Front control arm hits inner fender well!

[Sk8er07999]

I own a 97 GSX. I have Skunk2's and ingalls front and rear camber kit. I am not sure how many inches I lowered the car. The back coilovers are all the way down fronts are about half an inch from being all the way down. I got an alignment done and the technician was able to do the rear but unable to adjust the front camber because the upper control arm will hit the inner fender if this brought out any more. Which I noticed would be a problem when I was installing. I did a search and the best answer I saw was to take a hammer and bash the inner fender which I don't want to do. I tried grinding down the arm a little with no succes still not enough room camber is noticably bad and my falkens got chewed up in a couple months! The only other option would be to go with SPC's adjustable ball joints (another 200 bucks for camber! :thumbdown ). Just wanted to know if I have any other options. Don't really want to spend another 200 since I already did once for a camber kit!

 

[Sk8er07999]

Am I the only one that has ever ran into this problem? That doesn't sound right.... Help anyone?

 

[13secGST]

yeh...mine will do that too on big dips and stuff...your choices are to either by the ball joint camber adjustment.

Or

Raise the car up some so camber isn't as bad, then adjust it.

 

[SlowSpyder]

the way the ingalls camber kit works is by bringing the whole a-arm out further which is causing the arm to hit your fender(plus your car is pretty low). 13secgst pretty much told you what your solution is. Get the adjustable ball joint that replaces the stock ball joint on the a-arm, instead of pushing the a-arm out further it will just move the spindle in or out.

 

[jtmcinder]

If you insist on running your car that low - which actually hurts handling because the lateral arms are angling up to the wheel - then you have to run spring rates in the 600+ range. If you are not willing to run springs this stiff, then you really should raise the car back up a bit. Sure, you can bang away on the fenders with a hammer to avoid having the outer ends of the A-arms hit, but you'll still be all over your bump-stops.

Maybe there should be a separate forum for suspension mods that are geared towards appearance as opposed to performance. I, for one, would not call a car that is slammed to the bumpstops on lowly 300 springs "tuned." I don't mean to slam (as it were) against the guy who has done this (since I was single once); I just think that we'd all have an easier time of it if show mods and go mods were kept apart.

- Jtoby

 

[13secGST]

Originally posted by jtmcinder
Maybe there should be a separate forum for suspension mods that are geared towards appearance as opposed to performance. I, for one, would not call a car that is slammed to the bumpstops on lowly 300 springs "tuned." I don't mean to slam (as it were) against the guy who has done this (since I was single once); I just think that we'd all have an easier time of it if show mods and go mods were kept apart.

- Jtoby

It just doesn't work...I don't know why, you could say that this belongs in the interior/exterior mods section...since it isn't performance related...but, I don't know, I just live with it and don't really care.

 

[jtmcinder]

Yeah. And that was pretty obnoxious of me to suggest, given that I've been on this board for - what? - a week. But being obnoxious is one of my strong suits. I'll try to learn to reply to only those things that I not only know about, but have some interest in.

- Jtoby

 

[Sk8er07999]

ha ha I knew I shouldn't ask this question on these boards because of ass holes like you guys. You guys think you know everything? Shit I have been on this board longer then you. Jtoby. If your gonna be a smart ass then why even reply? I didn't and don't expect my car to handle well. Why not reply like slowspider or 13sec's first reply? All I wanted to know is if there was a way around the problem. You don't have to get all up tight about the situation and start talking about how I might be doing something wrong. My car doesn't ride against the bump stops either. Maybe when you get your panties out of the twist that they are in you just might be able to write a decent reply? Who knows. Those obnoxious people usually just piss people off so just hold your thoughts next time thanks though jtmcinder.

 

[jtmcinder]

Since you asked, the reason that I replied is that many people read boards like these for useful information. Unfortunately, direct requests for the information that is needed to make an informed and intelligent decision about a type of modification are rare. Instead, someone often asks a question that roughly boils down to: "I'm done something stupid and I'd like to know if there are any more stupid things that I can do that will undo the original stupidity." Although it may seem rude to take such threads on tangents, I believe that it is equally rude to give the curious lurkers the impression that what was done originally was anything close to intelligent.

Most of the time I try to simply raise the deeper issues that need to be thought through in advance or give some technical background. Again, this is partly in the hopes that providing more information might help prevent the curious lurkers from making the same mistake.

Sometimes, however, the person who started the thread is bright enough to see what I'm actually doing and gets angry.

But, on reflection, I can live with that.

Just as you seem able to live with a car that has thrown away at least a twentieth of a g in lateral acceleration in the hopes of looking good.

- Jtoby

 

[igs]

Originally posted by jtmcinder


Just as you seem able to live with a car that has thrown away at least a twentieth of a g in lateral acceleration in the hopes of looking good.

- Jtoby

You don't actually think a higher center of gravity will give you better grip do you?

 

[jtmcinder]

No, but I'm also not silly enough to think that the height of the CG is the end-all and be-all of handling. In other words, I am not only aware that a lower CG is better, all else being equal, I am also aware that all else is rarely equal and that, on a 2G DSM, all else is definitely not equal.

