Hey guys. I wanted to review camber options for our car.

Front camber: the new figs UCAs; megan UCAs; SPC ball joints; figs UCA bushings.
Figs' new UCAs are pricey but seem worth it here.

Rear camber: lots of arms, links, bushings, etc. Can someone recommend an optimal path for rear camber adjustment?

 

Figs mega arms and toe links should be sufficient for 99% of your rear camber needs. Upper control arms help if you have rubbing problems since this is multi point suspension just adjusting the lower part doesnt affect the upper part of the wheel. I got some upper control arms to pull the top of the wheel in slightly to fix my rubbing with the wider tire I went to.

 

Thanks. I'm curious for a cliffnotes version of the function of mega arms and toe links!
When you say UCAs, you are referring to the front ones, right?

 

I believe bbong (Tom) may have gotten those new FIGS UCAs for the front. If so, I'll be interested in his opinion of them.

-Mike

 

Yes, the Figs UCA is pricey but it is a quality piece, I did a review somewhere, but I have not gotten a chance to test it out at the track. The reason why I went with Figs UCA is that I had SPC Adj. Balljoint and that thing slipped camber on me twice at the track. It was PITA to adjust and due to low-profile of the nut, hard to get to or tighten to specs.

 

That's exactly what I would expect something like that to do under full load. Also why I never considered it. If I ever feel the need, I will buy the FIGS UCA.

 

I also have SPC ball joints and they have come loose twice. Debating what to do at this point.

 

If I were you, I would contact FIGS. At one point, he did ask me for the application of the UCA. Track/ Daily Drivers/ Spirited Driving. I'm sure he can recommend something to your application. There is no doubt that his stuff is very well built and tested.

 

I'm not exactly sure what liquidtek was referring to, but I'm guessing it was referring to the rear end (especially since toe links are only for the rear end).

The reason Mega Arms and toe links work well in the back end - the Mega Arm replaces the rear lower arm, the longest link in the rear end. Because it is the longest arm the change in length to get the camber where you want is a smaller change to the overall length of the arm, which means you make minimal changes to the dynamic alignment as the suspension cycles through its travel. The same basic logic works on the toe arm as well. If you install and adjust the toe arm as Figs recommends it has less affect on dynamic toe changes as the suspension cycles.

On the front end of the car there isn't any easy way to make an adjustable lower control arm, but the geometry is so much different on the front end that an adjustable UCA doesn't have the same detrimental affect on dynamic alignment. I have been running a set of Megan UCAs on the front of my IS350 for 3 years now, including a few laps around a track. They haven't slipped yet, but eventually I'd like to replace them with a set from Figs.

 

Thanks! Seems more simplistic than I originally thought.

 

I've been running the Godspeed UCA's for a little over a month now and no complaints. Very similar to Megan's design, but priced lower.

 

Just a commend regarding the SPC upper ball joints... I am 110% sure they will not slip if you apply the correct torque to the top nut, and I am 110% sure they will slip if you do not. I ran these all last summer on our ISF, with 285 Michelin Pilot Cup 2's up front. In order to apply the correct torque, you need to remove the upper ball joint from the hub spindle mount every time you make an adjustment, otherwise it is impossible to fit a proper torque wrench, which means that folks try to use flex head wrenches or short wrenches that make it impossible to apply the correct torque directly to the nut.

Rafi

 

Just curious, but do you still plan to release your own adjustable ball joints?

 

We are going to do something... but its still top secret

Rafi

 

Rafi, any update on your solution?