New spece30 legal camber plates... Ruff?

[JGood]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2292/...7f240f.jpg?v=0
Here is a pick of mine installed. It's using all the threads on the strut assembly nut.

I'm surprised you can't incorporate more of the threads into your nut... what brand struts are you using?

The ruff plates came to Carr w/ the wrong thread size, and they had to modify the upper nut for a temperary fix. They will have a permanent fix that incorporates the upper seal and will use all the threads on the nut. All customers that have already bought the Ruff plates will get the update.

Also, by loosening the 3 nuts that secure the plate to the strut tower and dropping it down a few inches, you can get to the inner 2 bolts for camber adjustment. I wouldn't really suggest removing those bolts, but, man you could get some serous negative camber!!

Hmmm....

I'm using Bilstein Sports. My camber plates didn't come with any threaded parts... what you see in the pic is what I got. Just a little spacer to center the camber plate on the strut insert. There is a bottom spacer and top spacer. In the third pic down, you can see the bottom spacer installed, but the upper one is not. They are similar, but the top one is threaded on the inside (so i guess it did come with a threaded part). There is nothing to thread it to, however, it just slides over the strut insert. you can see it installed in the 7th pic down, without the nut.

[AlarmedBread]

You need a top nut like what vorshlag uses for bilstiens, the spacer looks like what is used for koni that have more threads up top.

Not sure if the OD would be the same.

http://www.vorshlag.com/images/catalog/products/bilstein_nut_spool_02.jpg

In a pinch you could turn a lug nut on a lathe to fit.

[JGood]

Got them installed and took the car for about a 40 mile drive, highway, back road, hard cornering. etc... They seem fine while driving, everything feels perfect. When parked, with the hood open, when I turn the wheel, it seems to bind... I can watch the nut and tip of the strut shaft, when I turn the wheel, they only spin if the spring hits the part of the hat that forces it to (the notch it fits into). When I turn it back the other way, the hat stays still.

Basically, the spring hat, and therefore the inner part of the bearing, are not spinning very freely. The hat is NOT contacting the outer bearing race, there is plenty of clearance for everything, I guess the bearing just isn't loose enough. There are no noises or anything. And the hat is not in contact with the side of the strut tower.

I'm sure this isn't normal, and can't be good for the strut insert, as that shift isn't really designed to spin while under pressure, is it?

[JGood]

You need a top nut like what vorshlag uses for bilstiens, the spacer looks like what is used for koni that have more threads up top.

Not sure if the OD would be the same.

http://www.vorshlag.com/images/catalog/products/bilstein_nut_spool_02.jpg

In a pinch you could turn a lug nut on a lathe to fit.

I guess that's the part Carr doesn't have yet. I think the nut will work, it gets all but 1-2 threads on the shock. Just sucks because the nylon part of the nut that makes it a locknut doesn't touch. I'll just Loctite it, I guess.

I don't think this issue has anything to do with the binding though.

[JGood]

Maybe this is my problem. This pic shows the strut with threads up to the top. Mine does not have threads the whole way up. This wouldn't effect the binding, but would explain it not threading the whole way.

[JGood]

Well, this guys look like mine, so I don't think that's it.

http://r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=105532&highlight=bilstein+threads

[Scotaku]

Like hntjoe asked, what shocks are you running? Make and part number would help a lot. I hate to speculate, but I'm not sure you've got real Bilstein sports; mine do not have that wrench-headed end like yours. Mine have a socketed end with threads all the way up, like hntjoe's. (and the Vorshlag pic)

In any case, I would not run the car with only two or three threads engaged on that top nut. They're not going to carry the torque of a fully engaged fastener and may contribute to one or both sides falling apart. The Ruff bearing might take the load for a while without letting the shock poke through, but one good trip to full extension and the shock might fall out of the bearing and skewer the strut tower.

[JGood]

They are Bilstein Sports. I have them on both of my e30's. As you can see in the other thread I just posted, his Sports have the same end. Whether or not Bilstein changed the design at some point is a different story... But these are fairly new (about 1 year old).

[JGood]

Just a little update...

Put some more miles on the car, the plates seem to be loosening up. This is the first time I've used camber plates, so I wasn't aware of the normal break-in period that is usually required. I think the only issue that remains is the lack of threads I'm able to use, which can be temporarily solved with loctite and permanantly solved with a threaded upper spacer that would get rid of the stock nut all together.

Also, Brian at Carr Industries is very helpful, and those guys stand behind their products. I will definitly be ordering from them from now on. In my 6 years or so of dealing with e30's, thy have the best customer service, prices, and shipping time of any place I've dealt with so far.

[Scotaku]

Fwiw, Carr doesn't make 'em. Ruff does... in Taiwan. ;)

That upper 'spacer' is definitely the problem. It's doing its job of locating the shock in the center of the bearing, but it's doing it at the expense of complete engagement of the top nut. Imho, it needs to be shorter. I can't blame Ruff for this because it does seem Bilstein has two different finishes for the top of the sport shocks.

I don't think I'd try to go with a threaded spacer though. The top nut needs to fasten the entire assembly together. A threaded spacer would become the fastener and the top nut would work against it instead of the whole kit. If Ruff/Carr is sending out replacement spacers, I'd wait for them before putting too many more miles on the car. There is a high likelihood of damaging what few threads are engaged on the shock as it is now.

If Carr/Ruff fails to deliver, I'd take the spacers you do have and shave them down to a more friendly thickness. They seem to be fine for filling the gap between the Bilstein stem and the Ruff bearing, but just need to allow the top nut all the way onto the shock stem.

[lt1_man]

Just a little update...

Also, Brian at Carr Industries is very helpful, and those guys stand behind their products. I will definitly be ordering from them from now on. In my 6 years or so of dealing with e30's, thy have the best customer service, prices, and shipping time of any place I've dealt with so far.

I agree...On a side note I will be installing the plates this weekend on my spec E30 car.

[g22]

I bought these and will be installing them this weekend too. Brian is excellent at Carr BTW.

[JGood]

Can you guys report back on how the top nut fits on your Bilstein Sports? Pics would be great!

Thanks

BTW, I looked at the Bilstein Sports on my other e30, and the tops are the same external hex head as the ones on my 325is, with threads that stop 1/4" or so from the top. Those shocks are probably 5+ years old.

[g22]

My shocks are the same as yours and less than a year old.

I have Vorshlag on my fathers e30 and they for some reason thought the tops of the bilsteins had an 8mm female hex head to hold them while you put the nut on to hold everthing together. The plates fit fine but the confusion regarding the tops of the bilsteins was the same.

Maybe the e36 bilsteins are different.

[JGood]

Spoke With Brian from Carr... Ruff has new strut nuts on the way that will fix my issue. My other "binding" problem is gradually going away, this is very likely due to it being a stiff bearing.