I'm perfectly willing to spend fifteen minutes every now and then explaining things. I'm still hoping that one of my questions will be answered at some point. It might also be fun to list all the reasons why you don't want to lower a 2G more than about 1.5". But responding to naive snipes is a waste of time. Maybe you got a little rush of excitement thinking that you'd skewered me with your simplistic idea that lower CGs are always better - more power to you - but it doesn't do anyone any good, since it is the wrong way to think when you want the car to actually handle better.

- Jtoby

 

[13secGST]

Damn...if I was a mod...I woulda closed this before any stupid shit happened...just stop guys.

 

[Sk8er07999]

It's all good jg@yboy, if you like goin fast around corners in your stock talon we all hope you have fun

 

[jtmcinder]

Samuel Krauss

- Jtoby

 

[xyzzy72]

I've been watching this thread, because I recently lowered my car too, though not by that much. I just feel I have to put my "IMHO" in. I see nothing wrong with anyone asking for help on here, no matter what their problem/mistake might be...chances are, someone else has done the same thing, and can offer some advice...which is what this guy needs, not criticism. I thought that's what these boards were for...advice, not "how to perfectly tune your car according to one person". Sometimes the only way to learn about your car is by doing things, seeing what's wrong with them, and asking others with similar problems how to correct it. He doesn't need to be told he's stupid, just how to improve on what went wrong in a positive way. I think the fact that he's enjoying his DSM is enough to make him worthy of asking a question on here.
I hope no one takes offense to this. I just felt the need to post, being someone who can not perfectly tune her car either. Thanks for reading.

 

[Sk8er07999]

Originally posted by xyzzy72
I've been watching this thread, because I recently lowered my car too, though not by that much. I just feel I have to put my "IMHO" in. I see nothing wrong with anyone asking for help on here, no matter what their problem/mistake might be...chances are, someone else has done the same thing, and can offer some advice...which is what this guy needs, not criticism. I thought that's what these boards were for...advice, not "how to perfectly tune your car according to one person". Sometimes the only way to learn about your car is by doing things, seeing what's wrong with them, and asking others with similar problems how to correct it. He doesn't need to be told he's stupid, just how to improve on what went wrong in a positive way. I think the fact that he's enjoying his DSM is enough to make him worthy of asking a question on here.
I hope no one takes offense to this. I just felt the need to post, being someone who can not perfectly tune her car either. Thanks for reading.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Right on dude

 

[AWDPetmitsu]

Originally posted by Sk8er07999
I couldn't have said it better myself. Right on dude

Yeah, like he said. Right on DUDE !!!

 

[igs]

Originally posted by Sk8er07999
It's all good jg@yboy, if you like goin fast around corners in your stock talon we all hope you have fun

 

[jtmcinder]

I'm starting to think that DSMTuners needs to use AdultCheck.

- Jtoby

 

[13secGST]

LMFAO:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

 

[my95tsi]

Hey i got a question thats back on topic! Where do i buy the adjustable ball joint b/c if i adjust my camber anymore i'm going to run into the same problem. But i only need one not the pair. Also would i have to have a shop install it or could i do it myself with basic tools?

 

[13secGST]

I know for a fact that Mike @ DSS sells the ball joint camber kits...he tried to get me to buy them when I needed a camber kit and I went for the cheaper ingalls one as well...now, when I go ahead and get the JIC's I'm going to have to get those camber kits too...I should have just done that in the first place...but Ohh well.

He also sells them for the same price as basically anywhere else that sells them.

And, if you are handy, sure you can install them yourself. I would...it just takes some time. But then, it may be easier, and worth it to just have the alignment shop that is going to adjust your camber do it at the same time.

 

[jtmcinder]

Many autoXers have the design for an offset bushing for the lower lateral control arm. The idea is to use these to add camber, but they could easily be installed backwards to delete camber. Heck of lot more durable than funky ball-joints and such. They have to be pinned, though.

- Jtoby

ps. here's a copy

 

[Sk8er07999]

http://www.ardperformance.com


Cheapest I have ever seen and they are offering free shipping right now! Check it out!

 

[leet]

Originally posted by Sk8er07999
ha ha I knew I shouldn't ask this question on these boards because of ass holes like you guys. You guys think you know everything? Shit I have been on this board longer then you. Jtoby. If your gonna be a smart ass then why even reply? I didn't and don't expect my car to handle well. Why not reply like slowspider or 13sec's first reply? All I wanted to know is if there was a way around the problem. You don't have to get all up tight about the situation and start talking about how I might be doing something wrong. My car doesn't ride against the bump stops either. Maybe when you get your panties out of the twist that they are in you just might be able to write a decent reply? Who knows. Those obnoxious people usually just piss people off so just hold your thoughts next time thanks though jtmcinder.

His response wasn't all for you, it was for the FEW people out there who want actual hard PERFORMANCE data. Just because you've been on DSMTuners longer than another member, obviously does not make you more knowledgeable.

Carry on, JToby and the rest.