John:
I have the 2" lowered spring in the front of my race car. The
camber is so screwed up now that the question is academic.
The negative camber a-arms are designed to go in stock geometry
cars. I have a nasty feeling that many are going into lowered cars, where
the owner's do not understand the geometry questions.
It's another of those "Performance" issues, where many folks don't
look at how the vehicle performs as a whole for the intended function.
I'm going to get my car to the ride height I need, then look at the
camber to figure out where it needs to be. Once that is figured, then I'll
modify the arms to suit. I've been wandering around with ill matched bits
for too long, now I'm trying to keep it simple and right.
The other day, I got a question forwarded to me from a sales rep.
"Is there any downside to installing the lightened aluminium flywheel in an
MGB?". It's questions like these that cause me nightmares. There seem to
be a lot of folks bolting bits together, without a clear idea of what they
are trying to achieve.
I really hate to have people come up to me and say. "You know you
were right, that 285 duration cam doesn't work very well on the street".
Since we are on beefs. I followed a bunch of MGs down the freeway
the other day. MGAs, Midgets and Bs. You know they all looked beautyful.
Like rolling sculptures. It's a pity that they were only driving at 50 mph,
with the drivers hunched down. With the skinny tires, stiff suspensions and
bouncing wheels they looked like antiques, completely out of place on the
freeway. Luckily I know better, after daily commuting at 70+ mph in a B.
It is sights like this that may give the non-initiated the idea that our
cars are unsafe and at some time should be banned from the roads. I worry
about pretty cars, that don't seem to handle, or drive well.
Kelvin.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John J. Black [mailto:transmancat@bbnow.net]
> Sent: Friday, July 21, 2000 12:26 PM
> To: Don Collins; Charley & Peggy Robinson; Douglas B. Gaither
> Cc: mg list
> Subject: RE: Negative A-arms
>
>
> Hi Guys
> Picking up on this thread from both Don and Charley. The A arms are a
> fundamental part of the steering geometry. The factory
> settings are arranged
> to account for low road noise, reasonable handling, light steering and
> decent tire life along with a whole host of other issues. The
> use of these
> arms will change all that, and as Don says you will get more
> road noise, but
> tire wear WILL also increase, if tire wear is not increased
> then you are not
> driving the car hard enough where the negative arms are being
> used anyway!
> <grin>
> The handling will also be better than stock when the car is
> used hard. This
> is I think the point at issue here. I like the negative A arm
> set up, and I
> am about to fit a set this very day. I will use these arms on
> the street as
> well as the track, but I do also understand and know the
> consequences of the
> use of these arms.
>
> What do you other guys think?
>
> Regards
> John J Black
> Waterloo Drivetrain Systems
> http://www.waterloo-dtr.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-mgs@autox.team.net]On
> Behalf Of Don Collins
> Sent: Friday, July 21, 2000 9:58 AM
> To: Charley & Peggy Robinson; Douglas B. Gaither
> Cc: mg list
> Subject: RE: Negative A-arms
>
>
> Well I have to disagree only because Charlie wrote this and
> he has been in
> my car once =-). I do run them on my 70 B. First thing you
> have to know is
> that they do increase road noise. When I first put them on
> the tire shop I
> went to did my front end alignment wrong and my new
> Bridgestone Re71 tires
> lasted about 1 year. I found a shop here in Austin that the
> alignment man
> has a bit of racing under his belt and he is familiar with
> MGs. He redid the
> alignment correctly and that has been 3 years ago and I do
> not show any
> heavy wear with regular street driving. Now will I do this to
> my GT? No I
> like the GT running as quiet as it is.
>
> Don Collins
> 70B
> 70BGT
> 96 Land Rover
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-mgs@autox.team.net]On
> Behalf Of Charley & Peggy Robinson
> Sent: Friday, July 21, 2000 9:05 AM
> To: Douglas B. Gaither
> Cc: mg list
> Subject: Re: Negative A-arms
>
>
> Hi Doug,
>
> Those things are for racing.
>
> CR
>
>
> "Douglas B. Gaither" wrote:
> >
> > I am considering putting negative camber A-arms on my daily
> driver. I
> have
> > been told by the Moss catalog that this is a great thing to
> do. I've been
> > told by others that uneven tread wear along with no-so-significant
> > improvements are to be expected.
> >
> > Who has experience with these?
> >
> > Are they worth the money?
> >
> > Will my tires wear significantly?
> >
> > Please respond.
> >
> > Doug Gaither
> >
> > PS: I don't race on a track. I will use the car daily.
>
>
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