SteedaGus

One often-overlooked modification that you can make to a Mustang is to increase the amount of negative camber in the front-end geometry so that you have more corning grip and improved steering response. Unfortunately, the stock Mustang front geometry does not provide a high enough degree of adjustability for the settings that the true performance enthusiast requires. At Steeda Autosports, we have developed an array of Camber-Caster Plates and Upper Strut Mounts that provide every Mustang owner from 1979 to 2012 increased level of adjustability needed for optimal handling.



Would you like to correct your camber to eliminate excessive tire wear or dial in more negative camber for better cornering? Our adjustable caster camber plates/strut mounts give you the ability to create the perfect caster camber settings whether you are drag racing, road racing, or for your street driving needs. Adjusting the caster and camber is easy, and the end result is simply amazing. Let us explain…

Camber/Caster 101: So just what is camber and how does it effect driving and tire wear? What is caster, and can I have too much with a Mustang? These alignment settings affect tire wear and the tracking of your vehicle. Following is a simple summary that takes the confusion away:

Camber: Is the tilt of the tire relative to vertical. If the top of the tire leans inward (towards the engine) the car has Negative-Camber. If it leans outward, that is Positive-Camber. Negative-Camber gives the car more cornering grip and improves steering response. 
- A car without enough negative-camber will understeer and wear the tread off of the outside-corner of the front tire. 
- Too much Negative-Camber will wear the tread off of the inside corner of the tire 
Camber should be adjusted to suit the use of the car.


Type of Driving Camber – Specific to Mustang

• Drag racing-no street use -.2° to -.5°
• General street use -.7° to -1.1°
• Aggressive street handling -1.2° to -1.7°
• Road race / Autocross -1.8° to -2.5°

Observe your tire wear (street) or tire temperature (race conditions) and adjust camber as necessary: 
- More Negative-Camber (-2.0º) gives better cornering grip and more wear on the inside edge of the tire. 
- Less Negative-Camber (-0.5º) gives less cornering grip and more wear on the outside edge of the tire.




Caster: is how far the contact patch of the tire follows behind the imaginary line where the steering axis of the wheel intersects the ground. (Think of the front wheel of a shopping cart, where the wheel follows behind the steering axis.

More Caster gives you straighter highway tracking with less “wander” and better self centering steering feel. It also makes the tires lean into the corner when turned, in effect producing more negative camber when the wheels are turned. This allows you to use less aggressive Negative-Camber settings, thereby improving the tire contact patch for better braking and reduced tire wear when the wheels are straight.

It is theoretically possible to have too much Caster, but to do so in a Mustang would require extensive sheet metal modifications. So for our purposes, we recommend the Maximum Positive Caster that can be achieved with our Caster/Camber plates. To get the most caster, push the top of the struts as far towards the rear of the car as possible when setting the alignment.

Note that the amount of Caster that can be attained varies with the year of the vehicle.



Toe Settings. Toe-in or Toe-out describes the alignment of the front wheels relative to each other the same way you would describe your feet. Toe-in means they are closer together at the front than the rear. 
We recommend factory Ford toe settings for all situations except track-only racing, where toe may be adjusted by the crew chief as needed. Factory toe settings are given in degrees. When setting the alignment with a tape measure (the way we do it at the racetrack) set toe to 3/32″ total Toe-in.

To take advantage of tuning your car for optimum handling, see the full range of Steeda Caster Camber Plates and 2005+ Upper Strut Mounts here:

http://www.steeda.com/store/ford-mustang-caster-and-camber.html

908ssp

You don't have caster/camber plates for the S197. But you posted this in the 2005/2010 section?

SteedaGus

Yes we do. Let me clarify if the article is unclear. It does talk about a lot of things.

We have upper strut mounts with camber adjustment for 2005-2010 and 2011-12.

The chart near the bottom of the article does cover camber and caster only for 04-earlier. Looks like it was labelled 94+ and it was not caught, it should say 94-04. For the 05+ there is over 7 degrees of caster from factory, so there is no need to add more like the 04-earlier cars which have much less.

We have found no need to adjust caster on these cars even in pure race applications. The factory caster works perfectly. We set cars up through camber and toe and have had 100% success with this.

The first picture in the article is our 2011-12 upper strut mount. Both the 2005-2010 mount and the 2011-12 mount give you around +/- 1 degree of camber adjustment.

908ssp

Ok so I was right you don't provide a way of adjusting caster on 2005/2011 cars. And lets suppose you're right the cars don't need more caster. Then how do you get more feel from the steering? I see you have a front rear bushing stiffener. I don't see the front rear replacement bushing you used to carry. Will you be getting more of those or was there a problem with them?

SteedaGus

The steering on the 2011+ cars is EPAS , feel is dictated by the EPAS settings. What you are going after with the camber plate is changes in alignment for cornering grip, tire wear, or a combination of both.

On the 2005-2012 cars there is so much caster that a minor change in caster will produce very little if any difference in feel. You need at least 1 1/2 degrees of caster more on 04-prior cars to even begin to notice the difference. On the 05+ cars its a mute point.

Where the steering feel improvement comes from on the 05+ is the stiffer upper strut mount with less deflection. Make it fully solid though like competitors mounts and you transmit too much impact harshness into the vehicle when you hit bumps.

Our upper strut mount keeps impact harshness levels closer to stock because of the urethane bushing vs solid bearings others use on 2005-12 cars.

SteedaGus

Forgot to answer you question on the bushing replacement. It was discontinued due to slow sales.

ford4v429

have you looked at many stock rear bushings up close lately? mine were showing
cracks in the rubber 2 years ago, I kinda think these might become a 'wear item' very soon as these cars age...my Mark VII had thick rubber bushings kinda similar to the fat rubber mustang parts, on the mark after about 5~6 years they were shot, and in 5~6 years again they needed replaced... hope you guys have them stock again eventually

I bet just picturing some cracked bushings in the catalog could sell a lot of them if folks start looking...

908ssp

Those front lower control arm rear bushings are on my to-do list. I guess I'll get the ones from White Line they look to be of very high quality.http://www.bluecollarperformance.com/kca305.html

My car is 2010 so the EPAS doesn't apply. But those soft bushings can't be ignored on the 2011+ I would think. I have also seen a comment on the Boss specs that they use a stiffer bushing for the front lower control arm rear bushing.

Cavero

Great writeup. I can vouch for the results. I got the Steeda heavy duty strut mounts when I lowered my car a couple years ago because I didn't want to deal with the 'popping' issue others had with their stock plastic mounts. The added benefit was that the speed shop that did the alignment could put the camber at ~ -1.1 or -1.2 (I can't find the spec sheet they printed). When I told them I was doing autocross they said they went as aggressive as they could without impacting tire wear significantly. Holy crap it makes a difference. The car is so much more nimble and corning grip is hugely increased. I've found myself taking curves 20 mph faster than I could under the stock setup (I'm sure the lower cg from the springs had something to do with that too), and only backing off because my brain told me 60 in a 30 zone is just plain stupid. I can't imagine myself ever being satisfied with a stock suspension ever again