Ford Performance Camber Plates & Alignment

[Edson8r]

Hoping someone may know the answer to this but I have a 24 GT non magneride, and recently installed Steeda non adjustable shocks/struts and added the Ford Performance camber plates along with Ford Performance street springs that I’ve had for over a year now. But before I installed and put everything together I did remove the 3 screws so that way I could take it to a dealer or shop to do my alignment. Well I got my alignment done at a dealer and before I did anything I called and confirmed to ask if they’d be able to do an alignment and would one of their techs know how to adjust camber since I have the plates and the service advisor said yes. Well once I got my car back they told me the camber was maxed out and they couldn’t do much more. I asked how did they try to adjust it and if they loosened the 3 bolts holding the struts to then adjust from there but wasn’t able to get an answer.

So my question for those who are techs themselves or just know how to adjust camber, how is it done on an alignment rack? Does it need to be jacked up front then adjust camber, put it altogether and then back to the rack? I’m thinking of taking it to an actual alignment shop like my original plan was but want to know what I should be expecting when I reach out to two alignment shops in my area.

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[Edson8r]

Also this is my alignment sheet. What specs should I be aiming for a street car that will be driven spiritedly and could see a track or two every once in a while for fun, but most likely street with some back roads? Also something that won’t eat my tires either if that’s possible to achieve or not.

 

[Neggytive]

I could get that in spec by loosening up the strut/knuckle bolts and shoving the parts to the limit of the clearance in the holes.

You need to find a 75 year old guy who still aligns cars the old fashioned way.

These effn kids know how to "set the toe and let it go", anything else might as well be written in Martian

75% of our alignment business is either straightening out other shops eff ups, or doing real all wheel alignments that other shops refuse to do because that $89.95 alignment or "free" alignment when you buy tires does not allow for the time to do it right.


A sheet like that would NEVER leave our shop so long as the suspension was in good shape and the frame was not damaged

 

[Neggytive]

PS the alignment specs are here : https://www.mustang7g.com/forums/attachments/alignment-specs-s650-pdf.570064/

 

[GhastlyTT]

I doubt they touched your camber. Ford's camber plate range is out to -2.3*. The Ford service manual procedure calls for notching the top strut to spindle bolt hole which they'd look at and go "no thanks". Yes, weight needs to be off the wheels to adjust camber. After loosening the top 3 strut nuts, slide the strut inward for more negative camber and pull it outward for less. Negative camber is fine for street tire life. Bad toe and thrust angles are what really wear them out.

 

[Sofa King]

I could get that in spec by loosening up the strut/knuckle bolts and shoving the parts to the limit of the clearance in the holes.

You need to find a 75 year old guy who still aligns cars the old fashioned way.

These effn kids know how to "set the toe and let it go", anything else might as well be written in Martian

75% of our alignment business is either straightening out other shops eff ups, or doing real all wheel alignments that other shops refuse to do because that $89.95 alignment or "free" alignment when you buy tires does not allow for the time to do it right.


A sheet like that would NEVER leave our shop so long as the suspension was in good shape and the frame was not damaged

Doesn't look like they touched it... maybe bounced it up and down a couple times.

PS the alignment specs are here : https://www.mustang7g.com/forums/attachments/alignment-specs-s650-pdf.570064/

In the manual too... at least factory specs. If going for occasional track use -2 all around is good, but less toe in the rear... about .24 total.

 

[Edson8r]

Thanks everyone! I know they didn’t touch camber especially since they couldn’t give me an answer as to how they tried to adjust it. They “tried” but all they did was bang it up trying to pry it or something. I knew they didn’t even loosen the bolts. Luckily there’s two shops that could get me squared away. Thought I’d give the dealer a chance but that was my mistake.

 

[2BigPups]

When I still had my 2021 Mach 1, I had brought it to two dealerships as well as an independent shop to try to get the alignment specs I wanted. Dealerships had no clue how to adjust camber, while the independent shop wanted to use offset camber bolts. Yea, nope!

Ended up purchasing a Longacre Digital Caster/Camber Gauge Item Number: 52-78298 and Longacre Deluxe Toe Plates Item Number: 52-79505. Already had the string kit for doing the four wheel toe settings. Did all my own alignments till I sold the Mach 1. Now I do my own alignments on my current vehicles. Fairly easy once you get the hang of it.

 

[krisk]

When I still had my 2021 Mach 1, I had brought it to two dealerships as well as an independent shop to try to get the alignment specs I wanted. Dealerships had no clue how to adjust camber, while the independent shop wanted to use offset camber bolts. Yea, nope!

Ended up purchasing a Longacre Digital Caster/Camber Gauge Item Number: 52-78298 and Longacre Deluxe Toe Plates Item Number: 52-79505. Already had the string kit for doing the four wheel toe settings. Did all my own alignments till I sold the Mach 1. Now I do my own alignments on my current vehicles. Fairly easy once you get the hang of it.

Here’s my experience when it comes to at home alignments on the S650.

Measuring:
Camber: Super quick and easy with a gauge.
Caster: Not adjustable with camber only plates, so I ignore.
Total Toe: Not as quick and easy as camber, but still not a lot of work involved.
Toe per corner: Takes some time to setup strings properly, but it’s not very difficult.

