Why can't I get more than 3.25* of camber with CasCam and eccentric bolts?
 

My car has SPC eccentric bolts in the upper holes of Bilstein B16 coilovers. It also has new Raceseng CasCam plates. But the most camber I can get on one side is 3.25*. The other side is better, but still only 3.6*. Why? I'd like to get 4 or more. The Raceseng website says I should be able to do that with ease. What gives? The experienced alignment guy maxed out the eccentric bolts.

Have you tried oem crash bolt upper + lower spc bolt and camber plates?

No. Although I've thought about it. I'm hesitant to run two eccentric bolts on the same corner of the car.
I would like to figure out why I can't get there with the existing hardware before adding other parts.

Factory coil diameter? Perhaps the coil is hitting the chassis? Last time I lookup up there, I remember thinking that might be a possible concern.

That is not the case. I've seen 3.6* of camber on both sides with these coilovers previously. That was when I was using different camber plates that supposedly don't offer as much camber as the CasCams.

I'd shoot an email to Jarrett, my only thought is that most aftermarket dampers are slotted/enlarged holes to allow for some more camber, the Bilstein is one of the few that aren't and the marketing copy went with what the average user would get instead of the edge case. I only took mine up to about where you are now with a single cam bolt and the raceseng plates. iirc I never maxed them but -3.6 maybe up to -3.8 was all I was going to get without getting a second cam bolt in there. Good luck, fwiw I put maybe ten thousand miles on two lobed cam bolts without issue, currently on a strut with a slotted upper hole and a cam bolt in the bottom hole also no issue at -4 for the past year and a half.

Wait, have you moved the screws over to get the top plate slammed to Max negative? Take a picture looking right down at it. Should be able to go to the last white line.

Edit from the ad copy:
The combination of the camber bolt and slotted coilovers can yield -4.5° of negative camber gain.

https://imgur.com/gallery/QJ8Vvko

@Pat, with only one camber bolt (I had mine at bottom) with cascam maxed out on B14, I was able to reach around -3.4. With both camber bolts in both slots + cascam, I was able to reach around -5 or so. I have been running camber bolts in both slots for a while now with no issues. Sold my cascam, so right now with both, I'm running around 2.4-2.5. Also, how are your tires. Tires do have an effect on the camber. When I had new tires, it was giving me roughly 0.2-0.4 more negative camber compared to now.

Thank you for the feedback, Bach415. That's helpful. My tires are nearly new. But now I'm more inclined to get a second pair of eccentric bolts.
I wonder if there is something about the Bilstein springs that limits camber more so than 60 mm springs. I don't think that's the case, but I suppose it's possible.

I can't tell you for sure if the stock progressive springs are limiting it since I am running 60mm linear springs on the fronts for the entire time I have had them (fronts are revalved and also it was purchased off a previous owner that way). But I have been running this set up for roughly 30-40k miles already and have never ran into the issue of the bolts slipping or losing camber. Car has been tracked before as well (not often since it's DD).

Have you tried loading the spindle before tightening everything? I was able to get -3.2 on one side with stock dampers and 2 sets of camber bolts. Maybe you can get another 0.2 or so to match the 2 sides.



That, and maybe drop it another 10mm or so lol

Check here, I think you have the same problem as your Bilsteins run huge progressive springs and you’re hitting the caster adjusting plate bolt.

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/show....php?p=2392139

I have not tried that. I don't know if the alignment guy tried that. But getting another .2* isn't going to make me super happy. I'd like to get another 1*, but would be content enough with another .5*.

Thanks, Marco. Great info! The top of the plate clearly goes all the way in. If this is indeed the problem would that still be possible?

Well I don’t know...

Personally I’d try using lower hole camber bolts + upper factory crash bolts, from my experience lower camber bolts (spc or powerflex) give you a bit more camber.
If you don’t want two thinner bolts holding your strut to the knuckle I think you should make a custom upper spring perch but you will loose some bump travel to have enough clearance and it’s not the best idea with those monotube dampers.

Don't run double lobed bolts, just get the SPC lobed bolts for the lower hole and put the stock lower bolt in the upper hole. I have that combination with KW V3's (slotted upper hole) and was able to get to -3.8* with stock upper mounts (not offset like pedders or whiteline).


Are you positive the lobed bolt is adjusted correctly?

If I remember correctly I have SPC bolts up top and stock ones below. Will swapping them get me more camber?
I've had two different shops align it and they came up with the same result. The last guy that worked on it specifically said regardless of which direction he turned the bolt it gave him less camber. This was while I was sitting in the driver's seat up on the rack. He even went to his so-called "plan B" and removed the wheel in an effort to do something different.

Upper bolt per the correct part is too big to fit in the bottom hole. Unless you got lucky and accidentally bought the smaller bolt for the lower hole and put it in the top hole.

I don't think you'll hit -4 with that arrangement since bilstein doesn't have the enlarged upper hole like Koni, KW or all the other toner struts.

Are the SPC camber bolts installed with the washer tab in the maximum camber position?

I don't know. I'll ask.

I just spoke with the guy that did my last alignment. He said he tried it with the washer tab both ways and got the same result.

How much did you drop the car from stock? This will change what you're able to achieve in camber.

I would put the stock bottom bolt into the top hole and use a crash bolt on the bottom hole. Which eccentric bolts are you using? I have a 14mm SPC cammed bolt in the bottom hole, and moved the bottom hole to the top, and was able to achieve -3.2 with just .8" drop and pedders top hats (which got me the advertised additional -.75).

When you have the wheel off and the bolts out, it becomes very obvious what bolt usage gets you the most camber. You can rotate the eccentric bolt and see which one allows the top of the knuckle to move farthest inward on the car.

More than one inch. SPC.

That doesn't sound right. With the washer tab in the specific direction (IIRC, the larger tab on the upper slot should be on the inside whereas the bottom camber bolt if you do get one, should have the larger tab on the outside), you should get maximum negative camber. You can literally see the knuckle moving inwards/outwards as you turn the bolt. Did the tech at least loosen the bottom bolt when he/she did the alignment? If the bottom bolt is still torque down, turning the top camber bolt will not have much of an effect and can possibly ruin the bolt/slot.

Good to know. I'm going back there in two days with new OEM control arms. Hopefully that will eliminate the possibility of bent control arms and incorrectly installed poly bushings.
I do remember him saying he could, "...see the knuckle moving inwards/outwards as you turn the bolt," though.
I don't know if he loosened the bottom bolt, but expect he did. Everything I've questioned him on so far has been correct. But I'll verify next time.

Hopefully it goes well. When I installed mine, I did notice the difference with the tabs put in different locations (for both bolts). My friend who was doing my alignment wasn't sure why I wasn't getting the enough camber (he had the larger tabs moving) until I told him that the tabs have to stay in a specific spot for maximum negative camber (which at the end netted me to -2.6 on fresh tires, currently at -2.4 after the wear). It was also close to -3 IIRC before the RCK install. Also, if you want more camber, you can also get the powerflex front lower control arm camber bushings for more adjustments.