Help! MR Coilover setup.. EPIC FAIL!!!

Five-seveN · 07-29-2009, 08:54 PM

So, there I was, staring at the rear end of my WRX after just installing the Megan Racing Street Dampener Kit. The reason for this obviously ghastly gaze was due to the fact that visually I could tell that I was going to have way too much camber in the rear, and not nearly enough in the front.
This wasn't a home garage job (I'm simply not that crafty), this was at our cousin's tire shop. He has a whole lot of experience because he has grown up in this shop. Anything to do with a car, he usually had an answer, except for now. For he was standing right beside me with that same stupid look on his face.
Once we got it on the rack, we maxed out the front negative camber and Z'ed out the toe, rear camber was still jacked. Rear left was sitting at -3.1 and rear right was at -3.5. Besides spending more money on camber plates for the rear does anybody else have a solution or know what we did wrong???
I need to get this fixed fast cause in a few days I'll be putting more miles on the car only further chewing up the rears...
Thanks for all the input!

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Five-seveN · 07-29-2009, 08:56 PM

Just so we're clear, the answer is yes, I am well aware of the pictures crappy quality. And no, you don't need glasses.

Arnie · 07-29-2009, 10:05 PM

Yup, seen that same issue on megan/bc product for teh GD. The rear lower clevis holes are machined in a strange position. I was personally annoyed and shocked at what the rear camber was like. We needed camber bolts in the rear to bring it back. IMHO, crap attention to detail.

Five-seveN · 07-29-2009, 10:20 PM

Grrr...
I was afraid I was gonna have to do something stupid like that. How do the crash bolts hold up to aggressive driving?

I dunno if you can see it, but the front was effed too, we were only able to pull -1.1 at the LF and -.07 at the RF. I'm gonna be calling Megan tomorrow to see what's going on in their R&D shop cause this kinda stuff really gets under my skin. Too much money for an ill thought out piece of equipment. I'm gonna chalk this one up to being a lemon though cause you can't ignore all the other people who are happy with theirs.

antonch · 07-29-2009, 10:26 PM

Is there a camber plate in the rear?

MasterKwan · 07-30-2009, 12:06 AM

Camber plates will typically be adjusting the wrong direction. They'll increase from zero, not decrease. I think you're stuck with camber bolts (which I don't trust) or having the holes machined into slots like the KW3's/RCE-T2's are in the back.

69subaru360 · 07-30-2009, 12:11 AM

In the front take the allen bolts out in the camber plates and there is another set of holes you can use to get more negative camber. In the rear you will need aftermarket camber bolts.

Arnie · 07-30-2009, 12:27 AM

IIRC, i think the rears upper clevis holes are slotted. If they are then, get it back up on the rack, loosen the bolts and pull the wheel out. Though they may be tough to do with the suspension fully loaded. You might have to jack up the rear.

If they are slotted, do not use the typical camber bolt recommended for a stock strut. It will slip. On a stock strut type hole, i have zero issues with camber bolts when installed properly. I have easily over 100k miles on mine. Mine have never slipped.

Five-seveN · 07-30-2009, 12:59 AM

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feed back! I'll try to get it back up on the rack this week or early next week, and I'm gonna check to see if the clevis holes are slotted or not, then i think i should be good with the other holes on the front camber adjustment slot too.

Update - Just went out and REmaxed the camber (that's all we did in the first place was give it max camber and it looked even with the little magnetic-camber-leveler-thingy just now) so i think when I go back in for this final alignment everything should come together.

AbACUZ · 07-30-2009, 08:59 PM

make sure you did not put the camber bolts on the wrong hole , she will not like that ... and give you those waky numbers

ButtDyno · 07-30-2009, 11:01 PM

What are your ride heights?

Five-seveN · 07-31-2009, 01:21 AM

I put it back on the rack today and we didn't find any slotted upper clevis holes, but we raised the rear and we were able to get the rear cambers (L & R) even at 3, that was with the rear dampers almost at max length.
Well, as far as ride height, I think we measured 14.75 inches all around (from fender to center hub, 1.49 inches from bottom of top lock nut to top of the bottom one on fronts, it was different for the rear). To do that we had to drop the front and raise the rear.
We were able to pull more camber out of the front with the two alternate holes in the front camber adj plate, and they now set at -2.4 for both.
Ride height looks good, turn-in is like stock. I did notice a large (not total) reduction in body roll which gave more confidence and i was able to address the turns faster therefore giving me a better exit speed as well.

New Alignment Numbers:
Camber - LF-2.4 / RF-2.4 / LR-3 / RR-3
Caster - LF 3.4 / RF 3.8
Toe - Front -.13 / Rear .06
Damper - Front 12 / Rear 9

Five-seveN · 07-31-2009, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AbACUZ

make sure you did not put the camber bolts on the wrong hole , she will not like that ... and give you those waky numbers

The rear didn't have crash bolts to begin with, we were contemplating boring and fitting it for them though.