Adjusting:
Front Camber: Easy to adjust with camber plates.
Front Toe: Easy to adjust with car raised.
Front in General: Camber affects toe and toe affects camber. Having to lift the car off the wheels to adjust camber, then adjust toe, then resettle the suspension which involves either slip plates or rolling the car is a real pain. The toe adjustments are very minor and it can take measuring multiple times to get it just right. In other words, it’s time consuming to adjust toe exact specs. Ball park specs (within .1 degree of to per side) aren’t as much work.
Rear Camber: Pain to adjust with stock upper arms. Easy to adjust aftermarket like Steeda camber arms.
Rear Toe: Easier to adjust with aftermarket toe links, but not terrible stock either.
Rear in General: It’s a huge pain if you don’t have a four post lift. The interaction between camber and toe requires a fair amount of adjusting and remeasuring. It can be done, and I’ve done it several times, but I hate it.

Bottom line is checking your alignment at home with the right tools is pretty easy. Actually adjusting it to desired specs, not so much.

That said, the reason I do it is because it doesn’t seem that you can trust anyone to actually adjust it properly. All most shops are worried about is getting the numbers to light up green. And I’ve found they can manipulate the measurements. I’ve checked behind them and found them to be off by substantial amounts at times.

 

[Sofa King]

When I still had my 2021 Mach 1, I had brought it to two dealerships as well as an independent shop to try to get the alignment specs I wanted. Dealerships had no clue how to adjust camber, while the independent shop wanted to use offset camber bolts. Yea, nope!

Ended up purchasing a Longacre Digital Caster/Camber Gauge Item Number: 52-78298 and Longacre Deluxe Toe Plates Item Number: 52-79505. Already had the string kit for doing the four wheel toe settings. Did all my own alignments till I sold the Mach 1. Now I do my own alignments on my current vehicles. Fairly easy once you get the hang of it.

Yeah, the string method was used at all shops prior to the electronic ones used now.

 

[Ryunker]

Hoping someone may know the answer to this but I have a 24 GT non magneride, and recently installed Steeda non adjustable shocks/struts and added the Ford Performance camber plates along with Ford Performance street springs that I’ve had for over a year now. But before I installed and put everything together I did remove the 3 screws so that way I could take it to a dealer or shop to do my alignment. Well I got my alignment done at a dealer and before I did anything I called and confirmed to ask if they’d be able to do an alignment and would one of their techs know how to adjust camber since I have the plates and the service advisor said yes. Well once I got my car back they told me the camber was maxed out and they couldn’t do much more. I asked how did they try to adjust it and if they loosened the 3 bolts holding the struts to then adjust from there but wasn’t able to get an answer.

So my question for those who are techs themselves or just know how to adjust camber, how is it done on an alignment rack? Does it need to be jacked up front then adjust camber, put it altogether and then back to the rack? I’m thinking of taking it to an actual alignment shop like my original plan was but want to know what I should be expecting when I reach out to two alignment shops in my area.

You are correct loosen the hardware and slide. Understand that these plates unmodified will only increase negative camber, it will not allow getting closer to zero unless modified before install. I have these and am a retired tech (last year) did my own alignment and when realized this, I pulled the camber plates out, modified them so I could set camber to my choice.

 

[Edson8r]

You are correct loosen the hardware and slide. Understand that these plates unmodified will only increase negative camber, it will not allow getting closer to zero unless modified before install. I have these and am a retired tech (last year) did my own alignment and when realized this, I pulled the camber plates out, modified them so I could set camber to my choice.

Thank you! I plan on having some negative camber just because I’ve read that it helps with tire wear as long as toe is all good if I’m not mistaken. Most likely will go with what some of the others mentioned when I take it to the next shop to get it aligned they told me I can bring my own specs and they’ll get it done for me.

 

[Edson8r]

Now this brings me to my next question. What specs should I go for when I take it to a dedicated alignment shop that knows how to work on modified cars. As mentioned it will be a street car, will be driven spiritedly, and on back roads, and with the ocasional track day once a year? Would the specs given by Sofa King be the best for my purposes? That way I can give the shop my specs and go from there since this is my first time ever messing with camber plates.

 

[Ryunker]

Thank you! I plan on having some negative camber just because I’ve read that it helps with tire wear as long as toe is all good if I’m not mistaken. Most likely will go with what some of the others mentioned when I take it to the next shop to get it aligned they told me I can bring my own specs and they’ll get it done for me.

In order to get tire longevity, camber gets set at close to zero as possible. For each 1° of camber you loose 20% of tread life. For performance and driving hard folks desire a bunch of negative camber. I have a '24 DH with almost 9,000 miles are the tires have even wear and very little of that all the way around even. Camber negative or positive is the #1 tire wear reason.

 

[Edson8r]

In order to get tire longevity, camber gets set at close to zero as possible. For each 1° of camber you loose 20% of tread life. For performance and driving hard folks desire a bunch of negative camber. I have a '24 DH with almost 9,000 miles are the tires have even wear and very little of that all the way around even. Camber negative or positive is the #1 tire wear reason.

Ah okay that’s what I thought but I could have sworn I read something else online on the 6G or 7G forums throughout the weeks of doing my research lol but I’m okay with more performance even if it means less tire life. Car gets driven weekends or in nice weather so I can make them last.

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