[urq] upper strut modificatons

[Jeffrey Goggin]

> I've been thinking about this too since I'm in the midst of doing a lot of
> cutting and welding in the engine bay.

If you're going to cut and weld anyway, then (IMO) a better solution to
camber adjustment is to cut the strut housing apart (the curved part
connecting the tube to the wheel bearing ass'y), weld on a pair of plates
with holes drilled in each corner (and a locating dowel if you're so
inclined), then use machined aluminum shims to adjust the camber by
increasing the distance between them.  (This is similar to how Porsche does
it with its racecars, although their setup allows them to adjust caster,
too.)

This way, you won't be changing the suspension geometry (moving the top
mounting point around changes the roll center location) or have to readjust
toe after each camber adjustment.  Better still, you can also insert spacers
between the two plates and adjust track width as well (although there are
limits to how much you can widen it without adding a spacer between the
inner CV joint and transmission axle flange to restore the "plunge" you'll
be using up) and if you slot the holes on the plates, you can adjust caster
a bit, too, also without having to reset toe.  To locate the top of the
strut, you only need to fabricate a simple aluminum plate that bolts to the
"flange" around the opening in the strut tower and install just the
spherical/thrust bearing part from Ground Control's VW Rabbit camber plate
in the middle of it (or wherever your suspension geometry dictates) in a
fixed position.

I did this with the 4k racecar I was building ages ago (as well as cut away
the inner fender between the strut tower and headlight, which made it
possible to adjust both camber and toe from under the hood, while the car's
sitting firmly on the ground) and added Ground Control's threaded collars as
well so I could use 2.5" i.d. springs.  That said, I never actually _drove_
the car with the suspension setup this way so I can't say for certain there
wouldn't have been any problems with it, but otherwise, it was a pretty neat
setup and didn't cost very much or require a lot of work. (NOTE: Should
anyone actually contemplate doing this, contact me as I've just now thought
of a better way to accomplish what I've just described and will be happy to
pass along the details.)

BTW, if anyone is looking for some inexpensive, lightweight track wheels,
the 7x16 forged alloy wheels Mercedes used on its '98 - '99 CLK 320 might be
just the ticket.  I recently bought a set of four -- with half-worn
Continental street tires -- on eBay for a whopping $78.99 plus shipping.  I
haven't dismounted the tires yet to weigh just the wheels, but the combined
weight is between 31-32 lbs. (!) according to my bathroom scale.  Compare
that to 41 lbs. for my OEM 7x16 wheels, half of which is the tire itself,
and it appears these wheels could be as light as 11-12lbs!!!  The offset is
37mm, the bolt pattern is 5x112mm, and the center bore is 66.56mm, which
means hubcentric adapters to locate them on an Audi (57.10mm) are readily
available.  The only downside's the fact that 1) they're not very attractive
(but for the track, who cares?), and 2) the bolt holes are 12mm, which means
they either have to be drilled out to 14mm or you have to use conversion
studs (14mm on one end, 12mm on the other), washers to adapt the ball seats
to 60 deg., and appropriate size lug nuts in order to mount them on the car.
For the money, though -- I've seen other sets on eBay sell for as little as
$99.00 -- it's a great alternative to the forged 7x15 Fuchs, especially
since it means you can use Hoosier's 215/40-16 tires with stock, unrolled
fenders (or so it would appear based upon measurements taken from my '85 ...
ymmv).

Jeffrey Goggin
Chandler, AZ