ButtDyno · 07-31-2009, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Five-seveN

I put it back on the rack today and we didn't find any slotted upper clevis holes, but we raised the rear and we were able to get the rear cambers (L & R) even at 3, that was with the rear dampers almost at max length.
Well, as far as ride height, I think we measured 14.75 inches all around (from fender to center hub, 1.49 inches from bottom of top lock nut to top of the bottom one on fronts, it was different for the rear). To do that we had to drop the front and raise the rear.
We were able to pull more camber out of the front with the two alternate holes in the front camber adj plate, and they now set at -2.4 for both.
Ride height looks good, turn-in is like stock. I did notice a large (not total) reduction in body roll which gave more confidence and i was able to address the turns faster therefore giving me a better exit speed as well.

New Alignment Numbers:
Camber - LF-2.4 / RF-2.4 / LR-3 / RR-3
Caster - LF 3.4 / RF 3.8
Toe - Front -.13 / Rear .06
Damper - Front 12 / Rear 9

-3 in the rear at that ride height is still insanely wrong. Like, really insanely horribly wrong. When I had the rear of my car at 13.5", the lowest my car would align to was -1.2. Your rear height is 1.25" taller than that and the *least* you can get is -3. Something is either broken or wrong or misdesigned and you should get your $$ back. The car will never be balanced well for handling with specs like those.

Uncle Scotty · 07-31-2009, 01:34 AM

got the wrong struts????

post the PN's

Arnie · 07-31-2009, 01:59 AM

guys, its the megan/bc rear struts. seriously. the rear holes are drilled, imo, incorrectly for the GD chassis. the megans and bc's i've installed both had ridiculous rear neg camber.

we had to run camber bolts to dial back the camber to something reasonable. but, hey for under a grand! they're dope yo!

kumanchu · 07-31-2009, 12:55 PM

maybe they were made for wagon fitment?

just a thought.

AbACUZ · 07-31-2009, 02:54 PM

Well now you can fit those 11 inch wide rims you where looking at on the rear !!!

Hellaawesomeomestsestehalllaalalalalaaa!!

oh god !

Five-seveN · 08-01-2009, 02:07 AM

HAHA! 11 inch wheels indeed... I thought i was gonna be going to flight school this sept so i was gonna wait and get the KW Variant IIIs but school got pushed to december and with 2 struts starting to go bad i decided to do the rash and dumb thing, get a cheap set until i do leave this december... like i said it was rash... anyways, i'm gonna make it work and bore out the upper bolt hole on the lower damper connecting point and just shove the wheel in to get my camber straitened out.
Oh, and just fyi, I got the Nitto NT555s with a 235/45ZR17 and they're big, like monster truck tires. i should have gotten the 35 or 40s but i dunno if that would have anything to do with it at all, cause when it's in the air (suspension still under load) the camber doesn't look half as bad. but thats just a thought, albeit a very drowsy one, but still a thought none the less.

ButtDyno · 08-01-2009, 01:13 PM

You're running 235-45-17s on 11" wheels?

... and you should really just get your money back and get something that fits.

subiboi624 · 08-01-2009, 01:35 PM

Not to be mean but why isnt your front toe perfect, total toe is off some and toe should be close to zero
but i am just an alignment tech
why be perfect

08WhiteRex · 08-01-2009, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ButtDyno

You're running 235-45-17s on 11" wheels?

... and you should really just get your money back and get something that fits.

No i think he was just remarking on the post above his...

Five-seveN · 08-01-2009, 07:36 PM

Yes, it was a comment made in just.
As far as the toe being imperfect, those numbers are total toe. .06 LF and .07 RF. Numbers that minuscule don't worry me when i still have an effed up rear end...

07-29-2009, 08:54 PM	#1
Five-seveN Scooby Newbie Member#: 203275 Join Date: Feb 2009 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: WV Vehicle: 2006 WRX SBR 20G More boost to come!	Help! MR Coilover setup.. EPIC FAIL!!! So, there I was, staring at the rear end of my WRX after just installing the Megan Racing Street Dampener Kit. The reason for this obviously ghastly gaze was due to the fact that visually I could tell that I was going to have way too much camber in the rear, and not nearly enough in the front. This wasn't a home garage job (I'm simply not that crafty), this was at our cousin's tire shop. He has a whole lot of experience because he has grown up in this shop. Anything to do with a car, he usually had an answer, except for now. For he was standing right beside me with that same stupid look on his face. Once we got it on the rack, we maxed out the front negative camber and Z'ed out the toe, rear camber was still jacked. Rear left was sitting at -3.1 and rear right was at -3.5. Besides spending more money on camber plates for the rear does anybody else have a solution or know what we did wrong??? I need to get this fixed fast cause in a few days I'll be putting more miles on the car only further chewing up the rears... Thanks for all the input! * Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

