Another new GC race part (camber plate)

[Hellabad]

Adjustable ride height, adjustable camber without jacking up the car. Like our other camber plates, this unit also features articulating needle bearings for the upper spring perch, with the weight of the car on the needle bearings, not on the spherical bearing. The complete assembly raises and lowers the car over a 1 inch range.
These are for race cars only. If your car has a license plate, please look at our other camber plates. Some fabrication skills are required to install these, but no welding.
They will soon be available at
http://www.ground-control-store.com/

[siastuning]

Man!!! I need to right a letter to the SMAC and ask them to allow cutting of the upper tower. These look so cool.. I want them

[Steve J.]

What type aluminum are they made of?

[Hellabad]

What type aluminum are they made of?

The threaded part is 7075 T6.

And if somebody wants to argue about material, I can say that this aluminum is harvested from the finest ore fields in Bavaria, under cover of darkness so as not to spoil the ore. It is then aged in American Oak barrels in natural caves before being smelted in the smeltiest smelter in all the land.

The plate part is 1/2inch thick, so its just 6061 T3.

[Steve J.]

The threaded part is 7075 T6.

And if somebody wants to argue about material, I can say that this aluminum is harvested from the finest ore fields in Bavaria, under cover of darkness so as not to spoil the ore. It is then aged in American Oak barrels in natural caves before being smelted in the smeltiest smelter in all the land.

The plate part is 1/2inch thick, so its just 6061 T3.

Haha, no argument here...I think we use the same ore fields

Will you be making any new VW specific components for racing?

[snk328is]

It would be nice if you guys could specify which sanctioning bodies/classes these parts are legal for. I know it's probably a little extra work, but it could save somebody from buying it, only to find out that it's illegal.

[siastuning]

It would be nice if you guys could specify which sanctioning bodies/classes these parts are legal for. I know it's probably a little extra work, but it could save somebody from buying it, only to find out that it's illegal.

Sorry I have to disagree here.. Read your RULEBOOK every sanctioning body has one. This is not to say that GC would not know the answer to a rules question on their products, but it should not come to that. Each competitor has to be responsible for their choices.

[Erik@EDGE]

Damn...I want those too...Gotta lobby SMAC

[snk328is]

Sorry I have to disagree here.. Read your RULEBOOK every sanctioning body has one. This is not to say that GC would not know the answer to a rules question on their products, but it should not come to that. Each competitor has to be responsible for their choices.

I hear ya, but how many people really read the rules carefully and keep up with all the amendments? Hopefully more than not, but there are those that just go by word of mouth or memory, and end up "cheating", whether they know it or not.

When a "race" part is developed, I'm assuming it's being developed in certain racing situations. If that's the case, then the manufacturer must have surely created the part within the limitations of the rules of the series the part was developed in. Thus, they can at the very least say "Developed under xxx racing series. If you would like to use these in a different series, please check with your respective organization." And if they can do a little research and also be able to say, "Also legal in yyy series, but not for any other racing series." Then the buyer can buy with confidence.

Edit:

Sorry for the OT post. The part looks awesome, and I will definitely check the GCR for legality, along with the spring mount in the other thread. If so, I'll add them to the list of "must buy" items for my race car.

[jdholder]

I just saw these in person. They look very nice and will be going on my car next week!

[jdholder]

Question - I run a ltw shock tower brace and I noticed that these camber plates require you to cut the shock tower open.

How would I do that with a ltw brace? Cut the brace? Or not use the brace? Or use a different brace?

What do you think?

Thanks!!!

[Steve J.]

Jon, you have bars going into you engine bay from your cage, right?

What about doing an e46 motorsport style engine bay bars into the interior through the firewall.

My cage goes through the firewall in 6 places, 4 tubes going to the top of the strut brace, and 2 into the subframe/pickup points.

Welding bars integrated into the front of the cage will help more thenjust bolting on the ltw brace. I also have the ltw braceon my car, however i think they did this to ease engine removal. However, if you weld bars in lie they are in the e46 motorsports chassis, it should be fine.

[jdholder]

Jon, you have bars going into you engine bay from your cage, right?

What about doing an e46 motorsport style engine bay bars into the interior through the firewall.

My cage goes through the firewall in 6 places, 4 tubes going to the top of the strut brace, and 2 into the subframe/pickup points.

Welding bars integrated into the front of the cage will help more thenjust bolting on the ltw brace. I also have the ltw braceon my car, however i think they did this to ease engine removal. However, if you weld bars in lie they are in the e46 motorsports chassis, it should be fine.

No bars to the front shock tower. I am planning to do that as you described. The problem is I have 4 races in the next 8 weeks and want to use the new camber plates. Then after December 8th, I am going to do the cage work.

So my wonder is, can I notch the brace? Should I just scrap the brace for the remaing 4 races? Will I damage anything running for the next 4 races without a brace?

Thanks!

[M Rob]

Jon, Steve is correct, you can't use a standard strut brace with these weight-jack plates. You can pick them up with the cage since you run Mod as Steve suggested if you need to brace them.

