natedog

I recently lowered the car on Ford K springs & Konis. I heard many good reviews on the GT500 strut mount/Eibach camber bolt setup so I installed those as well. Only problem is I took the car to get aligned today and the tech said that the bolts don't fit properly. Said something about them being too skinny or too short. As a result, my camber is out of spec. I think it's -1.9 & -1.7 deg.

Anyone know of a better size for camber bolts for a 2012? I thought the Eibach's were 14mm, same as stock. Kinda bizarre that they won't work. I really don't want to pony up the money for CC plates since this is my daily driver.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

6-Speed

The camber bolts use a smaller diameter bolt size than the stock spindle bolts (12mm vs 14mm); that's why I won't use them.

Lem-06

the point of the camber bolt is it has a cam lobe built into it and the main body of the bolt is thinner so it can adjust the camber of the wheels.
beyond that its plates, and more extreme is notching out the assembly to allow the stock bolt to slide further to adjust

hootie_john

Not to hijack - how do the cam bolts work? Maybe I'm just missing something obvious. I see it has a "cam lobe" built in - does that somehow change the angle?

natedog

That's odd because the product description on the AM website lists it as 14mm:

http://www.americanmuscle.com/eibach...olts-0512.html

Obviously lots of people have used these on their lowered cars. What advice can I give the tech doing my alignment when using these? He's convinced they won't work.

moosestang

Did you install the bolts?

The bolts work by turning them, thus spinning the cam lobe part and moving the strut in and out, you can actual see them moving the strut. I installed mine in place of the top bolt.

Sam Strano

There are two types of camber bolts. The ones above don't require any change to the strut to use them, and they are smaller so they can wobble in the hole. The cam is what rides in the knuckle and gives you adjustment. The other type are like the Ford bolts, which *DO* require slotting the hole because they are stock sized bolts with a cam on the head to give you a way to make the strut move a certain amount. Very different.

Now, the rub with the former type is they are smaller, and hold less torque, less well. They are prone to slipping. They are not the ideal, but they are cheap. Trouble is if one slips you can tear tires up, and even break steering knuckles, which is not good.

No camber bolt will ever be as good as a camber plate or Steeda HD mount. They won't slip, they require no cutting on the strut to make them work like the Ford bolts (which aren't cheap), and they get rid of the iffy at best OEM strut mounts too.

natedog

I have not installed the bolts. Technician told me he was unable to use them, so he left the stock ones in. Hence the negative camber.

Sam, I have the Eibach bolts, which seem to be the first style you described. From the responses, I am beginning to understand the bolts are purposely smaller in order to provide more adjustment. I'll take the car back to the shop to explain it to him. Hopefully he figures it out and is able to use them.

Norm Peterson

Just because camber plates offer easier access to adjustment does not mean that you have to keep tinkering with them. Unless you are inclined to experiment, just use the plates to get the cambers set to where you want them and call it done.

I've got the Steeda HD's, which use an adjustment mechanism that's basically a set of camber plates added on. I set them exactly once about three years ago (to the camber spec I wanted), and I haven't touched them since. Car is my normal daily driver and sometimes fills in as a trip car, they haven't slipped at all and they're still dead-quiet. Even if I didn't take in the occasional autocross or track day, I would still not be comfortable running with those small-diameter half-strength bolts, for the reasons already given.


Norm

CMcNam

I'm not sure where anyone gets the idea that they have to keep adjusting them all the time. I'm with you Norm, I set my plates and haven't bothered with them since. It's very nice actually because it gives me an indication of where the camber is actually set with a quick glance, not to mention the other strengths that have already been outlined.