Fixing Rear Camber, Best Option?

[Bellato]

Hey guys my old man's gt scrubs tyres out big time because he only ever uses it when fully loaded with people and full boot (200kg+) so I'v looked into the possible options to fix it and want peoples thoughts on what would be best

1. Polybags in the rear springs. These are a relatively cheap option and can set them up without much difficult but just curious as to how they affect handling and travel because he doesn't want to jeopardise the ride too much

2. I haven't found out excatly if they can do it, but was thinking about ringing king and seeing if they do a replacement height HD spring with a much higher spring rate so there is less sag when the car is full loaded but then doesn't raise the car anymore than what it is now

3. Adjustable upper control arms. Now these are more expensive. To use these I would think you'd have to screw them out to create a bit of positive camber such as +0.5 or a fraction higher so that when the car squats with the weight there is much less neg camber.

I think the HD springs or the polybags are the best idea, polybags primarily provided they don't affect the ride at all and are quite easy to adjust

Cheers

[Ralph Wiggum]

how much sag are you combating? A custom wound longer spring would be one answer. Polyairs are quite good (I use a set in the back of my Fourbie when towing) but I doubt you will find a set small enough to fit in the rear springs?

Another option is a set of spring seat spacers, (http://www.superpro.com.au/superpro-parts/SPF3183-10K) they will only give you 10mm or so tho.

Or the third (and possibly best option) would be to talk to P@ at WHS and see if he can sell you a set of adjustable lower spring perches (as per most coil over kits for our cars) to allow you to adjust the ride height.

Unfortunatly the only options that will allow you to keep stock ride hieght when loaded/empty will be a set of airbags/poly airs. Any other option will give you the camber you need when loaded and that rocking 70's hot road stance with volkswagen beatle spec +ve camber on the rear when empty

(not quite that extreme but im sure you get the idea!)

[Bellato]

Well guards are about 1 inch above tyre standard and sag to about half way down the tyre so a fair amount, wouldn't know exactly how much camber its creating

Well they do make them for the rear of falcons (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/281158453985?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649) just wasn't sure how good they were

Yea spring spacers are the same price as new springs so would be better off buying new HD springs if that was the case

Yea the adjustable spring perches are a good idea, just wonder how much they can raise the height of the car though as most companies probably design them to lower the car?

I'm hoping pat will see this at some point and chime in

[senna_T]

KFRL-68HD will retain factory GT height and run a bit more rate - hard to say how much it will drop with the weight in but it will be significantly better than standard. Rate is around 40% higher than stock and like all Kings rears they are progressive

Check the alignment too, might be an idea to adjust the toe settings a little to offset the inner edge wear.

[Bellato]

Been back and forth with the old man (he's back home and I'm in Canberra) and he said he measured his hub to guard with just a full tank of fuel and its measuring up at 340mm! He spoke to the guys at King and they said that KFRL-68HD will put him at 370mm hub to guard.

Is it possible that the factory springs have sagged 30mm? Its only got 55,000kms

The car's always had camber problems but was something we always put down to carting heaps of people and luggage and every wheel alignment we get things changed but is it possible that the springs aren't as high a spring rate as they're meant too be. It was like build number 50 in BF's and when it was picked up it didn't even have the front bar on because it wasn't ready yet, is it possible they rushed to put the car together and the wrong springs went in or they weren't made properly? Would make sense as to why car sags so much with people in it and has such bad camber problems.

We're thinking about replacing the springs with sslHD's in order to keep the current hub to guard height.

Ever seen anything like this pat?

Edited 27/09/13 12:22 PM by Bellato

[senna_T]

Highly possible that the springs have sagged considering the only time he uses the car it has extra weight in it. My father in law has a BA2 GT and it has dropped 15mm with very little load carrying...

SSLHD would be my recommendation if you like 340 htg, however it still won't completely fix the camber.

The car should have factory camber adjustment on the upper control arm/hub joint in the rear - has this ever been touched?

[Bellato]

Bit of a delayed reply but found out that apparently there was a time where some BF GT's came out with softer springs (f*ck up by Ford) so yea the car has had these 'softer' springs from factory and that's the reason it sits so low and sags more when loaded.

What sort of camber are we looking at with sslHD's? I thought with the adjustment the car has this should be a relatively cheap way to 90% fix the problem. As long as the camber wear isn't too bad we can strip and swap tyres on the rear rims to prolong the life a bit

Yes it has the cammed bolt for camber

[senna_T]

You shouldn't see a major camber issue at all with SSLHD and the camber bolt adjusted properly. My car sat at around 345 and still wore tyres past the centre line even without arms and camber adjustment

[Bellato]

Got the springs and put them in, approximately 340mm slightly lower. Not what dad was hoping for, he would have preferred it higher but as long as their a decent amount stiffer. yet to get wheel alignment but see how we go with it

[senna_T]

If the strength of the coils works out well you can get a spacer for the rear coils to lift it by 10mm or so