so im looking into the balljoint or arm mount camber kits.. im looking at this balljoint http://www.spcalignment.com/componen...AFrom&to=USATo or the mounts http://www.spcalignment.com/componen...AFrom&to=USATo

how reliable are these things?

 

my car is pretty low.. i want to bring the camber out a little bit.. i know they arent necessary but i want to bring camber back in..

 

If you gave us your ride height, and present camber we could help you more.

The only camber kit I would trust is the HardRace kit, and maybe the SPC.

But again, if you have less than 3* of camber, you don't need them. Bringing the camber in would only make the car lose lateral grip in turns.

 

its like 4* and im tucking tire.. i will also raise it from time to time to track it. so i also want the adjustability.. reason ididnt say camber arms because theyll hit when its slammed

 

The offset upper balljoints (the first ones you linked to) offer all of the clearance issues that a "camber arm" (completely incorrect name, but whatever) does, with the added detriment of screwing with caster as well. Meaning, they too will hit when slammed.

The offset bushings in the UCA mounts relocate the pivot point, which has other detrimental consequences on the suspension. Perfectly fine for a street car, but not ideal for a track car. They change the IC and RC locations, and not necessarily for the better, especially since doing so also effects the bumpsteer.

If you track the car, performance, not appearance, should be your primary concern.

 

What evidence do you have of this?

 

Evidence of what specifically? That they relocate the pivot point? Doing so is how they change the camber.

 

That much is obvious, I was referrring to your statement about them changing the IC and RC locations.

 

IC and RC locations are determined by the UCA and LCA. If you relocate the pivot points for either, you change the angle, thus changing the RC and IC.

Even just pulling the pivot point in or out, relative to the chassis, changes the angles of the arms relative to each other.

 

Agreed but moving the pivots in and out along the IC intersection line (as camber adjustment does) has such a minimal effect on IC and RC location that it is really not worth mentioing. The effects from dropping the car far enough that the camber needs to be taken out will have had a far far bigger effect on the geometry.

Not sure on the items linked in the OP, is the balljoint simply a replacement for te ones fitted in their arms? In terms of reliability, the full SPC arms are one of the best you can buy (or used to be able to at least), solid cast/forged (not sure which) construction instead of pressed steel and the single large 22mm nut is a far studier design than those Bluddycrud and Skunkpoo arms with the flimsy little hex bolts, both which have plenty of documented failures over here in the UK.
Those offset mounts don't really strike me as an ideal solution though, I can certainly see how one might deem those as unreliable...

FWIW, I have the SPC arms on my car (lowered maybe 1" max) and they have had nothing but positive effects on the car in terms of performance. Increased negative camber (1° to 2.5°) added significant amounts of lateral grip, added castor (again 1° to 2.5°) improved the weight and feel of the steering and if anything, bump steer has actually improved. Big thumbs up from me. (Well it's little, but whatever....)

 

Just curious if you're leaving out Skunk2 because of their recent bounty fiasco or of you legitimately think their camber kits are junk. I have a friend that's been running a set on a '92 hatch for years. The ball joints did fail pretty early IMO, but other than that they've been great, they stay where you set them. And as much as I hate to say this, they do look like the most professionally made camber kit I've seen. The fact that you can adjust them with weight on them makes your alignment guys life a lot easier.

 

Mostly leaving them out for a couple of reasons:

1) Seems like a lot of their products sucked for years, and only in the last two have they made new bushings for their LCAs, and new Ball joints like you mentioned. I really do hope that the new iteration is a success and Skunk2 can pull their heads out of their asses and make quality products and be more honest in their marketing.

2)Yes, the recent fiasco has me really against sending my money their way. That said, I absolutely LOVE my skunk2 shifter and shift **** and have no plans on getting rid of either anytime soon. I do think they make the best ****/shifter combo out there and for a good price. I was dead set on buying their pro1 cams later down the road once I get my swap done. Now I'm researching alternatives.

 

I'm out if the loop but what's the skunk2 fiasco?

To OP:
I ran SPC rear camber kit for years and was very happy with them. Their bushings looked just as good as the day I installed them.

 

Skunk2 put a bounty on the personal info of a couple of H-T members that dug up some info on some Skunk2's business practices.