Camber bolts and camber plates?

[fatoni]

Like the title says, I have both sitting now in my garage. The shocks on my 2013 brz are getting a little tired so I bought some tein flex z (not the best I know but its a stop gap). My question is, is there any advantage or disadvantage to running both? And while we are at it, I would love to hear some alignment suggestions for the car. I am running the champiro sx2 right now and intend to do about 4 or 5 track days within the next year and dont mind a compromise on the street since I basically take a canyon road to work.

[FirstWinter]

Not really a disadvantage to running both but the camber plates will be enough. Camber bolts will give you extra adjustment. I remember reading somewhere long ago in the suspension sub-forum ideally in theory you want to set camber from a lower point (ie:front lower control arms) than a higher point like the camber plates. But the camber plates will be fine. Perfection is hypothetical, real world is complicated.

You can start off with F: -3.0 R: -2.7 0 toe all around. It's only a starting point and I would adjust from there to match your driving style. If you don't have rear LCA the recommended drop in ride height should get you close to -2.7 in the rear. I personally run F: -3.5 R:-2.5 0 toe but it's personal preference.

I'm guessing you're doing 86 Cup next year? See you at the track

[jamal]

Yes, you can rotate the plates to add caster. I like to slide them all the way in and back and then adjust camber at the lower bolt. It is also preferable to add camber at the lower mount as it does not increase the SAI. So having as little camber added with the plate is preferable when you have both adjustments, assuming you have room for the tires.

[fatoni]

Originally Posted by FirstWinter

Not really a disadvantage to running both but the camber plates will be enough. Camber bolts will give you extra adjustment. I remember reading somewhere long ago in the suspension sub-forum ideally in theory you want to set camber from a lower point (ie:front lower control arms) than a higher point like the camber plates. But the camber plates will be fine. Perfection is hypothetical, real world is complicated.

You can start off with F: -3.0 R: -2.7 0 toe all around. It's only a starting point and I would adjust from there to match your driving style. If you don't have rear LCA the recommended drop in ride height should get you close to -2.7 in the rear. I personally run F: -3.5 R:-2.5 0 toe but it's personal preference.

I'm guessing you're doing 86 Cup next year? See you at the track

thats about what i was thinking on the upper end for me so its good to hear. ive also got some lcas too. i may or may not do the 86cup. ive got a half dozen prepaid with xtreme speed im trying to burn through.

Originally Posted by jamal

Yes, you can rotate the plates to add caster. I like to slide them all the way in and back and then adjust camber at the lower bolt. It is also preferable to add camber at the lower mount as it does not increase the SAI. So having as little camber added with the plate is preferable when you have both adjustments, assuming you have room for the tires.

so you rotate the plate like an entire 120*? what kind of caster should i be aiming for?
thanks guys!

[jamal]

It would depend on how much camber you need and how much you can get out of it. The plates can be rotated, or swapped left to right (just unbolt the bearing carriers from the plate instead of undoing the top nut). Getting enough camber to keep your tires happy on track is more important than adding a bit of caster or reducing the sai, but if you can do all three at the same time you might as well.

Basically I would set the bolts to get the max camber, and the plates to get the max caster, and see where that winds up.

And then might be a good idea to get/make toe plates and a camber gauge if you don't have those already. Camber that's best for the tires on track is not going to be ideal for street driving and being able to slide the plates out and zero the toe on your own would be convenient. And that the other benefit- you always keep your plates in the same spot left to right and dial out any cross camber at the lower bolts.

[BlueWhelan]

@jamal stole the words outta my mouth.

If OP is only using one cam bolt on each side, he may not be able to get enough camber from the bolts alone. If OP decides to use the the top plates for more camber, I'd suggest only making identical plate adjustments on both sides and fine tuning the angle with the bolts. That way your SAI isn't different side to side.

[churchx]

Camberbolts are relatively cheap. Dialing most camber at lower mount, and what's left, at camberplates, is better for suspension geometry. Also if adjusting from below lifted car both toe & camber, it's often easier to access with wrenches camberbolts & toe adjustment from below of car, instead of dropping car, adjusting in steps camberplates, then lifting car back up and checking result (or crawling up oneself to access camberplates on lifted on rig car), then repeating many times, as changing toe can change camber and vice versa.
So in general i see no reasons to not get camberbolts too. As camberplates are bought, imho budget is not THAT low to save on not getting them. And imho simpler to adjust alignment using camberbolts when doing normal complete alignment on alignment rig, and adjust at camberplates only for some on-site adjustments when eg. on track, according to track/tires/weather specific.