07-30-2009, 12:59 AM	#9
Five-seveN Scooby Newbie Member#: 203275 Join Date: Feb 2009 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: WV Vehicle: 2006 WRX SBR 20G More boost to come!	Thanks guys, I appreciate the feed back! I'll try to get it back up on the rack this week or early next week, and I'm gonna check to see if the clevis holes are slotted or not, then i think i should be good with the other holes on the front camber adjustment slot too. Update - Just went out and REmaxed the camber (that's all we did in the first place was give it max camber and it looked even with the little magnetic-camber-leveler-thingy just now) so i think when I go back in for this final alignment everything should come together. Last edited by Five-seveN; 07-30-2009 at 01:42 AM.

08-01-2009, 01:13 PM	#20
ButtDyno Street's closed, pizza boy Member#: 17301 Join Date: Apr 2002 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: 235s on a 9.5" wheel Vehicle: is NOT aggressive 99 ///M3 \| 03 WRX #7 STX	You're running 235-45-17s on 11" wheels? ... and you should really just get your money back and get something that fits. Last edited by ButtDyno; 08-01-2009 at 01:33 PM.

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07-29-2009, 08:56 PM	#2
Five-seveN Scooby Newbie Member#: 203275 Join Date: Feb 2009 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: WV Vehicle: 2006 WRX SBR 20G More boost to come!	Just so we're clear, the answer is yes, I am well aware of the pictures crappy quality. And no, you don't need glasses.

07-29-2009, 10:05 PM	#3
Arnie Scooby Guru Member#: 1725 Join Date: Jun 2000 Chapter/Region: SCIC Location: land o' silicone boobies Vehicle: 02 dentedrustedbug WRB road grime	Yup, seen that same issue on megan/bc product for teh GD. The rear lower clevis holes are machined in a strange position. I was personally annoyed and shocked at what the rear camber was like. We needed camber bolts in the rear to bring it back. IMHO, crap attention to detail.

07-29-2009, 10:20 PM	#4
Five-seveN Scooby Newbie Member#: 203275 Join Date: Feb 2009 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: WV Vehicle: 2006 WRX SBR 20G More boost to come!	Grrr... I was afraid I was gonna have to do something stupid like that. How do the crash bolts hold up to aggressive driving? I dunno if you can see it, but the front was effed too, we were only able to pull -1.1 at the LF and -.07 at the RF. I'm gonna be calling Megan tomorrow to see what's going on in their R&D shop cause this kinda stuff really gets under my skin. Too much money for an ill thought out piece of equipment. I'm gonna chalk this one up to being a lemon though cause you can't ignore all the other people who are happy with theirs.

07-29-2009, 10:26 PM	#5
antonch Scooby Newbie Member#: 170384 Join Date: Jan 2008 Chapter/Region: BAIC Location: SF, CA Vehicle: 2006 Sti Black	Is there a camber plate in the rear?

07-30-2009, 12:06 AM	#6
MasterKwan Scooby Guru Member#: 98961 Join Date: Oct 2005 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: NOVA Vehicle: 2003 WRX Black	Camber plates will typically be adjusting the wrong direction. They'll increase from zero, not decrease. I think you're stuck with camber bolts (which I don't trust) or having the holes machined into slots like the KW3's/RCE-T2's are in the back.

07-30-2009, 12:11 AM	#7
69subaru360 Scooby Specialist Member#: 159682 Join Date: Sep 2007 Chapter/Region: Tri-State Location: Fleetwood, PA Vehicle: 1995 Impreza coupe 1969 360	In the front take the allen bolts out in the camber plates and there is another set of holes you can use to get more negative camber. In the rear you will need aftermarket camber bolts.

07-30-2009, 12:27 AM	#8
Arnie Scooby Guru Member#: 1725 Join Date: Jun 2000 Chapter/Region: SCIC Location: land o' silicone boobies Vehicle: 02 dentedrustedbug WRB road grime	IIRC, i think the rears upper clevis holes are slotted. If they are then, get it back up on the rack, loosen the bolts and pull the wheel out. Though they may be tough to do with the suspension fully loaded. You might have to jack up the rear. If they are slotted, do not use the typical camber bolt recommended for a stock strut. It will slip. On a stock strut type hole, i have zero issues with camber bolts when installed properly. I have easily over 100k miles on mine. Mine have never slipped.

