Note: I will update this thread/post as it gets installed and driven...

UPDATED with pics of bar installed:





Front negative camber:




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Well, my friendly UPS lady dropped this baby off at 8 am this morning. I am impressed with the quality and fabrication of it. It sure makes the OEM piece look really bad.









So anyways, I quickly called my shop and just had them do it since they have to align it anyways. Marilyn is currently getting worked on as we speak. I will update once complete with pics and impressions.

 

Looks like a quality piece for sure. Did you get a measurement of the fenders and rear axel before the install? Just curious if it was off at all. With my stock wheels n tires I can't tell, but when I had the others one you could actually see it farther over on the one side.

 

Yeah I didn't do a detailed measurement, but the shop will, esp when it's on the alignment machine. They have to do that anyways. I know from a visual standpoint, I *think* I could see that it is skewed over to the driver side, by about 1/2 inch or so. I had a buddy look at it too the other day, and he agreed.

I can't wait to get it back in about an hour or so... pics forthcoming. I wonder how it will drive???? will it be stiffer??? corner better? From what I read, NVH should be minimal increase, if at all. That's why I went with polyurethane bushings, and not spherical.

 

Alright guys... the panhard bar is all installed, and car is aligned. However, I did notice significant more negative camber up front than before. I am sure it was like this before the adj panhard bar (doesn't the panhard bar just adjust the rear axle?).

So anyways, my installer says there's nothing he can do since the OEM control arms are not adjustable. So it looks like I have -1.3 on the front left wheel, then about -2 on the front right wheel. Is this normal??? Now I am worried the install was not done correctly??? I know some folks are seeing -1 or so on 1" springs... so is -2 normal for 1.5 " springs???

How much negative camber up front are you guys seeing for folks who have K (1.5" springs) installed on stock struts/CA's, etc etc???????

 

Yeah the panhard only adjusts the rear. My front wheels are the same, I only noticed after the springs settled which is probably why you just noticed. That's something I believe an aftermarket camber kit can fix because the shop can only adjust to factory specs. You might notice a little bumpsteer with it too. Kinda the negatives of only doing springs. The only real thing it may harm after a while is the fronts may wear quicker on the inside tread.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

You noticed the same on yours too, Hytek? How much drop do the Roush springs give you? My K's gave me 1.5.

Yeah, what I don't get is the unevenness... why -2 on the front passenger side and -1.3 on the front driver side???

So do I need something like this??? And can I do the install myself???

http://www.americanmuscle.com/steeda...unts-1112.html

or

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

 

Mine are only 1" up front but the negative camber is noticeable when looking at it straight on. I'll snap a pic later.

As for those parts I don't have any experience with them. My buddy put the Steeda mounts on his 00 after H&R spring to correct his. But those are a 2" drop. There's a thread on suspension that Sam Strano put up on here that has some good info in it. I believe some of this is addressed in it.

 

Bolts are ok and will work for most. I'd go with plates myself. The Steeda ones are nice but the Maximum Motorsports ones offer the most adjustability. They're also on sale right now.

http://www.maximummotorsports.com/st...oducts_id=1400

 

Just had mine aligned by one of the best shops here in the valley, they said mine was just on the edge of spec without the front bolts so they put the bolts on and lined it up perfectly. Yes the BMR Bar is very good stuff! I love the way my car drives!

 

When your springs were installed, the front suspension geometry was changed. The lower you go, the more you angle up the front control arms. It is possible you have hit on a factory tolerance variation for the parts in your vehicle.

I have this same condition on my older SN-95 Mustang, which required both a bumpsteer kit and camber plates to get the adjustability back. However, it is not a full MacPherson set-up like the S197s.

I like the illustrations and explanations in this older article about Mustang suspensions.

 

Subsribing for pix

I have the Eibach kit on my car and will be putting the BMR adjustable bar on my car soon (Chistmas pres). I am anxcious to see how your car looks with the neg camber. I hope its not to bad.

 

Thanks for all the input guys. I am bummed about not researching the negative camber before installing my K springs So anyways, it is what it is... I will try to take pics later.

