Types of Camber Adjustability (2024)

Can someone with some suspension tuning experience for setting up track cars chime in to this?

Basically, I'm struggling to figure out the different ways to adjust camber and WHY one way may be better than another. So far for the GTI MK7 I have this incomplete list:

1- adjustable ball joint. cheapest way I've found so far. Seems the issue may just be limited adjustability range (in degrees).

2- adjustable control arms. More expensive than the ball joint but seems to offer a wider range of adjustability.

3- camber plates. Not really out yet but in the works. But it seems these potentially impact ride quality and you actually have to cut off things to gain easy access... No idea on cost. I've already decided these are a no-go for me considering my plans.

If any one can chime in on ease of adjusting / ride quality / potential issues I'd appreciate it. I'm interested in this in general to better understand the whole space. But -- goals for me are to have adjustable camber so I can tune it in after lowering the car in the future. My ultimate goal is to build a mk7 that hugs the line between daily driver and track monster is closely as possible.

If there's some type of camber adjustability that I'm not including let me know! Seems that the rear is adjustable via eccentric bolt if I understand correctly.

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I'm also interested in dialing in more camber so I'll chime in with that I've found out so far:

ryohazuki222 said:

1- adjustable ball joint. cheapest way I've found so far. Seems the issue may just be limited adjustability range (in degrees).This is the cheapest option however I've read accounts of the ball joint slipping and losing the camber alignment. I would be interested in using one of these ball joints if it were fixed position however as you can see from the following picture, adjustment is achieved through use of a slotted bolt hole. I also recall seeing discussion about clearance issues when using certain ball joints with a BBK. I forget if this was an issue with stock or aftermarket balljoints but you might want to look in to this further if you are currently using or plan on using a BBK.

2- adjustable control arms. More expensive than the ball joint but seems to offer a wider range of adjustability. The only adjustable control arms I've seen are rears so I'll count that out as I'm assuming we're focusing on front camber here. Superpro makes front control arms which are non-adjustable but only offer 0.5 degrees of negative camber and cost $800. Looks like a quality product but not a cost efficient way of getting more neg camber.

3- camber plates. Not really out yet but in the works. But it seems these potentially impact ride quality and you actually have to cut off things to gain easy access... No idea on cost. I've already decided these are a no-go for me considering my plans.This is actually my first choice option. Check out ground control camber plates for the Mk6: they don't seen to require access from the top for adjustment. I've been pestering them via email and they keep telling me that the Mk7 application is right around the corner but still no luck. I'm waiting for the mk7 option to come out before I decide on how to go about the camber issues. Clearly these are also subject to the same slipping risk as the ball joints due to the design. Something to consider/research further.

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These coilovers do have adjustable camber plates built in. As far as I know they are the first ones that do. Unfortunately I don't think they will be to the same quality and performance level as KW's etc.

https://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Golf_VII--2.0T_Gen3/Suspension/Coilovers/ES2836921/

Good feedback here... Thanks!

Installation-wise it'll all kind of be the same to me. It'll be installed when the coil overs are installed so I don't expect it to increase labor costs too much. I'm more concerned with ease/accessibility to adjust in the future when tuning the camber.

Can someone explain to me how the gc camber plates are adjusted without doing it from the top?

Thought about the super pro alloy arms but they are pricey....

Still not sure what the issue is with the ball joint?

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ryohazuki222 said:

Good feedback here... Thanks!
Can someone explain to me how the gc camber plates are adjusted without doing it from the top?

Click to expand...

Most conventional camber plates have an outer ring that mounts securely to the car and then in the middle there is a plate that slides inward or outward to achieve camber adjustment. The inner ring is held in place by being bolted to the outer place and the issue arises because the bolts that hold the two plates together is usually accessed from the top and therefore difficult to adjust on cars with solid strut mounts like the GTI. GC's plates for the GTI, in contrast, are designed with a single plate (liken this to the rings I mentioned earlier). The plate is designed to mate up to the strut mounting surface in multiple positions (more camber, less camber). The very same bolts that allow this adjustment are the ones by which the camber plates attach to the vehicle. I have not used these before but I imagine adjustment could be made by loosening the 3 top bolts (with vehicle lifted, no weight on wheels) and grasping the strut assembly likely by the spring and pulling it outwards or pushing inwards.

