CSG and RCE tag-team suspension Q&A thread! Ask us anything!

[ScionOfHorus]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

Yeah those are fine...I had an image of giganto bubbly tires in my head.

245/65/17!

- Andy

Naw, i just needed a tiny bit of height to clear a railroad track going to work

[BigFatFlip]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

Yeah those are fine...I had an image of giganto bubbly tires in my head.

245/65/17!

- Andy

Mmmm meaty! I'm looking at tirerack to see what is available in 235/45-17 as @CSG Mike suggested, slightly less selection, but my top picks are available: RE11A's and Michelin PSS

Originally Posted by ScionOfHorus

I am actually running a 245/45/17 right now, feels just fine on the track. To me anyways.

I'm guessing its more about selecting a quality tire with a nice stiff wall if anything.

[stockysnail]

I wish I could have a track day with my current 245/45R17 RE-11a and compare it with a R-comp or slick tire of 205/55R16 sizing. Same comparo for daily driving would be nice to try out back to back as well.

[toraider]

I just got the car this year and am planning on attending a couple track day schools and hope to attend a handful of lapping days. My primary goal is to increase my driving skill this year.

I plan on using stock tires for the year and will continue on stock suspension. I do plan to upgrade the brake fluid, lines and pads.

Is there an advantage to more aggressive camber with a stock suspension, if I am visiting the track? If yes, are there specific setting front and rear I should try to achieve? Lastly, based on recommendations if any, which parts might you suggest to achieve the settings.

[Calum]

Originally Posted by toraider

I just got the car this year and am planning on attending a couple track day schools and hope to attend a handful of lapping days. My primary goal is to increase my driving skill this year.

I plan on using stock tires for the year and will continue on stock suspension. I do plan to upgrade the brake fluid, lines and pads.

Is there an advantage to more aggressive camber with a stock suspension, if I am visiting the track? If yes, are there specific setting front and rear I should try to achieve? Lastly, based on recommendations if any, which parts might you suggest to achieve the settings.

There's definitely advantage to more camber in the front. A set of OEM camber bolts is what's typically recommended, they're cheap and strong. I'd get a set and max them out. Some have run two sets or used the smaller strut bolt in the larger hole to achieve the same effect. I don't think I've seen anyone confess to having slippage, but your mileage may vary.

[CircaBRZ]

Hey all! I have a suspension question if anyone can help that'd be great!

i just purchased my Fortune Auto 500 series Coilovers with:
Swift springs
Radial bearings
and Adjustment Extenders in the rear.
custom 7k/7k spring rates.

This car will be daily driver plus occassional autox and road coarse use. I plan to lower it 1-1.5" and I have 18x9.5 TE37's ready to go with Hankook v12's on them.

I need to figure out how I'm handling camber. Should I get lower control arms, or can i just get plate camber plates? Not sure how to go about this. I already ordered them and are due in 2 weeks because of the custom rates. Thanks!

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by CircaBRZ

Hey all! I have a suspension question if anyone can help that'd be great!

i just purchased my Fortune Auto 500 series Coilovers with:
Swift springs
Radial bearings
and Adjustment Extenders in the rear.
custom 7k/7k spring rates.

This car will be daily driver plus occassional autox and road coarse use. I plan to lower it 1-1.5" and I have 18x9.5 TE37's ready to go with Hankook v12's on them.

I need to figure out how I'm handling camber. Should I get lower control arms, or can i just get plate camber plates? Not sure how to go about this. I already ordered them and are due in 2 weeks because of the custom rates. Thanks!

Camber plates go in the front, lower control arms go in the rear. In the front, your options are camber bolts or camber plates. Or both. Bolts are much cheaper, but not nearly as adjustable.

In the rear, you have LCAs, Whiteline's UCA bushings, and H&R camber bolts. The UCA bushings are a pain to install and adjust, and the camber bolts don't give you much range. LCAs are pretty much the go-to fix for camber in the rear.

