TrueBlueZ

iTrader: (1)

So while pouring over my options for upgrading my suspension i have had one thing that kept hanging me up, the crappy rear eccentric toe bolts. I would love to go to a true coilover setup and eliminate the factory spring bucket but with the concerns of upper strut mount strength and the fact that most true coilover setups that perform well are above my current price range, I have kinda shied away from this. I really have my sights set on KW v2 or v3 but these use the factory spring bucket, so i got to thinking there had to be a better way to adjust the rear toe and keep it in spec.
Below is a crude ms paint rendition of the idea I have come up with and I want to involve the community because more minds will make this easier to test. The plate with the elongated slot would be on the inside wedged between the ridges to either side of the adjustment slot that hold the factory toe bolt in place. The second plate goes on the outside between the bolt head and the inner plate. The v grooves allow you to change the toe in small increments in a predictable manner that shouldn't slip. You could even pair this with the idea of the spc toe bolts where you elongate the slot to give a greater range of adjustment. Also since the adjustment increments would be uniform you could now predictably change your toe track side if you knew how many notches were the desired degree of toe.
I literally came up with this 2 hours ago so i haven't even started to source materials but i really think it could work. It would require slightly longer bolts than stock and I'm thinking steel rather than aluminum for the plates. What i really need now is dimensions of the square lockout plates in the SPL "toe louckout kit" and if there are any "off the shelf" steel pieces anyone could think of that would have the small v grooves already cut in to it. Due to the weather here right now i don't have an easy place to get the Z up and get measurements.
Please feel free to comment/bash/collaborate on my idea, that is how good ideas get made better and bad ideas get squashed before anyone wastes time or money. If anyone has access to a machine shop (JasonZ-YA our resident DIY thread king kong maybe? ) I'm sure these could be made easily.

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

I doubt you can make the ridges small enough, just order the SPL springbucket midlinks.

TrueBlueZ

iTrader: (1)

The issue there is the kw rear springs won't work with them, or the rear springs from most OEM style coilovers as far as i can tell, so i would have to buy separate springs at an additional cost, and the $700ish price tag of the midlinks increases my suspension cost well above my feasable budget.
The range of the factory toe bolt is roughly 3 degrees total correct? (+1.5 to -1.5 range I think) so if each piece has 30 ridges on it i'm guessing you should be able to adjust in .2 degree or less increments. I don't think the ridges would need to be very deep or wide because the pressure of the bolt is going to sandwich them together. really just needs to be enough to keep the outer one from sliding.

TrueBlueZ

iTrader: (1)

Hmm, 350+ views in 10hrs and only one response............ Lots of interest but no ideas?

Neimad

Everyones stealing your idea! Or, like G35Sedan said somewhere, it's that the eccentric slipping thing is a myth. And since there aren't 10 million threads about mysterious toe slippage I think he's right. I'm taking my mid-links off soon, I'll measure the [o] pieces for you. Also, SPL told me almost a year ago that they were working on something simpler.

SoCal07HR

iTrader: (17)

Good idea.

TrueBlueZ

iTrader: (1)

Neimad, thanks for the input, just shoot me a pm with measurements when you get them, thanks.

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

do you need more adjustment on your toe bolts? I ran with stock toe bolts till about a year ago. I always managed to get the car within spec (the higher end of camber -2.1 ) with OEM hardware. My car was lowered around 1 inch in the back, maybe slightly more.

All cars are different, some are maxed out at OEM ride height.

TrueBlueZ

iTrader: (1)

I'm not really sure how much room I have left, when I replace all of my bushings back there in the next couple months I'll check. This isn't meant to be a solution just for me though, I'm trying to come up with a solution for the whole community.

Z1 Performance

iTrader: (564)

If the toe bolts are installed correctly, torqued to spec, there really isn't a reason for them to slip except under extreme conditions. Nearly every single car on the market with a strut setup uses an eccentric bolt from the factory.

You also have to understand that not everyone who lowers the car automatically needs rear camber or toe correction beyond what the factory arms account for. It is highly car dependant, most notably based upon 1. your car, and where your current alignment specs start out (every car is different), 2. how low you elect to make it. Better to engineer/buy a solution once you know you actually need it, and once you know the current solutions won't suffice. It may turn out you only need .1 or .2 degrees of toe correction, and not some wide sweeping change vs where you end up after installing coilovers/lowering it. Is it worth buying/installing an aftermarket arm to 'correct' such a minute change? Probably not.

Like anything else it comes down to defining what you're using the car for, and then narrowing the field to products that suit those uses within a given price point. I've used lockout bolts, individual arms (which my car has had for awhile now), and aftermarket eccentric bolts. I've yet to have an issue with any of them. Others results may vary

binder

iTrader: (8)

I know for a fact my toe and camber lock outs slip because i write down what they were when aligned and they aren't the same when i head back to the rack. My best friend that is a master BMW tech is the one that does mine. He's 6'7" 225lbs so he has no trouble getting things tightened down.

Maybe it's because i put down 652hp at the wheels. Either way, i know they change from what they are set to after a few months.

mw9

iTrader: (51)

what are you using now?