Slotting stock struts

[wparsons]

Originally Posted by 7thgear

have you considered simply not running 245s and stick to 225s instead?

Running a narrower tire won't change the need for more camber... dropping to a 225 will still be chewing up the outer edge.

[solidONE]

Originally Posted by s0sl0w

D) I'm not made of money. If I can get to the -2.5° I want for very little $$$ safely I would rather do that than waste money on top hats that's I'll be replacing next year with Racenseng's.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, @DocWalt has got me pointed in the right direction as well I believe. I just have to take the car off the road and get the struts off for a weekend.

Originally Posted by wparsons

You don't need to take them out to slot them... mine were slotted while the car was on the alignment rack (just jacked up at the front). Just pull the front wheels, unbolt the knuckle and slot away with a die grinder.

I don't know how much time it took wparsons to cut a decent sized slot on the struts, but the lower bolts (SPC #81260) can be had for as little as under $30 from most vendors. This and transferring the factory lower bolt to the upper hole will get you the -2.5 your looking for. Though I'd like to see how much camber you can get just by slotting.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/s...FVKDfgodD1wJTA

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Specialty-Pr...25.m3641.l6368 (for $21 plus these are galvanized too! The set I bought had the old black coating that is more prone to rusting)

Also, depending on the offset of the wheels you are using, you may need wheel spacers to clear the spring perch.

[Keenercarguy]

A friend of mine slotted his in an hour and has -3.3 on one side, -3.1 on the other (he needs to slot that one a little more). He's using a whiteline camber bolt as well. I took it out for one run and beat all my own times (in a borrowed FR-S lol) and all of his in one try. The camber WORKS and if you're looking for more camber it's basically free. Do it!
Edit: FWIW The bolt switching trick works well too, but won't get you as much. It might be good to try that first though: you might max out your tire clearance without even slotting the struts...

[s0sl0w]

Originally Posted by Keenercarguy

A friend of mine slotted his in an hour and has -3.3 on one side, -3.1 on the other (he needs to slot that one a little more). He's using a whiteline camber bolt as well. I took it out for one run and beat all my own times (in a borrowed FR-S lol) and all of his in one try. The camber WORKS and if you're looking for more camber it's basically free. Do it!
Edit: FWIW The bolt switching trick works well too, but won't get you as much. It might be good to try that first though: you might max out your tire clearance without even slotting the struts...

Do you have any photos of the slots?

[Keenercarguy]

@s0sl0w I'm afraid not, and he's in the process of moving multiple states so I don't think he'll have the opportunity to snap photos anytime really soon. I'll shoot him a text though.

[wparsons]

Originally Posted by solidONE

I don't know how much time it took wparsons to cut a decent sized slot on the struts, but the lower bolts (SPC #81260) can be had for as little as under $30 from most vendors. This and transferring the factory lower bolt to the upper hole will get you the -2.5 your looking for. Though I'd like to see how much camber you can get just by slotting.

Total time for the alignment, including slotting the struts, was about 2.5 hours. A lot of that time was spent talking to Scott, if he was just working he probably could've done it all in about 1.5 hours.

[solidONE]

Originally Posted by wparsons

Total time for the alignment, including slotting the struts, was about 2.5 hours. A lot of that time was spent talking to Scott, if he was just working he probably could've done it all in about 1.5 hours.

How much - camber gained from slotting by its self? I know that you can only go so far with the slot before the knuckle starts to make contact and bottom out on the main strut body/tube. Its probably a good idea to leave at least a 1~1.5mm gap between the knuckle and the body.

[wparsons]

Originally Posted by solidONE

How much - camber gained from slotting by its self? I know that you can only go so far with the slot before the knuckle starts to make contact and bottom out on the main strut body/tube. Its probably a good idea to leave at least a 1~1.5mm gap between the knuckle and the body.

I had about 1.5* from the bolts, we stopped at -2.2* because of tire/spring perch clearance. There's room to go much further if I had spacers or a different offset wheels.