VintageRice Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 SO, I needed some neg camber, to lower my 510 more while preventing tire rubbage. Plus good for handling right.......so T3 plates are amazing, but I'm a budget guy, so $200 is a big chunk o change. Every time I see adjustable plates on someones car they are set maxed out negative. I'm guessing other than auto-x guys most people just set them and forget them. So I figured why not just make some non-adjustable plates. Simple design, just like stock, bolts up to a single hole and stays there. Sooooo...... Went to Everett steel, asked the guy there(classical music listening guy, some may know who I'm talking about, super nice dude) asked him if they had any pre-cut circles in 1/4" He said 3 inch and 12 inch.......hmmmm dang, so I said, nothing in 6 inch? He said yeah, 3/8th thick. I said I'll take two. $7~ each. Next stop, hardware store, got some sweet nuts and bolts and headed home. Checked the strut towers with the discs and omg PERFECT fit. dude........cool. :w00t: :thumbup: Drilled a few holes and threw some paint on and wha-la. Camber. For about 20 bucks. DONE. :thumbup: oics Start Duplication Bolted up and DONE. Slammed on its nutz(i'm going to have to raise it a little till my exhaust gets tucked better lol) After a summer of light driivng on my cheapo ebay coilovers, those cheap plastic top hats are thrashed! Check it out! (ordered some billet T3 hats for $20 today) :D 4 Quote Link to comment
izzo Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 lol good one man! Quote Link to comment
Logical1 Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 Epic Ratsun style camber! I would love some details on hole placement, bolt holes, ect. I have access to a plasma cnc and I would love to pump out a couple sets for some friends to try out. BTW, that guy at Everett steel is cool as shit ;) 1 Quote Link to comment
izzo Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 Looks like he just put the plate in the bottom, marked the bolt holes. then for the strut top, almost looks like it was moved an inch inwards? Quote Link to comment
VintageRice Posted November 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 Technically speaking, the strut bolt was moved in EXACTLY "ahhh riiiight abouuuut there, ya that looks good." :D 3 Quote Link to comment
VintageRice Posted November 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 Epic Ratsun style camber! I would love some details on hole placement, bolt holes, ect. I have access to a plasma cnc and I would love to pump out a couple sets for some friends to try out. BTW, that guy at Everett steel is cool as shit ;) I've used plasma cnc(was my high school job for a few years) and also got my intake and exhaust flanges cut by a plasma outfit last spring. Lemme tell you, my drill press holes are MUCH more precise than the blow through holes and angled cuts that plasma provides. Not being sarcastic either. Maybe there's better machines out there, but water jet would be the only way to go to get the holes nice and straight and round and not sloppy. Plus, holding the plate up there and making marks with a sharpie is SOOOO much ezier than drawing up a CAD file lolol Just sayen.. Making both sides match, I would say, is much more critical than the initial measurements. Being a degree or two off on the camber wont be noticeable. As long as both wheels are the same. Quote Link to comment
Logical1 Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 ^ So true! I was hoping to be lazy and you would provide me with a cad drawing I could just send to my buddy ;) However I can manage a 6" circle cad file and drill them myself :P From the pictures it looks like your top bolt is flush / slightly above the stock mount point so in effect your getting a touch lower with these? Quote Link to comment
VintageRice Posted November 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 Much lower. It eliminated the stock 510 top hat I WAS using and now the strut is bolted straight to the plate. So got like 1.5"-2" more drop without even moving my coilovers. Although, I do realize now that I need to put a bearing in there between the top hat and the plate. I'll use the stock ones. 1 Quote Link to comment
Dat Lurka Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 Nice :thumbup: +1 for you sir Quote Link to comment
thisismatt Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 Is that upper bolt sticking through your strut rod? If so, that needs to be able to articulate - the strut rod pivots on the upper mount as the control arm goes through its range of motion. Just sayin... 2 Quote Link to comment
Uber Deaf One Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 Being a degree or two off on the camber wont be noticeable. As long as both wheels are the same. Well a degree or two is fairly significant, but if I had to pick between this and stock camber, I'd go this route too. :thumbup: Quote Link to comment
VintageRice Posted November 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 Is that upper bolt sticking through your strut rod? If so, that needs to be able to articulate - the strut rod pivots on the upper mount as the control arm goes through its range of motion. Just sayin... If the movement your talking about it suspension travel, my springs are very stiff. There's little to no movement that low. Also aside from some VERY stiff rubber inside of the stock top hat on a 510. It's mounted exactly the same way. The stock mount has only a single solidly mounted hole that the strut rod bolts too. Unless I'm missing something here I think it's good to go. Quote Link to comment
bonvo Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 how does it pivot? the strut has to pivot on there and the stock bearing isnt in there but since your running coil overs the bearing is in the top hat 1 Quote Link to comment
Boom death Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 This is cool good job man Quote Link to comment
