GT3 control arms and shims
#16
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I would love to be able to adjust between say, 2 degrees camber for R DOT compound tires on track days and say .8 degrees camber in the front for driving with street tires in between track days....being able to get optimal wear out of each setup.
Would this be as simple as adding the shim to get 2 degrees when I get to the track before putting track tires on and removing the shim again when I put my street tires back on, or are there other things that need to be changed? If so, what else is varying that can be adjusted?
Thanks!
Would this be as simple as adding the shim to get 2 degrees when I get to the track before putting track tires on and removing the shim again when I put my street tires back on, or are there other things that need to be changed? If so, what else is varying that can be adjusted?
Thanks!
#17
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No shims for stock set up. Call Larry @ TRG. the shims are use to get track set up. Your tires will be touching the road on the inside tread and you will go through your tires in <8,000 miles. Where do you live? There are a lot of great shops that will provide the right advice.
#18
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I would love to be able to adjust between say, 2 degrees camber for R DOT compound tires on track days and say .8 degrees camber in the front for driving with street tires in between track days....being able to get optimal wear out of each setup.
Would this be as simple as adding the shim to get 2 degrees when I get to the track before putting track tires on and removing the shim again when I put my street tires back on, or are there other things that need to be changed? If so, what else is varying that can be adjusted?
Thanks!
Would this be as simple as adding the shim to get 2 degrees when I get to the track before putting track tires on and removing the shim again when I put my street tires back on, or are there other things that need to be changed? If so, what else is varying that can be adjusted?
Thanks!
you could do this but your toe would be off. if you set your alignment/camber with the shims then remove them you will get toe out. exaggerated toe will wear down your insides more than camber will.
#19
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I am running GT3 control arms on my car with a ROW M030 suspension and -2.2 camber in front. I can answer all your questions. First, when you look at the cost of GT3 control arms over standard arms; you need to include the cost of the shims. The thicker the shim, the more expensive they are. They get progressively more expensive with thickness. For example, 2 3mm shims cost a lot less than 1 7mm shim. If you have auto-leveling headlights (bi-xenons), you also need a special 1mm shim for the driver's side. This particular shim costs $100-130 (depending on your source). It looks fairly crude as it is just bent metal with a couple welds, but you will pay a premium if you want to retain auto-leveling headlights. Expect a complete set of GT3 controls (inner, outer, nuts and shims) to run about $1K when you are done.
To be at -1.6 camber, you will need about a 7mm shimpack per side. At the camber level I am running today, I am running an 11mm shim pack per side. With this large of a shim pack, my front track has increase 2". If you intend to run over a 5mm shim pack, you need to run the control arms RS style where the left arm is used on the right side and the right arm is used on the left side. The track arms need to be attached to the offset holes on the control arms, otherwise you will experience significant rubbing and your caster will be out of spec. I still get some rubbing with my race wheels and tires on the fender liners near lock. My caster is at 7 degree 45 min with the control arms run RS style.
You also may find a challenge finding all the parts. When I bought mine, no dealer had a complete set. I got 1 inner and outer from 1 dealer, the other inner from a second dealer, the other outer from a third dealer and the special shim for the auto-leveling headlights from a 4th dealer. 1mm shims are easy to find, but you may need to check around to find enough 3mm or 7mm shims. You can't add or remove shims without re-aligning the car. With a 10mm shim pack, you have to turn out each tie rod end about 5 turns to have the wheels directed close to straight.
To be at -1.6 camber, you will need about a 7mm shimpack per side. At the camber level I am running today, I am running an 11mm shim pack per side. With this large of a shim pack, my front track has increase 2". If you intend to run over a 5mm shim pack, you need to run the control arms RS style where the left arm is used on the right side and the right arm is used on the left side. The track arms need to be attached to the offset holes on the control arms, otherwise you will experience significant rubbing and your caster will be out of spec. I still get some rubbing with my race wheels and tires on the fender liners near lock. My caster is at 7 degree 45 min with the control arms run RS style.
You also may find a challenge finding all the parts. When I bought mine, no dealer had a complete set. I got 1 inner and outer from 1 dealer, the other inner from a second dealer, the other outer from a third dealer and the special shim for the auto-leveling headlights from a 4th dealer. 1mm shims are easy to find, but you may need to check around to find enough 3mm or 7mm shims. You can't add or remove shims without re-aligning the car. With a 10mm shim pack, you have to turn out each tie rod end about 5 turns to have the wheels directed close to straight.
Last edited by 10 GT3; 12-13-2007 at 10:25 PM.
#21
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Ok guys, I got my gt3 control arms in today and I am going to install them this weekend. Any problems or things I should be aware of for this process? And possibly some torque specs?
#22
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It was pretty straightforward once I had all the right parts (control arms, 1mm shim, and auto-leveling shim). Just make sure you have the right size sockets/wrenches as well as as the ball joint removal tool and you're good to go. It was a little tough to work in the arear around the ball joint, but not that big of a deal. Just go slow.
#23
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Folks, I've got an annoying squeeking from the front suspension which I believe I've isolated to the control arm bushing. The GT3 control arms are running about the same cost as the fixed parts so I'm considering replacing my stock units with the GT3 arms. My understanding is that by varying the number/thickness of shims in the control arm I can adjust the camber. My goal is to achieve the stock alignment value for camber. I'm not doing this swap to get tons of negative camber (at least right now). Does someone know approximately what thickness of shims I need to get to the stock value?
Thanks,
Shawn
Thanks,
Shawn
#24
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I wish I had asked here before I bought them. My alignment guy says I need about 13mm of shims to achieve the camber I want, and he has aligned many 996's and caymans with these control arms. I guess my next question is. With that many mm in shims, which one goes on what side. Should the offset hole be towards the fron tor the back. And do I use the middle hole or the offset hole?
#25
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Bella, I've already replaced mine, but thanks anyway.
JC3D, I have no idea what you'll get with 13mm of shims. Is that 13mm for each side? Stock is 1mm on each side. You should use the center hole and the offset hole goes towards the rear.
JC3D, I have no idea what you'll get with 13mm of shims. Is that 13mm for each side? Stock is 1mm on each side. You should use the center hole and the offset hole goes towards the rear.
#27
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