Ingalls front camber kit increases wheel gap - help! (2G)

[nvr2muchboost]

Here is my setup:

- '97 Eclipse GS-T
- GC Coilovers with AGX Shocks.

After installing this coilover/spring combo and getting it setup with the perfect amount of wheel gap (about 1/2 a finger's width) I began the install of the full Ingalls kit.

Here is a quick pic of the adjustable anchor bolts of the camber kit for the front that replaces the stock non-adjustable anchor bolts:

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The rears came out fine, but when I installed these adjustable anchor bolts on the front, the wheel gap had increased noticably, in fact, it was higher on the driver's side than on the passenger side.

I cranked the GCs down to the lowest rung possible but the gap is still greater than when I had the stock setup in their.

I know I put it in their correctly, checked everything and it looks correct, but damn, it shouldn't increase the height like that. :thumbdown I even held the adjustable anchor bolt next to the stock non-adjustable one, and they're the same height - so I just don't get it.

I've put the stock anchor bolts back which brought back the original stance.

I'm thinking of getting rid of this front kit and getting something else that doesn't negatively affect the ride height like this.

I am totally open to all suggestions.

Help!

 

[jtmcinder]

1/2 a finger gap???

Your upper control arms could be hitting the fender. How early they hit depends on whether the upper arms have been shifted outwards, so the camber kit could be causing you to hit earlier and at a different point on the left and right.

Try again at a ride height that makes sense, such as two fingers of gap.

- Jtoby

 

[nvr2muchboost]

Thanks for the response

I really like the look of the tire having basically no gap with the outer fender. The top of the tire almost looks like it touches the top of the exterior fender. I may have described it incorrectly with my original post. It kind of looks like the M-series of BMW when they roll out with basically no wheel gap.

There is no contact either with or without the kit that I can feel around of the A-arm, but that would probably make sense at this point. I find on the original anchor bolts I can really slam it down (which I initially did when adjusting the GCs) but not on the Ingalls anchor bolts.

I still want to achieve the look I have with the stock setup though - possibly a different camber kit for the front like maybe SPC???

 

[rowlex]

on my 2G i dropped it pretty far...maaybe fit two fingers inbetween. I installed the ingalls front kit. I had to beat the fcuk out of the outer upper strut housing so the top of the arm where the ball joint is wouldnt hit. It still rubs it to... I also ground a bit of it off. How is the ride? noisy? stiff? There's a good chance it's stuck there.

 

[nvr2muchboost]

Ok - that makes sense - thx.

The idea of pounding it down/grinding does makes sense. I just went out to the garage and find that on the driver side where it does sit higher that when you try to bounce the car it acutally doesn't move - so there is contact somewhere. I just don't have the expertise/ know-how to engage in the pounding/grinding thing without worrying that I'd be screwing the whole thing up - and I know what a shop would charge to do that.

I'm thinking then of selling the Ingalls kit and possibly going with the SPC Adjustable Front Ball Joint Camber kit (the extreme kit).

Any thoughts on this?

 

[jtmcinder]

Adjustable ball-joints will just make it worse since these move the outer end of the arm up, away from the top of the knuckle. This is true because the adjustable ball-joint is larger than the stock ball-joint.

There is really not a whole lot that I can do for you. 2Gs just can't be lowered as far as you are trying for. Even if you raised it a little bit so that you could at least be level (as you managed with the stock pivots), you will have almost zero travel and the ride will be awful and the handling will be beyond pig-like.

- Jtoby

ps. we don't drive BMWs; facing this now will save you a lot of pain later

 

[rowlex]

Ok - that makes sense - thx.

The idea of pounding it down/grinding does makes sense. I just went out to the garage and find that on the driver side where it does sit higher that when you try to bounce the car it acutally doesn't move - so there is contact somewhere. I just don't have the expertise/ know-how to engage in the pounding/grinding thing without worrying that I'd be screwing the whole thing up - and I know what a shop would charge to do that.

Any thoughts on this?

If you installed all this stuff yourself. Jack it up, take the wheels off, take off the coil-overs, leave the arm on(the upper one that is rubbing), or you can take it off but there is enought room to leave it on.

Grab a ball-peen hammer and beat the hell out of the outer lower/mid area of the strut housing. You can line it up and see where it's hitting. I also ground off a safe amount of material from the thing that rubs the strut housing. Test it a few times to see if it still rubs. if it does keep beating on it. Drop me a msg on AIM if you have any more questions or post back for a slower responce. blu95gsx is my username.

I also agree with the poster above. That low - is too low. You will not enjoy the ride and likely your tires will hit your fender and screw it up, your front bumper will also get torn up. with mine 2 finger gap i can just barely make it over speed bumps - if i go real slow.

 

[jtmcinder]

Grab a ball-peen hammer and beat the hell out of the outer lower/mid area of the strut housing. You can line it up and see where it's hitting.

What??? April 1st is still about eight weeks away.

First off, whacking on the body of a shock is downright insane, unless you have some anger to work out plus a new shock to put in the place of the now-bent one.

Second, it is not the shock that is hitting anything. It's the outer end of the upper control arm that it slamming up into the fender.

Third, very few suspension problems are solved with a BFH. This option should probably not come up until the twentieth post in a thread, with the possibly-unique exception of rolling the rear inner fender lips.

- Jtoby

 

[igs]

What??? April 1st is still about eight weeks away.

Second, it is not the shock that is hitting anything. It's the outer end of the upper control arm that it slamming up into the fender.

- Jtoby

You keep saying the upper arm hits the fender. How is that even possible, it comes nowhere near the fender. The only thing it can hit is the strut tower.

 

[rowlex]

I didnt mean hit the strut. I meant the strut tower HOUSING. Which would be the area "housing" the strut/spring setup.

It's not the fender it's hitting, its the upper-outer portion of the area surrounding the strut/springs. That's the piece you need to hit. It is part of the body of your vehicle. Either beat the hell out of it to make the necessary room you need for your strut/shocks to work properly, or raise the vehicle back up to a height where there is no issue.

 

[jtmcinder]

This is for the archives and the guy who started the thread.

Assuming that the shock doesn't bury itself in the bumpstop, the first thing to hit on an overly lowered 2G is the upper control arm hitting the inside of the fender, aka upper wheel well. These are not exactly the same on the two sides of the car, so it does not surprise me that the car sits crooked when this happens. The reason that it gets worse with adjustable pivots is that the inner fender curved down at the outside, so the farther out the arm is, the sooner it hits.

You do not want to drive like this. It will not only ride like crap, but will damage the car.

You cannot lower a 2G as much as you are shooting for. At least, you can't do it without spending a lot of money to rework the knuckles and upper control arms. It's really that simple.

- Jtoby