svMike Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 I'm going to start installing GC camber plates on my 240Z next week and I wanted some opinions on how these can be installed. It looks like most people are doing it the way GC recommends, which is to slot the tower and install the plate underneath. I've also seen a couple (see Mongo's Z-Car Build) who cut the tower and install a stud plate, then install the GC plate under that. When I spoke to GC, they say that it is much stronger to install it their way, but I sort of agree with Mongo that slotting the tower weakens it. Looking to get some opinions from folks who have done this and their thoughts on either install method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 (edited) If you bolt the plate on top, then you basically have the nuts holding the suspension on as you might hit several g's of loading. Not good, but I think a lot of people actually drive their cars like this. If you install underneath, then the plate spreads the load all the way around the strut tower. You might put them on top if you made a doubler plate for the bottom to add strength like Mongo did, but either way you'll need to slot the tower because you need the slot to actually move the camber. Another option is the biscuit style plates. They don't require any slotting or cutting, but you only have fixed positions available, so you won't be able to change from -2 to -2.1 camber for example. Edited July 12, 2012 by JMortensen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svMike Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 If you bolt the plate on top, then you basically have the nuts holding the suspension on as you might hit several g's of loading. Not good, but I think a lot of people actually drive their cars like this. If you install underneath, then the plate spreads the load all the way around the strut tower. You might put them on top if you made a doubler plate for the bottom to add strength like Mongo did, but either way you'll need to slot the tower because you need the slot to actually move the camber. Another option is the biscuit style plates. They don't require any slotting or cutting, but you only have fixed positions available, so you won't be able to change from -2 to -2.1 camber for example. Thanks Jon, I've already bought the GC plates. I guess I'm trying to figure out of adding a stud plate to the bottom and bolting the camber plate to the top will be better/stronger than the standard GC install. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkspeed Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 I have raced 2 cars with the plates bolted underneath. No problems seen. I would do something extra if you wanted to put on top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 It probably would be stronger if the plate underneath was stronger than the original camber plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnosez Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 We cut the tops off the front strut towers and welded the GC plates on 3 years ago and have beat the crap out of our 240 race car and I'm not sure why an additional plate would be needed to make it stronger. As to the biscuit plates either a set of eccentric LCA bushings or a heim jointed LCA will give you the ability to dial in any neg camber setting you want. I've had a set of them installed on my street 240 for 10 yrs and can go from 0 to 4.5 degrees in 0.1 increments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 (edited) I made the misstake of bolting the plates on top of the slotted towers because I saw a picture with them mounted that way and the kit didn't come with any instructions. Pretty bone head for a guy who prides himself on his engineering skills. But I drove it that way for a couple of years without any problems. Just a street car and not really pushed very hard. When I finally stumbled on a thread here that talked about this issue I cringed at my stupidity. The problem was they look so good that way and so crappy looking when installed correctly. So, I was doing some other welding in the engine bay anyways, I fabbed up a couple of steel copies and welded them to the underside of the tower tops. A couple of slightly longer bolts later and now I can have the clean look of the anodized aluminum plates on top and the funtional steel reinforcements where they belong on the underside. Overkill and a little extra weight for a race car but mine is more show than go. Edited July 13, 2012 by Dan Juday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 We cut the tops off the front strut towers and welded the GC plates on 3 years ago and have beat the crap out of our 240 race car and I'm not sure why an additional plate would be needed to make it stronger. As to the biscuit plates either a set of eccentric LCA bushings or a heim jointed LCA will give you the ability to dial in any neg camber setting you want. I've had a set of them installed on my street 240 for 10 yrs and can go from 0 to 4.5 degrees in 0.1 increments. I think you must mean AZC or TTT. GC plates are aluminum. Agree that you don't need another plate if you're using one of those. I think the metal in them is 3/16" thick anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svMike Posted July 13, 2012 Author Share Posted July 13, 2012 Dan - that thread (Ground Control camber plates) was what got me thinking about installing it on top to begin with. It looks much nicer, but I think I'll mount it under the tower for now. I can always reinforce the bottom and move it to the top if I ever change my mind. Thanks for the help folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Once you mount them underneath the top side of the plates are going to get all buggered up and you won't want to show that. You could talk to GC and see if they would sell you another pair of bare plates. It wasn't that hard to fab up steel copies out of 1/4" flat stock. Heck, I did it with a sawmill, drill press, angle grinder, and a couple of files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svMike Posted July 18, 2012 Author Share Posted July 18, 2012 Got my camber plates from GC today and I have a few questions. Is there a difference between the front plate and rear plate? All of my plates are identical, but GC website differentiates between front and rear plate. GC ships a bushing that fits over the shock's threaded top. The bushing then fits inside the spherical bearing. This bushing is supposed to fit the threaded body, right? It fits my front shock, but not my rear shock. It looks like I didn't get any of the bolts, nuts and washers that mount the plate the shock tower, I expected these to be included. The top nuts also only fit my rear shock, but not my front shock. Very annoying since I noted which shock I was using and the diameter of the shock threads, they called to confirm and they STILL got it wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenState Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Got my camber plates from GC today and I have a few questions. Is there a difference between the front plate and rear plate? All of my plates are identical, but GC website differentiates between front and rear plate. GC ships a bushing that fits over the shock's threaded top. The bushing then fits inside the spherical bearing. This bushing is supposed to fit the threaded body, right? It fits my front shock, but not my rear shock. It looks like I didn't get any of the bolts, nuts and washers that mount the plate the shock tower, I expected these to be included. The top nuts also only fit my rear shock, but not my front shock. Very annoying since I noted which shock I was using and the diameter of the shock threads, they called to confirm and they STILL got it wrong. No, there is no difference front/rear. You're going to need some different bushings for the rear. Interesting that you didn't get any bolts.... I took photos when I did mine, they're here: Greenstate's Build Installing these took a lot longer than I had anticipated. I think I still have the template if you'd like to use it I can email it to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svMike Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 No, there is no difference front/rear. You're going to need some different bushings for the rear. Interesting that you didn't get any bolts.... I took photos when I did mine, they're here: Greenstate's Build Installing these took a lot longer than I had anticipated. I think I still have the template if you'd like to use it I can email it to you. Thanks for the offer, you've got PM. I called GC yesterday and they sent me the bolt plate along with new bushings and new top bolts. Great customer service there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Got my camber plates from GC today and I have a few questions. Is there a difference between the front plate and rear plate? All of my plates are identical, but GC website differentiates between front and rear plate. GC ships a bushing that fits over the shock's threaded top. The bushing then fits inside the spherical bearing. This bushing is supposed to fit the threaded body, right? It fits my front shock, but not my rear shock. It looks like I didn't get any of the bolts, nuts and washers that mount the plate the shock tower, I expected these to be included. The top nuts also only fit my rear shock, but not my front shock. Very annoying since I noted which shock I was using and the diameter of the shock threads, they called to confirm and they STILL got it wrong. Give them a call. Jay has been VERY helpful to me over the years when I had questions/issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svMike Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 Give them a call. Jay has been VERY helpful to me over the years when I had questions/issues. Thanks Jon, I gave them a call yesterday and they were very helpful in figuring out what I needed. Great customer service. They also gave me some tips on cutting out the tower, which helps since their "instructions" look like they were photocopied from a lunchtime napkin doodle. GreenState has offered his template and I'm also using forrest280z' CAD template, which should hopefully make the install easier. Shooting for this weekend, again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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