HPM Camber/Caster plates go clunk?

[TMF]

Just had my 90 5.0 convertible in for an alignment after doing a 5-lug conversion. I used 94-95 spindles on the front so i could get my 10th Anniv SVT Cobra rims to fit correctly. The car came off eBay and already had HPM Camber Caster plates installed and was lowered with Eibach springs.

The struts really clunked and made a lot of noise on the drive from Phoenix back to Iowa. It was also so stiff I really thought there must have been solid rod in place of the struts! Turns out the struts were the the original factory units and had 150,000+ miles on them. SHOT. BTW, the rears were just as bad.

I replaced the struts and shocks and ordered factory ride-height coils and installed all of this in my garage. (something I will NEVER do again...) The new coils and suspension made it ride like new but the clunking sound did not go away. I attributed this to not being able to tighten the top strut nut enough because I didn't have a tool to stick into the slot to hold it. I tried a couple screwdrivers but after breaking two (Sears... replace these defective screwdrivers!) I did as best I could and left it to the alignment shop.

Ok, they do the alignment and get everything spot-on and it perfect... amost. They couldn't get rid of the clunking sound in the camber/caster plates either!

I suspect that the person before me installed them incorrectly and I duplicated the problem when I installed the struts because I didn't have directions. I just put everything back together as best I could with what I had.

The part that confused me was the spacers on the shaft of the struts and how the rubber bumber was held in place with the boot attached. I couldn't see how the bumper was held up in place since the strut rod seemed to be the same size as the hole in the bumber. Also, there were two spacers, a long one on top of the C/C plate and a short one underneath that was on the strut. Since I went with factory ride-height coils, do I even need these spacers? Can I remove both and just bolt the strut to the C/C plates?

It rise so nice now and clears the wide tires, but that slight clunking sound is going to drive me nuts!

Where did HPM go? Can't find a web site or install instructions online anywhere. If I could have found this info on Google, I would at least have a starting place to figure out what it is.

Thanks in advance!

john

 

[superhuaman]

im not sure but i think hpm makes some of the ford racing stuff. my "ford racing" bump steer kit was from hpm, iirc. try going to http://www.fordracingparts.com and looking up the instructions for the cc plates there.

 

[TMF]

Thanks SH!

I was able to print off instructions from that site. The sleeves and spacers look about right for what I saw on my struts and it makes more sense seeing the different ways they can be configured.

I guess I'll be pulling the struts again this weekend and moving them around to the correct positions. Also, is there a special tool used to hold the strut rod while tightening the top nut? What has everyone else used?

Thanks again!

John

 

[superhuaman]

i remember using an impact gun to tighten mine, even though youre not suposed to you can use a pipe wrench or channellock pliers around the strut shaft from inside the wheelwell. put a rag around it, and grab it up near the top, cuz its not likely to travel the full stroke unless youre mud-bogging or something you said you tried a craftsman screwdriver? what size? cuz they make some really big ones

 

[ninety15.0]

For the nuts on the top i used a massive flat head screwdriver and put a pair of visegrips on it! worked like a charm. As far as the spacers go on the C/C plates you need to properly space them for the amount the car is lowered. Since you returned the car to factory ride height then you need to put almost all the spacers underneat the top plate/bearing. Thats how the Max Motor. plates work anyways...i dont know about HPM but it cant be that different. good luck man.

 

[TMF]

Without doing a thorough disassembly, I did put my biggest screwdriver and monkey wrench on the shaft and a 21mm wrench on the nut and it was already as tight as it would go.

So, I lifted the fender lip up and down to see if I could see where it was loose. It appears that it is the swivel bearing in the middle of the C/C plates that is not tight. I can hear it tick when I tried my simple experiment and can see the center shaft move up and down when I know it should be solid with the plates.

I'm guessing these plates are shot from riding on old frozen struts too long. Just too much stress on the plates.

But thanks for the links and help everyone. Once again I have learned something new without even trying. [that's a good thing!]

Cheers

john

 

[superhuaman]

oh crapppp, sorry to hear that dude.

 

[TMF]

Ok, I took a few minutes this afternoon and took the top center plate off the C/C plate loosening the sleeve with the gimbol in it. Yep, that bearing gimbol thing is loose in the ring all right.

Does anyone know if they sell just the replacement center gimbol thingies?

Anyone know where HPM went to or how to contact them anymore?

Thanks in advance!

John

 

[71swing]

I ran HPM camber plate before thought they were great product. I live in Omaha NE, HPM is here but they did move to a new location in town not shure if the phone number changed but it was 1-402-731-7301.

They do contract out to ford racing for thier megabite jr. control arms. They are very good quality on suspension parts. I ran camber plates,bumpsteer, upper and lower control and subframe conectors.(great products) They are very pricing when it comes to anything else, but the stuff they make is decently priced. If that is not the right number let me know and I'll find the right number.