LCA vs UCA?

[JDM4E]

I have a average joe question. If you lower the car lets say 1 inch, and you want to adjust rear camber to stock OEM camber range - that say, you want to drive safely and functionally and your target is not anything like stance/flush/whatever, then;

is it technically better to get adjustable LCA or UCA?

My thinking is this - if you do LCA, and want to adjust camber back to stock, then you are adjusting the lower part of the wheel and technically you decrease the car's rear track. If you do UCA, then you push the top of the wheel further so the rear track remains the same.

I don't know the effects this adjust will or wont do, but in my average joe thinking, UCA seems like a better option. Yet, almost everyone here are talking LCA, there are tons of options and UCA topics / products are very rare. Why then? Am I correct in my thought process or what am I missing? Thanks.

[wparsons]

Most UCA's out there are harder to adjust (have to be pulled from the upright/knuckle to adjust), but adjusting camber at the top affects the toe a lot less so you probably won't need an aftermarket toe link.

If you're not tracking the car with really sticky tires, just get the SPC LCA's and save a good amount of cash over UCA's. You won't need to adjust much to get the camber back in spec, so the track width will be very close to stock.

[Gear_One_Performance]

Whoever does your alignment will thank you if you get an LCA.

[wparsons]

^^ These ones are adjustable on the car, and shouldn't really be much harder than LCA's, but they're not cheap.

http://www.brz-parts.com/msisub02-20-002.html

[Calum]

If you're just trying to even out the camber side to side, and your goal camber is close already, you can also try using a set of 12mm camber bolts for struts. A few people have reported running them with success. I put a pair in when I installed my T0's on the weekend. I've got an appointment to get my car corner balanced and aligned in a couple weeks, I'll report back with the adjustable range. (before anyone jumps down my throat about running the car for three weeks without an alignment, I've been driving my beater and am going on vacation for a week.)

[JDM4E]

ok thanks. So theoretically I am right but there is a lot of hassle with UCA. 1300$ ohh.

with 1 inch drop the correction would be around 0.5-1 degree I think

[wparsons]

^^ Bingo. Considering the small change you're after, the best compromise of performance, price and ease of adjustment will be SPC LCA's. They work great as long as you're not running really sticky tires on a track, and are far cheaper than most other options.

[Grip Ronin]

Im in the middle of doing the ruca bushing now. Im removing the adjustable lowers. Those bushings are a pain in the ass

[Donbrz]

Originally Posted by wparsons

^^ Bingo. Considering the small change you're after, the best compromise of performance, price and ease of adjustment will be SPC LCA's. They work great as long as you're not running really sticky tires on a track, and are far cheaper than most other options.

Purchased SPC LCA and was planning to install this weekend. Running all stock and not lowered. I do track and have RE11-A which are very sticky tires. I had not heard of an issue with LCA and sticky tires. Can you share some insight into the issue?

[wparsons]

RE11A's aren't what I would call really sticky tires, they're a pretty standard street/track tire. Something like the RE71R, Rival S, etc might generate more grip and the alignment could slip, full slicks would pretty much guarantee it.

You should be totally fine.

[636]

This isn't related to what you want to do with your car, but I'm running PBM LCA, and was able to get around -12.5 degrees with just LCA camber adjustment. UCA add overkill for what you are trying to do!