07-30-2009, 08:59 PM	#10
AbACUZ Scooby Specialist Member#: 101898 Join Date: Dec 2005 Chapter/Region: SCIC Location: So Cal, Long.Beach, Whittier Vehicle: 1905 NINETWO EX AIRO Prodriv.Hotchkis.Stromng.	make sure you did not put the camber bolts on the wrong hole , she will not like that ... and give you those waky numbers

07-30-2009, 11:01 PM	#11
ButtDyno Street's closed, pizza boy Member#: 17301 Join Date: Apr 2002 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: 235s on a 9.5" wheel Vehicle: is NOT aggressive 99 ///M3 \| 03 WRX #7 STX	What are your ride heights?

07-31-2009, 01:21 AM	#12
Five-seveN Scooby Newbie Member#: 203275 Join Date: Feb 2009 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: WV Vehicle: 2006 WRX SBR 20G More boost to come!	I put it back on the rack today and we didn't find any slotted upper clevis holes, but we raised the rear and we were able to get the rear cambers (L & R) even at 3, that was with the rear dampers almost at max length. Well, as far as ride height, I think we measured 14.75 inches all around (from fender to center hub, 1.49 inches from bottom of top lock nut to top of the bottom one on fronts, it was different for the rear). To do that we had to drop the front and raise the rear. We were able to pull more camber out of the front with the two alternate holes in the front camber adj plate, and they now set at -2.4 for both. Ride height looks good, turn-in is like stock. I did notice a large (not total) reduction in body roll which gave more confidence and i was able to address the turns faster therefore giving me a better exit speed as well. New Alignment Numbers: Camber - LF-2.4 / RF-2.4 / LR-3 / RR-3 Caster - LF 3.4 / RF 3.8 Toe - Front -.13 / Rear .06 Damper - Front 12 / Rear 9

07-31-2009, 01:34 AM	#15
Uncle Scotty Scooby Guru Member#: 16200 Join Date: Mar 2002 Vehicle: bah straw and coal straw and coal as always	got the wrong struts???? post the PN's

07-31-2009, 01:59 AM	#16
Arnie Scooby Guru Member#: 1725 Join Date: Jun 2000 Chapter/Region: SCIC Location: land o' silicone boobies Vehicle: 02 dentedrustedbug WRB road grime	guys, its the megan/bc rear struts. seriously. the rear holes are drilled, imo, incorrectly for the GD chassis. the megans and bc's i've installed both had ridiculous rear neg camber. we had to run camber bolts to dial back the camber to something reasonable. but, hey for under a grand! they're dope yo!

07-31-2009, 12:55 PM	#17
kumanchu Scooby Specialist Member#: 146696 Join Date: Apr 2007 Chapter/Region: MAIC Vehicle: 2000 GM6 STM	maybe they were made for wagon fitment? just a thought.

07-31-2009, 02:54 PM	#18
AbACUZ Scooby Specialist Member#: 101898 Join Date: Dec 2005 Chapter/Region: SCIC Location: So Cal, Long.Beach, Whittier Vehicle: 1905 NINETWO EX AIRO Prodriv.Hotchkis.Stromng.	Well now you can fit those 11 inch wide rims you where looking at on the rear !!! Hellaawesomeomestsestehalllaalalalalaaa!! oh god !

08-01-2009, 02:07 AM	#19
Five-seveN Scooby Newbie Member#: 203275 Join Date: Feb 2009 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: WV Vehicle: 2006 WRX SBR 20G More boost to come!	HAHA! 11 inch wheels indeed... I thought i was gonna be going to flight school this sept so i was gonna wait and get the KW Variant IIIs but school got pushed to december and with 2 struts starting to go bad i decided to do the rash and dumb thing, get a cheap set until i do leave this december... like i said it was rash... anyways, i'm gonna make it work and bore out the upper bolt hole on the lower damper connecting point and just shove the wheel in to get my camber straitened out. Oh, and just fyi, I got the Nitto NT555s with a 235/45ZR17 and they're big, like monster truck tires. i should have gotten the 35 or 40s but i dunno if that would have anything to do with it at all, cause when it's in the air (suspension still under load) the camber doesn't look half as bad. but thats just a thought, albeit a very drowsy one, but still a thought none the less.

08-01-2009, 01:35 PM	#21
subiboi624 Scooby Specialist Member#: 198889 Join Date: Jan 2009 Chapter/Region: MWSOC Location: McHenry Vehicle: 2002 SLAMMED WRX Silver	Not to be mean but why isnt your front toe perfect, total toe is off some and toe should be close to zero but i am just an alignment tech why be perfect

08-01-2009, 07:36 PM	#23
Five-seveN Scooby Newbie Member#: 203275 Join Date: Feb 2009 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: WV Vehicle: 2006 WRX SBR 20G More boost to come!	Yes, it was a comment made in just. As far as the toe being imperfect, those numbers are total toe. .06 LF and .07 RF. Numbers that minuscule don't worry me when i still have an effed up rear end...