[CircaBRZ]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

Camber plates go in the front, lower control arms go in the rear. In the front, your options are camber bolts or camber plates. Or both. Bolts are much cheaper, but not nearly as adjustable.

In the rear, you have LCAs, Whiteline's UCA bushings, and H&R camber bolts. The UCA bushings are a pain to install and adjust, and the camber bolts don't give you much range. LCAs are pretty much the go-to fix for camber in the rear.

Awesome, thanks for the response. Any recommendations on brands?

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by CircaBRZ

Awesome, thanks for the response. Any recommendations on brands?

Personally? Right now I have SPC camber bolts up front and nothing in back. My camber is -1.7F/-2.0R, which is not ideal. You want a little more in the front than the rear; I just haven't taken the time to pick up some LCAs to drop the rear camber to around -1.2. Or top hats to bring the front to -2.5. Or decided which I want to go with.

You don't really need separate camber plates, because Fortune 500's come with them.

For LCAs, that's a big debate, with everyone recommending something different. SPC is the cheapest; some people track with them and swear by them, others consider them cheap in more than just price and wouldn't touch them with a stick. SPL is probably the best right now, but they're pricy. Some LCAs have lowered suspension geometry, such as Stance or PBM.

Also consider autoX. Most LCAs have a pillowball joint, and that causes you to bump up a class or two. I think the only ones that don't are SPC, Whiteline (hard to find), or custom from RacerX.

Check out http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/susp...ntrol-arms-98/ to start your search.

[CircaBRZ]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

Personally? Right now I have SPC camber bolts up front and nothing in back. My camber is -1.7F/-2.0R, which is not ideal. You want a little more in the front than the rear; I just haven't taken the time to pick up some LCAs to drop the rear camber to around -1.2. Or top hats to bring the front to -2.5. Or decided which I want to go with.

You don't really need separate camber plates, because Fortune 500's come with them.

For LCAs, that's a big debate, with everyone recommending something different. SPC is the cheapest; some people track with them and swear by them, others consider them cheap in more than just price and wouldn't touch them with a stick. SPL is probably the best right now, but they're pricy. Some LCAs have lowered suspension geometry, such as Stance or PBM.

Also consider autoX. Most LCAs have a pillowball joint, and that causes you to bump up a class or two. I think the only ones that don't are SPC, Whiteline (hard to find), or custom from RacerX.

Check out http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/susp...ntrol-arms-98/ to start your search.

thanks so much again!

[snow]

Very interesting thread to say the least packed full of great information. I have read through all 115 pages of it but I did not see one thing addressed and I would like to pose that question.


There are many recommendation for coil over manufacturers but riddle me this:




Which manufactures should you stay away from? I know someone will say stay away from ebay but when I looked there I saw the same brands that most of the vendors on here are selling. So that statement is rendered mute... I did some research and of course the opinions vary by forum... for example on the Nissan forum they say stay away from Meagan, BC and one other... and the list changes depending on the site. So what do you guys say? which brands are crap or is there crap in every brand and it depends on the price point? sorry for the long question... thanks in advance.

[gramicci101]

Generally speaking, if it's under $1K then you get what you pay for. There are exceptions, such as ST, which is a low price brand of KW, and Tein Flex Z, which cut costs by not being rebuildable. I've read good things about Fortune 500's as well.

Either way, once you home in on a particular brand and line you should do a lot of research to see if they're crap or not. Build quality, materials, all kinds of things go into making a quality coilover.

[ZionsWrath]

Can anyone help me with this issue? Clunking from top area of strut, possibly camber plate. Not sure though, everything looks good and feels tight. Only hearing noise when driving. Sounds awful. So frustrating.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88708

[gramicci101]

If you take the top nut off and compress the strut with a jack does it still clunk? Does the top bolt stick through the plate the same amount on both sides? Are the threads trashed at all? Did the strut spin when you were tightening the top nut?