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Negative Camber on a Brumby Ute

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 7:25 am
by Brownster
Just picked up the STI brumby ute. What a package. I have notice though it has quite a bit of understeer and looks to be caused by the positive camber. Is there any method of getting a bit of negative camber into these cars. It has adjustable strut top for camber which is set at max for negative but still running positive.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Image

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 7:51 am
by Gannon
I dontt know much about stut tops, but arent they set on full positive?
Wouldnt full negative be with the tops fully in, so the tyres are slanting inwards

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 8:05 am
by subelover
true bro they do look to be full positive :) have a play and adjust the tops urself and if ur still having trouble get a wheel alignment done...isnt there a mod where u can drill the lower control arm inner mount bolt 10mm outward to help with the positive camber?? .......

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 9:13 am
by Brownster
Thanks guys. Just checked and they are set to full positive. Will have a play and get re-aligned.

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 9:13 am
by Point
another issue they have is lack of positive castor. by the looks of those strut tops it seems that if you move them inwards to get more negative camber they will move slightly forwards which will reduce positive castor which is the opposite of what you want. could they possibly be on the wrong side? or you could re-drill the strut tower and rotate the tops. I would be looking at the l series control arm conversion to get the bottom of the strut out and forward, although you will have to cut the guards to do so. This is what i am planning to do on mine.

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 9:29 am
by PeeJay
I cut and welded my control arms 15mm longer in my L series. Made heaps of difference.

Camber

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 1:29 pm
by legacytt
L series arms are good but aren't much good without adjustable castor rods as the extra length will mean the wheel is back further, the adjustables alow them to move forward. With those strut tops and the abovementioned mods it will be a lot better. My Coupe has this and with the Lib struts for the 5 stud setup allows for plenty of neg camber and positive castor.

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 2:09 pm
by discopotato03
Just a thought , if you get that nearside top and rotate it a third of a turn anticlockwise the adjustment will be backwards and in a bit .
With theses early Subies (MY/L) my greatest concern is the lack of positive caster . Get the caster right and the wheel camber changes with increased steering lock . Static negative camber does jack ****e for you when the wheels point strait ahead , if anything you want zero or neutral camber straight ahead (traction and braking) and the caster to make both wheels lean or camber in the correct direction when cornering .
Subaru's also suffer lots of front end rise (climb) under acceleration , as the body "stands" up on its front suspension the camber goes positive which is bad . You'll probably need to alter the hight of the caster (radius rods) to get around this . I assume it has higher rate springs so that will help with dive under brakes - if they got the spring rate right .

Anyway this is all front end stuff and it won't count for much if the rear end is all soft and soggy . When you fix the front end it should beat the understeer and tyre wear BUT it'll possibly oversteer which is worse . These cars really need increased rear roll stiffness to stop the body roll which screws up ALL the vehicles geometry . Its the hight difference between the suspensions body mounts and the ground that brings it all undone .
I'd be losing the torsion bars and looking at L rear struts if possible .

Cheers A .

Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:19 pm
by Too Many Rubes
Oversteer worse than understeer?? Come on, it's much more fun!

A rear sway bar will stop all the nasty rear body roll.
I've got a stock L-series one if you want it. No idea if it will fit an MY.