redonblackpony

Track season in Southern California never ends, but it ended for me due to a vibration that went undiagnosed for three months.
My first track day will be The third week in March.
My car has never been more ready!
Upgraded stainless steel brake lines, Motul 660 fluid, BMR Tubular a-arms, SR Front sway bar links and revised front negative camber adjustment and front end alignment.
I am so excited!!

5.M0NSTER

Sounds awesome!! What are your new camber settings?

redonblackpony

I went from -1.6° to 2.0°. New geometry in the front and a taller ball joint should get the roll Center dialed in

SGwick

awesome! goodluck

5.M0NSTER

After talking through camber settings with some guys from work who race on regular basis, I think that's what I'm going to set my camber to as well. -2 should be still ok for street as long as toe is not too far out, and it should make a big difference at the track.

redonblackpony

Yeah, -2° camber is very Street aggressive, but should be OK as long as your toe in is good.

5.M0NSTER

2 more weeks till your track day. Where are you going? I'm looking forward to your thoughts after the front end adjustments.

redonblackpony

Southern California. Willow Springs international Raceway. 2.5 Miles with 9 turns. Fast track. This particular track has never been very kind to me. Last time out I blew up my clutch! Came into turn three around 105 down shifted into third and the clutch pedal fell to the floor and couldn't find a gear.
This time I'm ready

Bert

Even -2 might not be enough. I ran -1.6 last fall and the outside of my front tires got chewed up pretty good. I hate to pay another $100 to the alignment shop to do it again, but I am going to see how much camber I can get out of my Steeda mounts this spring. If you rotate the tires often, and go to the track regularly, the wear on the street should not be a big deal.

5.M0NSTER

Ouch, that does not sound like a good day at the track. Glad you got it all fixed!

I keep watching MT videos with Randy Pobst doing hot laps around Willow Springs. Looks like a fun, technical track. Enjoy!

Steeda HD mouts should be good to -2.5. My plan is to set mine to -2.0 and make sure toe is near 0.

My tires both street and track sets are waaaay more worn out on the outside than inside. I'm thinking -2 will help me even out the wear

redonblackpony

It's interesting that your tires wear more on the outside.
Tracking has always been hard on my front tires. My rear tires wear better than my fronts by 3-1.
Camber settings will vary depending upon the track. You want your tire temperatures even across the tread in the front. Dialing in camber gives you control over that. And that is what gives you better grip at the track. More contact patch on the track equals better grip😎

redonblackpony

In addition to that, air pressure plays a key role in evening out tire temperatures. Finding the right cold and hot tire temperature is key to getting maximum grip.
I think -2° camber is a great starting point

5.M0NSTER

Well, i think that makes sense. Stock camber setting is -0.7 which is not nearly enough for track duty. As you turn harder the chassis rolls, and as the car starts pushing the tire rolls over more and thus the outside gets worn.

I have a square setup, and I rotate my tires on regular basis. This way all 4 are evenly worn. But right now all 4 have significant wear on the outside shoulders. I think the camber will help a lot here.

And you're right about pressure. I tried running at 36psi cold last year at my first event, and the tires felt greasy and slippery. Half way through the day I dropped the pressures to ~33 cold, and it was like someone flipped the grip switch.

redonblackpony

My big track day is this Saturday. My car is 90% ready.
Got my alignment done on Tuesday. -2° camber, maxed out the positive caster and set the toe out just a hair. This was required because I changed out the lower A arms (BMR tubular). I also changed out the swaybar end links in the front to The SR adjustable type.
Took the car out in the canyons late this afternoon for a trial run. I got to say, the car handles like I never thought it could. Turn in is super sharp. It feels like the car is so well planted in the turns.
Now the downside...
I can't keep the adjustable links from coming loose. I think they're even putting off some noise during hard braking and turning. Don't know what to do because I've even use thread locker. In addition, I bottomed out the front suspension several times. I'm not sure what to think of that

SGwick

great to hear! Might need to get stiffer springs or increase ride height or lower bump stops or increase strut stiffness :-)

5.M0NSTER

Nice! Good luck today!

May need some shorter bump stops in the front. Not sure why the end kink bolts wont stay put though...

Bert

How do you like the BMR A-Arms? I was looking at those too . . ..

I noticed from an earlier post that you have the toe adjusted just a hair out . . . I guess that it the best compromise . . . can you school me on that a little?

Also wondering about the adjustable sway bar end links. What is the point of adjustability? I think it is for bias toward right or left hand turns; so you can tune for a track that has more of one of the other? I have the Steeda adjustable end links and I set them to the same length as the stock end links; they are good and tight as far as I can tell; but I still have some clunking coming from the front and can't figure out where it is coming from. It is not real bad, just annoying if you are **** / OCD like me.

redonblackpony

I picked up some bump stops for free from the Ford dealership on Friday and installed soon after.
I fixed the sway bar end link from backing out with more Loctite.
Now to test it all at the track on Saturday...
All went exceptionally well, nothing loosened up and the car handled better than it ever has.
That's still not good enough though, ha ha!
I still need to adjust my bump steer and tighten up the front even more.
So I ordered a H&R adjustable front sway bar which will complement my rear sway bar that I already had from H&R.
Also have to install my front adjustable carbon fiber splitter that was made for my car by APR. next track day will be April 16 to try it all over again

redonblackpony

I consulted with Hotchkis on how to set up my camber, castor and toe. I described in detail all my suspension mods along with brakes tires and such and they directed me on set up, which is in line with exactly what I've heard from others. The mustang on the track needs slight toe out which helps in the turns because the car is already toeing in due to camber change.
I have to say, I noticed that the car had so much more grip due to the camber adjustment and the new geometry associated with the lower a arms.

redonblackpony

I will try to upload a video from Saturday at the track. Maybe in a day or two