[Steve J.]

The front strut brace, helps, but won't drastically change anything as far as handling goes. It might give a little more in the front end due to the front twisting a bit when the strut towersmove. And considering the rest of the car is caged, you might get a weird deflection curve, with the front end being the weakest. But, its pretty easy to remove the strut brace. Just remove it, and go do a hot session. if it seems ok, pop the new camber plates on and go from there.

Since you seem to be going all out on your car, I would suggest the following though:
While getting the new cage done, have everything welded in permanently and reinforced...as seen in the motorsports chassis. This will help a LOT and if you tie it into the cage with logitudinal and cross braces (exactly how motorsports is) you will have a very stuff front end, and won't have to worry about any pickup points or suspensionmounts moving around.

I'll try to find a picture of what I am referring to, so you can visually see what I mean. It might cost a couple bucks extra, and but you should be able to do it with the engine in the car..just disconnect all the electornics when you weld

[Jim O.]

I hear ya, but how many people really read the rules carefully and keep up with all the amendments? Hopefully more than not, but there are those that just go by word of mouth or memory, and end up "cheating", whether they know it or not.

All I can say is that if you're serious enough about a sport to invest any sort of money in it, you should be prepared to know the rules for your class, and keep up with any changes. Or pay someone, like your race prep/trackside support shop to know the rules for you. Especially in amateur motorsports, which use the protest mechanism to enforce the rules - if you don't know the rules, how are you going to determine whether or not your competitor's cars are legal?

Anyway, it's not GC or any other manufacturer that's going to be in the protest shed having their trophy stripped away - it's you. These manufacturers aren't the ones who shell out thousands of bucks to get to the podium - you're the one who invested the money. So, shouldn't you know the rules of the game you choose to play?

Jim

[megatron]

word to jim bird.

don't be lazy, and you might even find a place or two to exploit.

[krisko]

I think it's wise for a vendor to know BMW classes but certainly not expected. For instance, you often see on BW or Turner "this is the perfect suspension for J Stock" or something similar. Of course the buyer needs to beware, what if the perfect J Stock suspension ends up not being legal for J Stock

[snk328is]

All I can say is that if you're serious enough about a sport to invest any sort of money in it, you should be prepared to know the rules for your class, and keep up with any changes. Or pay someone, like your race prep/trackside support shop to know the rules for you. Especially in amateur motorsports, which use the protest mechanism to enforce the rules - if you don't know the rules, how are you going to determine whether or not your competitor's cars are legal?

Anyway, it's not GC or any other manufacturer that's going to be in the protest shed having their trophy stripped away - it's you. These manufacturers aren't the ones who shell out thousands of bucks to get to the podium - you're the one who invested the money. So, shouldn't you know the rules of the game you choose to play?

Jim

You absolutely should! I'm a firm believer of knowing and following the rules.

I guess I'm in the minority on this one.

I still would like to know in which racing series the part was developed under.

[Hellabad]

I still would like to know in which racing series the part was developed under.

Legit question;

These plates are intended for any race class that is NOT limited by a rule:
1 Not allowing camber plates
2 Not allowing modification of the center hole (SM, SP)
3 That requires a certain brand of camber plate (spec e30)

They are designed to avoid a few limitations written into some rules:
1 No welding (they don't need welding)
2 No relocating strut tower (bolts up into 2 of the stock holes)

So, basically any person racing in SCCA ITS, BMWCCA prepared or modified or SCCA PRO World Challenge should check and see if these are legal for their class.
Just because a company (GC included) says it's legal, doesn't necessarily make it so. Some companies just don't read the rules, some companies are desperate to sell parts, and some get caught out by a changing "interpretation".

Jay

[jdholder]

We just opened up our new box with these Camber Plates in it and found out we do not have the turnbuckle arrangement as shown in the picture to adjust camber. Was that a change? Or are we missing some parts?

[Hellabad]

We just opened up our new box with these Camber Plates in it and found out we do not have the turnbuckle arrangement as shown in the picture to adjust camber. Was that a change? Or are we missing some parts?

We got a pretty confusing PO from Brad, and as you know he is preoccupied with the baby and all. If you want to try to add those, just call me. They are sort of for ITS only where you don't run an upper stress bar, but I think you could make them work.
Jay 530 677 8600

[Steve J.]

So what mechanism replaces the turnbuckle on the standard plates, just the 3notches that the bolts slide in?

[jdholder]

So what mechanism replaces the turnbuckle on the standard plates, just the 3notches that the bolts slide in?

That's the way it appears. The turnbuckle really doesn't replace the slots, it appears that it just allows you to adjust camber with the tire on the ground. Right Jay?

The turnbuckle looks like a very cool arrangement!!

[Steve J.]

Ah, ok, from the picture I guess with a strut brace it ould limit the access...

Now what about the deal with being able to ajdust the height, does all the versions do that? Isit just with an adjustable perch on the plate, or what?