So it sounds like... I definitely need either bolts or camber plates. The bolts are 25 bucks, and should be a quick install. However, I have been doing a lot of reading, and some folks say that the bolts are just a band aid, and can actually fail! With my luck, it will fail, resulting in further costs/etc to repair. Although, there are some folks here/elsewhere that run the eibach bolts with no issues. What do you guys think? Also, I don't track my car or drive "too" aggressively.

The camber plates sound like the way to go... but they're 300 bucks, plus I'd have to pay a shop to install them. Which is a$$backwards, since I already just paid to get it installed and aligned. I might have to wait till spring to pull this. It sounds like the best solution. Also, am worried about increased NVH, since it uses spherical bearings???

Are there any other options out there? Maybe I should just leave it as is... and live with the neg camber. How soon do you guys think tires will wear??? If I have 500 miles on the car right, and I don't track or take corners WAY TOO AGGRESSIVELY, how many miles do you feel I will need new front tires??? (assuming not rotated)??? of course I will rotate, but just saying, for sake of argument.

 

I can't comment on most of your question, but I wanted to point this out on the Steeda HD mounts:

05-10 (for the many people who run the 2010 Koni struts on their 2011):
http://www.steeda.com/store/steeda-h...d-mustang.html

"...Steeda's heavy duty upper mounts are specifically designed for street use and will not show any increase in NVH when installed..."

11-12:
http://www.steeda.com/store/2011-up-...ut-mounts.html

"Steeda's Upper Strut Mounts for 2011+ Mustang have been tested on several popular race tracks to ensure increased suspension performance along with no increase in NVH."

Additionally, from what I've seen on all the forum threads, no one using these in the process of doing the Koni struts/Steeda spring install complained of increased NVH.

 

One solution might be to get a different set of springs with less drop. I know that not may be desirable, given the money you just spent.

The tire wear would be a function of how much you drive it and your tire compound. The wear will obviously occur with the tires pointed straight ahead. Taking a corner will actually be better for it because that is when your camber setting will take effect and straighten out one of the tires!

It might be beneficial to try the bolt solution if the budget is more geared to that now. I'd be curious to understand the cause for failure you saw in your reading.

 

Okay.... I took measurements of the rear axle today, and both sides are equal, after the panhard install. So I'm all good there. Here's some pics of the BMR bar installed.





So I also took pics of the front wheels negative camber. These were the best shots I could take. You can look at the relation to the rear wheels... so you can see they are angled in. I'd say -1.5 on the pass side... So what do you guys think? I only plan on putting 2k miles a year at most on them... and I probably can rotate the tires 2x a year to make sure they are even. Do you guys still think I need a camber bolt or plate???

Pass side:


Driver side:

 

The other part that stinks too, is I just had a 4 wheel alignment done, as part of the panhard bar install. Even if I go with camber bolts, I have to get it realigned???

 

It definitely looks more pronounced on the passenger side. I recommend locating what the camber limits are for your car to assist in determining what to do.

For example, in my '01 Bullitt, the stock settings are between -1.3 to 0.3 degrees, with my actual on the left front being -1.4 and -1.2 for the right. As you can see, the left is just a hair over. I have probably 1500 miles on my fronts and don't have noticeable wear this time. The tires I have are summer performance rated (BF Goodrich KDWs).

 

You need to measure to be sure, but I am planning on running anywhere from -1 to -1.4 up front on my street setup once I sort everything out in the spring.

Also, I photoshopped this gem last night and figured you'd like it:



Too bad you aren't premium over there so you could join us in the Conference Room.. it's like the 5.0 chat room now.

 

Been following your mod trail since you started and I enjoy reading and seeing the pics.
Wish i would have seen the post on the spring install, I could have told you about the negative camber increase as I did the same thing on my F-body 4 yrs ago with some Strano Springs. Live and learn right ?
The Brembo cars aleady have a certain amount of negative camber from the factory (I notice it everyday). Negative camber is not a bad thing but as said too much will effect tire wear. New camber plates are the best route because as you said the bolts are more of a Band aid fix. So it sounds like you already know what you need to do.

 

How does it drive? Is it pulling to either side over different road conditions? Take it for a good ride if you can. If you answer bad and yes to those questions, then you may want to look into the camber plates at least. But since you're not planning on tracking and you only plan to drive 2k a year you should be fine if it rides good.