steering angle clearance AE86

[The Bloody Panda]

Looking to get some opinions or perhaps even a correct answer. I'm about to remove my T3 NCRCA's and switch back to my Cusco RCA's. I'm having my factory front lower control arms extended and boxed to compensate for the track width difference between a standard RCA and NCRCA that makes the front track 50mm wider. It seems to me that it isn't as simple as simply making each front lower control arm 25mm longer since they sit lower than the RCA and therefore would need to be a little bit longer to produce the same effect. Anybody got any opinions or data on how much I should have the front LCA's extended?

Since standard RCA's and extended LCA's will give me more scrub clearance than a factory LCA and NCRCA I'm also adding some Megan Racing inner tie rods with the machined in 5mm sparcers (I hope these are a good product) to get some extra lock. So I suppose I could go crazy on the LCA extension just to make sure I clear but I want to minimize the negative camber gain and will be running my camber plates at full positive to achieve something that is hopefully less than -1.5 degrees. Currently I'm running my camber plates full positive and have -1.2 degrees of camber with my stock lower control arms using Tein suspension.

Come to think of it, maybe a more prudent question to ask would be how much can I extend the LCA's before I have issues with thread availability on the outer and inner tie rods?

Also out of curiosity, does anyone know how much camber I will be gaining with the LCA extension. I read somewhere that every 10mm of extension on the LCA will add -1 camber. Can anyone confirm this?

[Shinchu]

why dont you have the LCA hiem jointed so you can adjust?
like the pass racing i have on mine.
then you can adjust to whatever length you want. you are already having them boxed, just heim joint them.

[Barry]

go with BattleVersion Alex's LCA kit. it allows for much adjustability. just checked on BattleVersion.com, and the weld kit isn't offered any longer, only the replacement arm kit. You can try contacting alex if he can supply you with the weld up kit. its basically everything you need to convert your factory LCA's to a fully adjustable kit.

[LongGrain]

why do you want so little camber up front? ae86 chassis and suspension design begs for front camber

[HASport AE86]

If you want to mess with and dial in your track width in front, you really need to shell out the cash for some LCAs with an adjustable heim joint at the subframe end.

My Levin was set up:
T3 LCAs +45mm each side
14x9 -16 SSR w/ 1" aluminum spacers
T3 knuckles
T3 outer tie rods
T3 Camber plates
Cusco Caster Rods (i do not recommend them)

Rear 14x10 -30 SSR w/ 7mm spacers

Front Alignment:
-3.1 Camber
+2.8 Caster
0.0 toe

The T3 out tie rods and some adjustable caster rods are a must. They offer A LOT of adjustability. The problem with going very wide down on the LCA is that you are limited as to how wide you can go up top. I had the camber plates almost maxed out to reduce the amout of negative camber from extending the LCA. You can cheat a little bit by clocking the T3 camber plates 180 degrees out, but you are still limited. Rim size and offset is a huge factor as well. Large wheels with very negative offsets will not allow for much angle. The rim hits the inner fender of the chassis at full lock and can get stuck there during a drift and you'll spin out. You can play with this a little by running insane amount of caster (4 degree +) but it will change how the car handles.

You can fix most corolla handling problems by just doing a proper alignment. It really is key. As a rule of thumb here's what I shoot for:

Grip:
3.0-3.3 camber
2.7-2.8 caster
0.0 to 0.15 toe out

Drift:
3.3 camber (4.0 Camber Ueo setup for me)
2.8 caster
0.0 toe or 0.15 toe out for me

I've had good results running 3.0-3.3 camber for grip cars and drift cars, I've personally jumped to 4.0 and like it when paired with a toe out setting. For caster settings, the lower you go (under 2.6 degrees) the more feedback you will get in the steering wheel but it will be harder to turn and will not want to center on its own as easily. The MORE caster you add (2.9+ degree) the car will have greater straight line stability and the wheel will want to return very hard and fast to center on its own, but you lose that steering feel and the car feels numb to me. With toe, most people run a zero degree toe setting. If you toe in the front wheels (point them in towards each other), the car will want to wander less on the freeway and go straighter, but you will understeer into corners more. With a slight toe out setting, the car will want to wander on the freeway more and follow those groves in the road (lose straight line stability) but you will get a more responsive wheel and it aids in cornering and cuts down on understeer.

[The Bloody Panda]

So with 45mm of extension over stock length on your LCA's you're running -3.1 camber? Is this with RCA's? I assume it couldn't be NCRCA's. And this is with your camber plates maxed out positive? Thank you for your help on this, this makes my life so much easier.