Steering wander after lowering springs??

91notchbk said:

Is Tram-ling is when the tires follow the grooves and uneven surfaces in the road?
Then yes, I have tam-lining. So Camber/caster plates will help?

Here's some Q&A from MM's website:

Maximum Motorsports Caster/Camber Plate FAQs
Q. I am going to be lowering my Mustang. Do I really need caster/camber plates?

A. In a word - yes. After lowering your Mustang, you will need to have an alignment done. Typically, there is not enough range of adjustment in the stock upper strut mount to achieve a correct alignment on a lowered car, which will result in poor tire wear and handling. Maximum Motorsports (MM) Caster/Camber Plates allow a much wider range of adjustment than the stock upper strut mount, which makes a proper alignment possible. Additionally, MM Caster/Camber Plates add 1" of bump travel, which regains some of the suspension travel lost on lowered cars.

Q. What is the adavantage of having the ability to adjust caster on my Mustang?

A. First, production tolerances in the Mustang's chassis construction rarely result in a car having an even caster setting side-to-side. The ability to adjust caster ensures that the car has the caster set evenly side-to-side for racing, or a staggered caster setting to keep your Mustang tracking straight on roads with a crown.

Second, adjusting the caster to a more positive setting provides several handling advantages: Increased caster will cause negative camber to increase on the outside front wheel while steering through a corner. Having increased negative camber only during steering results in more cornering grip, but without the adverse tire wear and braking performance suffered with large amounts of static negative camber.

Additionally, increased caster increases the self-centering tendency of the steering, resulting in increased straight-line stability.

Q. Why does Maximum Motorsports include such a large selection of strut shaft spacers with your Caster/Camber Plates? Other companies use 1 or 2 spacers, which seems simpler.

A. Maximum Motorsports provides spacers to allow adjustment the vertical height of your strut shaft relative to the Caster/Camber Plate. The spacers can be arranged in .25" increments to correctly adjust the strut for any different ride height. This is important because, in a non-lowered Mustang applications, the strut shaft should be set close to the original factory height to ensure the full range of suspension travel. In lowered Mustang applications, the strut shaft should be raised relative to the MM Caster/Camber Plates to gain more bump travel, and to assure the piston will never bottom in the strut housing.

On Mustang Coil-over applications, a large selection of strut shaft spacers is necessary to properly adjust the upper spring perch. It is critical that the upper spring perch is positioned as high as possible for maximum bump travel, but without contacting the bottom of the strut tower.

Q. Why don't the factory Mustang dust boots and the MM bump stops you provide with your Caster/Camber Plates fit the Mustang Bilstein struts?

A. Bilstein struts have a much different design than other brands of struts. The strut shaft is much larger in diameter than any other strut, and therefore our polyurethane bump stop will not fit. Additionally, since the Bilstein strut has its own internal bumpstop, an external bumpstop is not required. Aftermarket Bilstein Mustang struts (not the OEM Ford Cobra replacements) come with a dust boot, therefore the original Mustang dust boot can be discarded.

Q. Why are Maximum Motorsports Caster/Camber Plates spaced above the strut tower?

A. Maximum Motorsports Caster/Camber plates are spaced above the strut tower in order to maximize bump travel. By spacing the plate above the strut tower, the strut rod and piston is pulled up relative to the strut body. With Bilstein's internal bumpstop, the amount of bump travel is increased in direct proportion to the amount that the strut shaft is raised. With conventional struts, the external bumpstop thrusts on the bottom of the raised C/C plate, so the amount of bump travel is increased in proportion to the amount that the C/C plate is raised. Caster/camber Plates that are not spaced high above the strut tower will not provide the bump travel benefit compared to those that are.

Q. Why doesn't Maximum Motorsports make Caster/Camber Plates from aluminum?

A. Because of the difference in strength and fatigue life, a Caster/Camber Plate made from aluminum must be much thicker than one made from steel. The bottom surface of an aluminum Caster/Camber plate cannot be spaced as high above the strut tower without the top of the thick plate causing hood clearance problems. That will unnecessarily reduce the available bump travel, as discussed above. Using high-grade fatigue proof alloy steel allows our plates to be thin, spaced high above the strut tower, with the best hood clearance possible.

Q. My Mustang is an SN95 chassis. What is meant by "positive" and "negative" orientation of my Maximum Motorsports MMCC9994 caster/camber plates?

A. The names for the two different bearing plate orientations refer to the effect they will have on the camber adjustment range. Having the plates installed in the positive orientation does not mean the tires will have positive camber. It simply means that the range of adjustment allows for the most positive settings possible. Having the bearing plates installed in the negative orientation means the range of adjustment allows for the most negative settings possible.

For Mustang street cars, where too much negative camber can cause excessive tire wear, the positive orientation will allow for the most positive range of adjustment possible. This will help to keep tire wear to a minimum, and minimize steering wandering from "camber thrust. Even in the positive orientation the MM Caster/Camber plates will usually allow the camber setting to be as much as one degree negative.

Mustangs used in competition will nearly always have the bearing plates in the negative orientation.

