Please help if you have used them.

I am thinking about getting some "crash bolts" from Mazda Motorsports to get additional negative camber in the FRONT (I autocross). I still get a lot of understeer (especially in tighter turns).

My set up is as follows: '92 protege LX, stock springs, ZX2 s/r struts, stock wheels (14") and Azenis tires (195/60).

My questions:

(1) How much negative camber can I expect to gain if I install one bolt per side (one pair)?

(2) How much can I get if I install two bolts per side (two pair)?

(3) How will dialing in more negative camber affect my toe (will it give me more toe in or more toe out?) if I do not concurrently realign my toe setting?

(4) What is the most negative camber I would want to have if I want to get decent tire wear (-1.5?; Is -2 too much)?

(5) Can I adjust the camber myself before and after each autocross event with these bolts? Do they have arrows on the bolt heads showing the direction of the lobe (I'm assuming that the bolts are eccentric)?

 

I think you should get toe out when adjusting the camber bolts for more negative camber. You're moving the the top of the spindle in towards the middle of the car, which should effectively move the tie rod mount on the spindle out right?

 

Do you guys know if the Mazda crash bolts work any better or worse than Ingall's camber bolts (ie, will the Ingall bolts get me more negative camber)? They sure do cost a lot more.

Jesse, thank you (again) for your help!

 

...i had posted a thread about using the S/R struts with STOCK springs....just curious - how is it workin out on your car? what's your impression of that setup?

 

When you push the top of the strut in, you get toe in. To figure the geometry of this, the steering link is behind the strut. Assuming that the the bottom (lower ball joint) and steering ball joint can't move, when you push the top of the wheel in, the other two can't move, so the front of the tire moves towards the center.

By adding 0.5 degrees of camber per side, you'll get about 3/8" toe-in (IIRC), which takes about 3-4 flats of the tie rod to remove.

David Avard

 

Have you guys looked at or thought about the front upper adjustable strut mount from JIC-Magic or Ground Control? I have the same under steer problem that btaira wrote about. And would love to have something like the Ground Control mounts to add neg. camber at the race track then repositions/align them for the road ride back home. Rishie is try to get the JIC-Magic upper adj. pillow ball strut mounts going but I noticed on the Ground Control web site their adj. strut mounts but they only work with GC coilovers.


Here is a pic of the GC front adj. strut mounts:

 

Oops, my other car has the steering link in front of the strut, which would give toe out. The Protege has the steering link behind the strut? You'd think I'd remember that after having to take it all apart to install the front stabilizer bar.

 

Jason,
The S/R struts work very well with the stock springs. Then again, I had 135,000 miles on the original struts (incidently, also Tokiko). So maybe any new strut would feel better to me. The car handles the quick left, right, lefts much better now (e.g., slalom). Final point, the car seems to ride slightly higher now. The fender gap is slightly bigger.

 

Thanks....at least i now know how it does with the stock setup....

Have you checked the 'southwestern' section lately....some of us are meetin April 7 at the LA AutoX event.

 

Mazda Motorsports doesn't have eccentric bolts for camber adjustment of the 3rd gen struts, in case anyone other than me was wondering.

 

I wasn't sure about the length, and Brian (at MM) said they didn't have them for the 3rd gen. I know they are made in a few different sizes, but the different Protege gens are probably the same. Hmm...