Dawa Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 the word is "voila" it's french: used to call attention, to express satisfaction or approval, or to suggest an appearance as if by magic not that you care but i just had to throw that in there. did you use automotive grade hardware? & lastly, i ♥ your valve cover. Quote Link to comment
VintageRice Posted November 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 how does it pivot? the strut has to pivot on there and the stock bearing isnt in there but since your running coil overs the bearing is in the top hat I'm putting in a bearing, like the ones in the T3 top hats(needle bearing style) or else just the same as the stock bearing in the top hat. It will go between top hat and my home made plates so that the struts can swivel freely when turning. Quote Link to comment
jdmdime Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 Dont forget that you can also screw with caster if you wanted to. Quote Link to comment
HudsonMC Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 If the movement your talking about it suspension travel, my springs are very stiff. There's little to no movement that low. Also aside from some VERY stiff rubber inside of the stock top hat on a 510. It's mounted exactly the same way. The stock mount has only a single solidly mounted hole that the strut rod bolts too. Unless I'm missing something here I think it's good to go. As the suspension moves, the strut rotates around the strut top. The LCA straightens out and pushes the bottom of the strut away from the car, and vice versa. In a stock top hat, there's a rubber isolator that absorbs this. On aftermarket camber plates, there's a little spherical bearing and allows this movement. See the middle of the T3 plates here: https://technotoytun...es/DSC_9487.jpg This movement is different than what the needle bearing is for. Bolting the strut top hard and fast to the strut tower probably ain't a good idea. Even with stiff springs, the suspension probably moves more than you think. The stiffer springs have increased the frequency, so it moves quite a bit faster, so it may be difficult to see and/or notice. Even if it's only a little bit, it will still fatigue the strut towers. You can get those little spherical bearings from McMaster Carr I think. Wouldn't be too hard to find the right dimensions (it's either 5/8" ID or 3/4" ID, I forget), but I don't how you could add them to the plates. I don't know how they would respond to having their collars welded to something. Every one I've seen is always an interference fit and/or held in with little c-clips (the T3 plates have both I think). Ideas? You could also add some rubber to you plates somehow. Find some bushings with the right ID and cut them short. Not as cool as the spherical bearings, but would prevent you from eventually ripping a strut tower top out. Great work. :thumbup: 1 Quote Link to comment
VintageRice Posted November 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 As the suspension moves, the strut rotates around the strut top. The LCA straightens out and pushes the bottom of the strut away from the car, and vice versa. In a stock top hat, there's a rubber isolator that absorbs this. On aftermarket camber plates, there's a little spherical bearing and allows this movement. See the middle of the T3 plates here: https://technotoytun...es/DSC_9487.jpg This movement is different than what the needle bearing is for. Bolting the strut top hard and fast to the strut tower probably ain't a good idea. Even with stiff springs, the suspension probably moves more than you think. The stiffer springs have increased the frequency, so it moves quite a bit faster, so it may be difficult to see and/or notice. Even if it's only a little bit, it will still fatigue the strut towers. You can get those little spherical bearings from McMaster Carr I think. Wouldn't be too hard to find the right dimensions (it's either 5/8" ID or 3/4" ID, I forget), but I don't how you could add them to the plates. I don't know how they would respond to having their collars welded to something. Every one I've seen is always an interference fit and/or held in with little c-clips (the T3 plates have both I think). Ideas? You could also add some rubber to you plates somehow. Find some bushings with the right ID and cut them short. Not as cool as the spherical bearings, but would prevent you from eventually ripping a strut tower top out. Great work. :thumbup: Ok, cool good info my friend! I'll ponder my options. Dont want the strut threads snapping Quote Link to comment
erichwaslike Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 you could get some small bushings(delrin) and sanmmich them in there sna that will give you the flex you need, and be stiff enought that it wont wander around much Quote Link to comment
D52E Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Nice job. One additional consideration would be to move the strut mount rearward slightly to gain a small amount of caster. Of course it may be with a slight tradeoff of increased steering effort. Quote Link to comment
RedBanner Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 You can slot the other 3 holes so you can rotate caster into it , but you would sacrifice alittle camber. I made some verry simular. But I didn't bolt the strut right on. Had a hiem mount. Quote Link to comment
dr.feltersnatch Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 BTW, that guy at Everett steel is cool as shit ;) fully agree. i have been going there since i was a little guy and he has always been there with the same classical music playin. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Nice job. One additional consideration would be to move the strut mount rearward slightly to gain a small amount of caster. But with the tires already being to close to the footwell (only made worse by a severely lowered car), wouldn't it be better to add caster by pulling the bottoms forward? 1 Quote Link to comment
RedBanner Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 That's thinking. Quote Link to comment
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