Q. Why have "Positive" and "Negative" reversible Bearing orientation? Why not make the slots longer and get all the adjustment with one orientation?

A. When you reverse the bearing orientation, your adjustment range doubles for the maximum slot length you can fit under the hood. Our camber slots are 1.1" long, and when reversed the slots are effectively 2.2" long! Check the slot length from anyone who says that they can get that much camber adjustment out of a non-reversible bearing cup. You will not find any slot close to 2.2" long. Remember, any time there are two bolts in one slot, the effective slot length is reduced by no less than the diameter of the second bolt!

Q. What settings should I align my car to after installing my MM Caster/Camber Plates?

A. All Caster, Camber & Toe recommendations are specified for each specific year Mustang in our copyrighted consumer instructions, provided with all MM Caster/Camber Plates, or can be viewed here.

Q. If I adjust my Mustang's camber for autocrossing or open tracking, do I need to also readjust the toe setting?

A. Yes, any adjustment to camber will cause the toe setting to change. For example, if you adjusted your normal street setting of .75 degrees negative to a setting of 2.5 degrees negative, the toe setting will change, moving in the toe-out direction. This toe change is due to the inward movement of the top of the strut when negative camber is increased. Since the tie rod length remains constant, and the relative position of the spindle is moved inward, the tire toes out.

Q. Why doesn't my Fox chassis Mustang require 4-bolt Caster/Camber plates?

A. The 1979-93 Mustang Caster/Camber Plates only require three bolts because the strut top is captured inside a triangle formed by these three bolts (as viewed from the top). This means each bolt carries a portion of the vertical strut load and the plate is in fixed bending (loaded in the middle, supported on each end - like a bridge).

On 1994+ Mustang Caster/Camber plates, the strut top is outside of the triangle formed by the three factory mounting bolts. This means that two bolts carry the entire vertical strut load, and the plate is in cantilevered bending. The plate, and the Mustang's strut tower, are much more likely to bend. Adding a 4th mounting bolt on the main plate now captures the strut top inside the square formed by the four mounting bolts. Now the vertical strut load is shared between all four bolts, so the Caster/Camber plate and your Mustang's strut tower will never bend.

Q. What changed so that the MM Caster/Camber Plates now have a warranty?

A. For 1994+ Mustangs, our lifetime warranty covers our newest Patented 4-bolt X 4-bolt configuration with the bearing plate on top of the main plate. This means that 4 bolts secure the bearing plate to evenly spread the load into the main plate. 4 bolts also secure the main plate to the Mustang strut tower to eliminate strut tower bending. The resulting structure is so strong, that we are able to offer the lifetime warranty.

Lifetime warranty 1979-93 Maximum Motorsports Caster/Camber Plates, are now made from a new high-grade steel alloy. This new alloy steel makes our Caster/Camber Plates twice as strong as before.

Q. Why is MM's bearing plate on the top of the main plate on 1994+ Mustang Caster/Camber Plates, when everyone else puts the bearing plate under the main plate, including you on your 1979-93 Mustang Caster/Camber Plates?

A. On 1979-93 Mustangs the hood clearance is very good. This allows the main plate to be high enough that the bearing plate can fit underneath. The entire assembly is still lifted over 1", so that the bumpstop passes through the original factory hole and contacts the bottom of the bearing plate, restoring sufficient bump travel on lowered Mustangs.

On the 1994+ Mustangs the hood clearance is very tight. We positioned the main plate as close to the hood as possible for maximum increased bump travel, but the main plate still ends up being 3/8" lower than the earlier cars. It is simply not possible to get the main plate high enough to have the same gain in bump travel as the early cars if the bearing plate is placed underneath. BUT, there IS enough hood clearance to put the bearing cup plate on TOP of the main plate. The hole in the main plate is then made big enough that the bumpstop passes through the main plate and contacts the bearing plate. This configuration yields an additional .47" of bump travel compared to the bearing plate being under the main plate! Combined with the 4 X 4 bolt-mounting configuration mentioned above, this unique design was awarded U.S. Patent #6485223.

Q. Why do I need MM Caster/Camber Plates when I install a coil-over conversion kit on my Mustang?

A. Two major reasons: First, the stock Mustang upper strut mount is designed only for the forces from the struts, not the load of the car's weight on a spring. The rubber in the factory strut mount will deform and eventually fail from the increased loading.

Second, when installing a coil-over conversion kit, you must install an upper spring perch under the strut tower. This upper spring perch will occupy a certain amount of vertical space, and therefore use up precious bump travel. If you do not gain bump travel with a Caster/Camber Plate spaced above the strut tower, your coil-over equipped Mustang will actually have less bump travel than it had when it was stock!

Q. Will Caster/Camber Plates increase NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness)?

A. The Caster/Camber plates themselves do not cause any noise. However, they can transmit other suspension noises more easily than the rubber factory strut mount. There may be a slight increase in road noise from the tires, and slightly increased noise from the brakes. A slight increase in harshness when encountering abrupt bumps may be noted. These changes in NVH are minimal, and often are not noticeable in Mustangs with aftermarket mufflers.

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