Ford Performance Camber Plates & Alignment

[Edson8r]

Shouldn't those be slammed all the way over to the edge of that large, uncut hole?

I pretty much installed them the way they came and when I removed the 3 Allen screws holding it I tried to keep it from moving too much and then planned to have my alignment done after. Didn’t mess with it after I put them in

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[Edson8r]

Ford says -1.03 for street and -1.5 for track (front) and -1.5 for rear regardless of which use.

For the Dark Horse handling package -1.21 for street and -2.25 for track (front), rear is -1.5 for track but oddly changes for the street to -1.14


Two observations: (1) Never ever ever ever set your camber to 0° for a Mustang unless you never intend to turn your steering wheel. (2) with some sticky tires you could probably have a much better track day with that front alignment at more like -3° or -3.5° if you are going to push it through the turns.

In your opinion what do you think would be the best alignment specs to go for? I know I don’t need anything crazy but I’m willing to sacrifice one thing if it meant better handling, etc., earlier in the thread I was told -2 all around and .24 for toe in the rear. Unless I should go for one of the OEM specs like you listed for the Dark Horse?

 

[Junkyard Dog]

On my '87 Camaro (almost 20 years) and '05 GTO (11 years), I got my best even tire wear at about 1 deg. of negative camber. Any less and it wore the outside edge of the front tires faster. I put 10k miles/year on my car, so that's a lot of tire miles. Best all-season tires I've had for performance and wear are the Continental ExtremeContact DWS line, getting about 40k miles on a set of tires, and I drive it hard at times and the occasional burnout.

I think that is what most persons find, because you do not always drive your car in a straight line. You have to follow the road. You have to turn right at intersections, or turn left at intersections. Think about what shifting two tons of weight around like that does to the outside tread of the tire?

Ford gives camber settings for cars for the street, not intended for track. Not even the rear tires should be set at 0° for best wear.

 

[Junkyard Dog]

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.

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.

It sounds like this is your intended use, driving on the street and once a year track, and now you have adjustable camber plates.

If I were you (but I am not), I would use the Ford recommendations, and change the setting for the track once a year. Change it back when you are done. It is not a huge big deal now that you have adjustable camber plates installed. I might not even change it for my first track day, if I were you (and in fact I did not for my first track day in my Dark Horse w/ handling package).

If you find yourself using super sticky tires (like less than 200 tw) maybe start using more camber for higher turn speeds on the track.

I ran my Dark Horse on the track with the stock street settings with sticky tires (180 tw) and had a blast.

I would not worry about it so much. If you start tracking more, maybe worry about it more. Seat time is going to be the biggest deal for you, not the camber settings. You will be able to take more advantage of things like that once you have more experience.

 

[Junkyard Dog]

Also, watch how much camber you use on the rear for a track day. There is a balance between turn speed and application of throttle, and the camber setting is not the same for those two. On a high horsepower car, if you like to get on the throttle early, less rear negative camber is desirable (or you may find yourself rotating the car around on exit). Front and rear are different considerations when it comes to camber.

More rear camber = higher turn speed, but less throttle available as you are passing the apex. If you like to be on the throttle as early as possible, be less aggressive with negative rear camber on the rear wheels.

Note the Dark Horse with handling package (a more track focused car) shows rear camber should be only 1.14° for the street and only 1.5° for the track.

 

[Edson8r]

It sounds like this is your intended use, driving on the street and once a year track, and now you have adjustable camber plates.

If I were you (but I am not), I would use the Ford recommendations, and change the setting for the track once a year. Change it back when you are done. It is not a huge big deal now that you have adjustable camber plates installed. I might not even change it for my first track day, if I were you (and in fact I did not for my first track day in my Dark Horse w/ handling package).

If you find yourself using super sticky tires (like less than 200 tw) maybe start using more camber for higher turn speeds on the track.

I ran my Dark Horse on the track with the stock street settings with sticky tires (180 tw) and had a blast.

I would not worry about it so much. If you start tracking more, maybe worry about it more. Seat time is going to be the biggest deal for you, not the camber settings. You will be able to take more advantage of things like that once you have more experience.

Thanks for your feedback! I think I will go for the Ford street recommendations, and now that I have an idea on how negative camber affects things, etc if I start tracking my car more often then I will start to get more into adjusting things from there. For now I wanted some adjustability at least since I was lowered and didn’t want to use camber bolts. Plus in the future I plan on buying a dedicated track car.

 

[Junkyard Dog]

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.

Do you have a good set of instructions for using those items? I looked at them. I see the plates look like they lean up against the wheels and then you use a tape measure?

 

[2BigPups]

Do you have a good set of instructions for using those items? I looked at them. I see the plates look like they lean up against the wheels and then you use a tape measure?

Instructions they came with, along with various You Tube videos, will guide you through the process.

One big thing to remember is to set the camber first, then set the toe. On both the S550 and S650 a change in camber will impact the toe setting. Stock camber results in stock toe setting. Adding negative camber (without adjusting toe) results in toe out and rapid inside edge tire wear.

I marked the tie rod threaded ends with paint pen marks for -1 deg camber and -2.4 deg camber so I could quickly adjust the toe correspondingly and then do a quick measurement to verify.

 

[2BigPups]

The caster/camber gauge is always spot on. I primarily use the Toe Plates to verify the toe alignment after adjusting camber between street and track settings while the car is sitting at rest.

For actually setting the toe, I would use the string method. Much more involved but I could set everything where I wanted, not where a tech would say "That's good enough." I had a setup where I had (guessing on measurements, it's been awhile since I made them and too cold to pull them out and measure, LOL) 12"x14"x12" blocks made of 2x4s under all four wheels with the front blocks topped with ceramic floor tile/folded trash bag/floor tile sandwich under the front wheels which allowed me to easily turn the front wheels as I adjusted the toe settings with full weight on both front and rear suspension in order to dial in the front to exactly where I wanted it. Rear toe, a little more complicated but doable.

Got to the point where I could change from street to track settings and verify them in well under an hour, including enjoying a cold beverage or two.

 

[2BigPups]

This is with only -2.4 degrees camber at speed around the almost 180 deg turn 10 - 11 at Club Motorsports. No abnormal tire wear at all. And yes, once we reached the main straight, the Dodge Viper with all that aero behind me passed me like I was standing still.

 

[thornclaw]

you have to loosen the 3 shock mount bolts sticking up in the picture, then jack up the front wheels some and then using a crowbar, just slide the top of the shock inward some to get more negative camber. just looking at the pic, there is a lot of room to adjust your camber-the top of the shock should not be in the middle of the hole it is sticking through. also, you need to bring the car to an actual alignment shop or performance shop and not the dealer.

 

[Edson8r]

you have to loosen the 3 shock mount bolts sticking up in the picture, then jack up the front wheels some and then using a crowbar, just slide the top of the shock inward some to get more negative camber. just looking at the pic, there is a lot of room to adjust your camber-the top of the shock should not be in the middle of the hole it is sticking through. also, you need to bring the car to an actual alignment shop or performance shop and not the dealer.

Yeah I got it done already at an actual alignment shop. Luckily he’s a Mustang and car guy too

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