Way too much camber after dropping arms...What do I do?

danewers · May 31, 2005

i just installed my new upper and lower control arms on my '67 today, i lowered the upper control arms 1-3/4" and also cut 3/4 of a coil off my 1" drop 620 coils. after i finished and drove the car around for a while, i had excessive negetive camber. i adjusted the camber on the LCA until it bottomed out and still had too much negetive camber. so i removed the upper arms and put washers between the arms and the shock tower, a little less than half an inch worth of spacers for both sides. i drove it around and the result was much better, but still too much negetive camber, and my adjustments are still bottomed out.

any ideas on what to do? should i add more washers to the upper control arms? i already have 4 washers on each upper control arms bolt that add up to about half an inch, will i have any problems if i have it spaced out too much, will it lose any strength? i can fix the problem by adding more washers but it just seems like it will lose alot of strength. any help would be greatly appreciated! thanks!!

some may say its too low, but i LOVE the new stance the car has. it drives great! just need to fix the camber.

iskwezm · May 31, 2005

the only thing to do is put more shims on the upper arm,but i would think at a certain point it becomes unsafe.I have the 620 coils and it site pretty low,so my tires have negative camber too,but thats the only way i can run the 17's with that much of a drop.

danewers · May 31, 2005

yeah thats true, i didnt think about that. the camber would help fitting bigger wheels which i plan on getting in the future.

iskwezm · May 31, 2005

you can run any size,but nothing wider then 7" probably,thats what I have on mine,maybe a little higher then yours,but not much.

latamud · May 31, 2005

I run a 17x8 on my 66, 245/40zr17 all around. I did have to shim the upper control arms down to nubs. Your lower control arms have excentrics that allow for the LCA to move more inward, reducing negative camber. Do you have some sort of negative wedge kit? If not you're going to put a lot of stress on the upper ball joint with such a low Shelby drop. For the ride height up front, if you feel it is too low, you can order a coil bushing from Mustangs Plus, they have 1/4" 1/2" and 1".

danewers · May 31, 2005

yeah i've taken care of the ball joint issue. no binding. i think i'll fab up a couple of thick steel plates with a couple holes drilled in them to put between the arm and shock tower. i cant think of any issues that could arise from that.

HistoricMustang · May 31, 2005

Your stance looks pretty good to me. Rotate the tires often and have them remounted for longer tire wear if you decide to keep that look!

HistoricMustang
www.historicmustang.com

Hack · May 31, 2005

I don't think you should worry about shimming the upper arm. Just consider that the '65 and '66 Mustangs all have shims on the UCA; they are designed to be that way. I have a similar situation with my car. I've done the same thing that you are.

I'm not too worried about loss of strength, because I made a reinforcement plate out of 10 gage steel. It has holes in the original location, and holes in the new UCA location. I bought some short bolts to install in the original UCA location. They hold the reinforcement plate in place. I put the washer shims between the tower and the reinforcement plate.

It's not ideal, but it seems to work just fine. I'm also planning on buying some UCA mounting bolts for '65 and '66 Mustangs. They are 1/2" longer than the later model bolts. This gives the extra length you may need for shimming the upper arm, depending on your car. I had ordered them from AMK products, but they are currently out of stock.

Jester67 · May 31, 2005

It is my understanding that the 67 have the weakest shock towers of all the early classics. Because of that they are the most prone to cracking. I would be very careful of adding any undue stress to this area. If you must do it I would recommend the reinforcement kit that http://www.pro-motorsports.com/ makes. It is sometimes referred to as the big block kit and is similar to the Boss kit. Just something to keep in mind.

danewers · May 31, 2005

my shock towers were actually rebuilt because they were cracked. the guy who rebuilt them definitely made sure they wouldnt crack again. alot of reinforcement under there. i almost didnt recognize what i was working on because of all the reinforcement on mine compared to the pics ive seen online. so i think i will just space them out a little bit more. i'll have some steel plates made for a little extra reinforcement as well. thanks for all the help guys!!

ron67fb · May 31, 2005

How much is too much? I thought mine looked "too much" after I did the same mods as you, but a trip to the alignment rack showed only -1/2 degree, which isn't really that bad for a street car. I have the eccentric eliminator kit adjusted all the way in, and no upper shims except for the reinforcement plate that Pro Motorsports includes with the wedge kit. Tire wear on my 50-series tires looks pretty even.

edit - found an old pic showing my camber

HistoricMustang · May 31, 2005

ron67fb said:

Yes, in theory, going straight the tires wear inside and turnng the tires wear outside so it pretty much evens out.

HistoricMustang
www.historicmustang.com

danewers · May 31, 2005

ron: looks like you have about the same amount of camber i do. thats only half a degree? not bad. thats what i was planning on aligning it to anyway. thanks for the pic!

danewers · May 31, 2005

yes i was also thinking about that, going straight wears the inside and going around corners (which i do alot of) wears the outside. thus creating a nice even wear

TT670 · May 31, 2005

Heres a tip, take an 18" level and lay it vertically on the wheel or tire. For every 1/8" away from the tire from level equals approx 1/2 degree of camber. Keep in mind as the tire cycles upward during compression the top of the tire will push outward.

bnickel · May 31, 2005

personally i would be more worried about grinding your sway bar off or bending it into a pretzel from being so low to the ground, my opinion is to replace that bar with a more correct style bar that doesn't hang under the car like that. i have a 1" Quickor bar on my car and it fit just like the original 13/16" bar did

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