if the spring plate is not clamped tightly (or the adjuster bolt can also start eating into the aluminum trailing arm). You can get over 3 degrees of negative camber with the CamberMax, but you probably won't be able to get the correct toe setting at the same time without modifying the toe adjuster. The best I could do is get 2.8 degrees negative camber with 1/8" toe in.

Rod

[Alan L]

I just e mailed chuck with the same Q - about relocating the camber bolt. Yet to reply - but I get the drift now. The instructions could be a bit clearer.
My next Q was about the toe - because one adjust affects the other.
Can you get enough toe if you slot the arm?
Alan

[JP911]

I had/have two concerns about leaving it in place.

1. Will the Cambermax hold up under heavy suspension loads (I now know that it is not designed to do this, it's purely a tool for adjusting camber, not holding the settings)

2. Considering how low it is positioned, it looks like it could take a beating. While not the most expensive part on the car (by far), if it doesn't need to be exposed to the risk of road/track debris, why leave it in place?

[Hotrod911T]

I've had the CamberMax on my car since it was first introduced over a year ago without any problems. It is an an adjustment tool, but without leaving it in place until you finalize the alignment it make the process more difficult. As you may be able to tell from the picture, you will hit the sway bar link before you would damage the adjustment bolt. After everything is tightened down, just remove the adjustment bolt if that worries you but leave the plate in place. It is not that big of a deal.

Rod