Conventional:
http://www.ground-control-store.com/products/description.php/II=830/CA=193
GTI (mk6 model) style:
http://www.ground-control-store.com/products/description.php/II=870/CA=195

http://store.rotiform.com/collections/suspension/products/h-r-deep-coilover-kit-for-vw-mk7

my H&R's came with camber plates

tmw2442 said:

Your two best options are buy the superpro alloy arms and take the 1.25ish deg front camber they will give you and the increase in caster; will be plenty for 99.9 percent of the road warriors out there. If you want more buy the Groundcontrol plates coming out shorty(as stated above). The GC plates will have the same stack height as the original strut mounts, but much more work to install. The arms you can install in a little over an 1hr, probably less, go get an alignment and forget about them.

Click to expand...

This is a great option to pursue. More importantly, SuperPro offers two versions of the alloy arms for the Mk. 7 with both versions providing up to 0.5 degrees of negative camber while providing 1.5 to 2 degrees of positive caster and up to 4 degrees of positive caster on the second version.

Good info in this thread...

I'm sold on the bilsteins for a variety of reasons so definitely getting those even though some others have camber plates built in. I looked hard at some st coil overs but decided against them.

To be clear... Can someone confirm my understanding is right?

Stock camber on the front is -.5° ... Seems that dropping an inch may get this to -1°. Does that sound about right? So does that mean when it's all said and down the control arms are giving about -1.5 (-1 + -.5) camber?

Originally, I wanted adjustability so I can get it back into spec when Daily driving (-.5) and play around with it for the track (up to -3). Now I'm thinking that just leaving it alone might be a good enough balance for set and forget and I'll just deal with the added inner tire wear...

Thoughts?

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ryohazuki222 said:

Good info in this thread...

I'm sold on the bilsteins for a variety of reasons so definitely getting those even though some others have camber plates built in. I looked hard at some st coil overs but decided against them.

To be clear... Can someone confirm my understanding is right?

Stock camber on the front is -.5° ... Seems that dropping an inch may get this to -1°. Does that sound about right? So does that mean when it's all said and down the control arms are giving about -1.5 (-1 + -.5) camber?

Originally, I wanted adjustability so I can get it back into spec when Daily driving (-.5) and play around with it for the track (up to -3). Now I'm thinking that just leaving it alone might be a good enough balance for set and forget and I'll just deal with the added inner tire wear...

Thoughts?

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Click to expand...

The stock spec of -.5* and extra -.5* from the control arms all sounds right to me but I can't validate your assumption regarding change from lowered ride height. It's very hard to perceive a .5* change without putting the car on a rack and checking it (which I did not do).

Lastly, -1.5* really isn't a lot of camber in the fronts for a track setup.

Let us know how it goes.

ryohazuki222 said:

Good info in this thread...

I'm sold on the bilsteins for a variety of reasons so definitely getting those even though some others have camber plates built in. I looked hard at some st coil overs but decided against them.

To be clear... Can someone confirm my understanding is right?

Stock camber on the front is -.5° ... Seems that dropping an inch may get this to -1°. Does that sound about right? So does that mean when it's all said and down the control arms are giving about -1.5 (-1 + -.5) camber?

Originally, I wanted adjustability so I can get it back into spec when Daily driving (-.5) and play around with it for the track (up to -3). Now I'm thinking that just leaving it alone might be a good enough balance for set and forget and I'll just deal with the added inner tire wear...

Thoughts?

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Click to expand...

The below link may shed more light on the alignment numbers:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7yqafcuh3m9gzyj/Alignment Values.pdf?dl=0

Based on the link I posted, I'll need to get clarification on the Golf R 18"/19" alignment figures vs the standalone DCC column.

I have the 2015 Golf R with Tech Pack which provided the DCC option. Does that mean I have to follow the alignment specs for the DCC suspension or do I tell my alignment shop to use the Golf R 19" alignment specs....

Who's going to be the first one to get the gc camber plates installed and report back?!

Anyone know the camber range on these things? The description on their site doesn't say.

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ryohazuki222 said:

Who's going to be the first one to get the gc camber plates installed and report back?!

Anyone know the camber range on these things? The description on their site doesn't say.

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Click to expand...

I'm somewhat inclined to try these but will need to do some more research first.

The range states 19mm of adjustment. This is more precise than an angle as the angle will be a function of the range of adjustability as well as strut length (the shorter the strut the greater the change in camber). That said, I would be curious to know what 19mm means for a somewhat standard strut length