wildcatgoal
@sirboom_photography
This is the special bearing + housing.Special spherical bearing? You dont have to go into extreme detail and divulge your secrets but what makes this spherical bearing different than others? The teflon lining?
My understanding is the bearing itself and its housing is toleranced very specifically, identified after numerous teeny micro changes during R&D to perfect, such that it does not bind (from being "too tight" so to speak) but that specific tolerance and that sort of oversized metal plate it sits within combined prevent knocking over the their life expectancy, often associated with "loose" bearings or weak housing structure (flex/movement). More specifically, that large ring of metal (bearing housing) adds strength to the point at which the suspension force is applied ensuring there isn't give and the bearing is not subjected to binding forces and in turn excessive wear that leads to knocking over time. The bearing is also sized appropriately for the task at hand and the assembly itself provides a critical cradle for the upper spring seat bearing, which other camber plates do not do at all or as effectively, allowing the potential for the spring itself to shift in the assembled strut (this happened to me with my previous camber plates and according to its manufacturer, they were installed right). Additionally, the strength of the plates are superior to a previous set of camber plates aforementioned which bent just torquing down the three top nuts to spec.
People for some reason don't think of Steeda's camber plates first because they are not camber + CASTER plates. Caster adjustment on these cars is unnecessary - these cars come with a ton already and you're just complicating things unnecessarily playing with it. Additionally, caster adjustment is minimal in plates that offer it and achieved by oversizing the channels by which you adjust camber, inviting more opportunity for issues (noise, wear, alignment not sticking) if the assembly happens to slip or become loose.
Other folks seem to dislike Steeda plates because they don't have a fancy plate that goes on top of the strut tower and/or the hardware looks cheap. Those plates, as far as I can tell, seem to only be there to advertise in your engine bay or look cool - I can't for the life of me understand what the point of those are. The hardware is grade 10.9... more than enough.
The only change I'd make to the Steeda camber plates is including slightly larger diameter washers that will protect the paint from the spinning socket as they're being tightened down, which I think they actually now come with.
Look closely at the design of Steeda plates vs. the competition. Even the studs are beautifully welded into place to ensure those don't become an issue either. Excepting Vorshlags units which are twice the price and overkill even for Steeda's own race car, I haven't found any other camber plates that I could check all the same boxes that Steedas plates check.
Sorry for the novel.
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