Cusco Front Camber Plates and 4box Rear Lateral Links installed, impressions...

Just got my Cusco Front Camber Plates and 4Box Rear Lateral Links installed today as well as an alignment.

 

The Cusco Camber Plates met my expectations in quality, function as well as fitment. I bought these from RaceComp Engineering whom I've had no problems with, smooth transaction. I've had Cusco products on every Subaru I have owned so my Legacy is no exception. They bolted right onto the stock Spec.B struts with no problems whatsoever. I was able to achieve my targeted camber (-2.5) with room to spare. These camber plates have pillowball bushings so they are a bit harsher than stock but still have better ride quality in comparison to coilovers. I currently have Swift Sport Mach Springs paired with the stock Spec.B Bilsteins.

 

I was also impressed by the 4Box Rear Lateral Links. I got them as a present from a friend but he purchased them from 4BoxParts who is a vendor on here. They are direct copies of the HKS Kansai lateral links for a fraction of the price. They do the job for much less compared to other lateral links available for the LGT. I was also able to achieve target camber (-1.5) with plenty of room to spare for a more aggressive setup.

 

During my first drive with them, I immediately felt the increased rigidity from the from camber plates, this is not a bad thing. With the increased amount of camber over stock, I definitely felt an improvement on turn-in. The rear also felt more solid and gave me a feeling similar having a stiffer rear sway bar. The car felt more planted and smooth through turns and the feeling is more neutral. These are my driving impressions from street driving, I will update this when I go to the track within the next month. So far, I am quite impressed with these small mods which were fairly inexpensive. I am also quite impressed with the handling even though this is still a spring/shock combo.

 

Note: I am still running stock sway bars.

 

My alignment settings are as follows:

 

Camber:

(F) -2.5

® -1.5

 

Caster:

(F) 6.3

 

0 toe all around.

 

Alignment was done at my Dad's shop, Firestone of Rowland Heights on a Hunter Laser Alignment machine. Sorry for not providing pics, I was too excited to get these on.

Sounds good, I'm looking at doing the same on Konis. Did the plates raise the nose up much. I'm wondering about the difference in thickness between the JDM tophats and the camber plates. The Konis are based of the KYB struts so they would normally use the USDM tophats. I'd like to be able to put some swifts on and call it a day but I don't want the front of my car sitting on the bump stops.

Is that factory caster or did you put more in via the plates? That's basically where my cars is now with offset lower control arm bushings.

The plates did not lower or raise my car, the ride height is the same as it was after I installed the Swifts. I installed the camber plates set for camber only because I was afraid that if I set them up for camber/caster, I might not be able to achieve the desired camber. I am actually quite surprised with the amount of caster I achieved without any ALK or anything.

I am actually quite surprised with the amount of caster I achieved without any ALK or anything.

 

Haha, me too, awesome. Thanks this helps alot, I think I'm going to give the swifts/camber plates a shot. The KYB strut housings that I reused shouldn't be any different than the bilsteins in height.

What was the part number for the camber plates and 4box rear lateral links? Any pix of the parts?

What was the part number for the camber plates and 4box rear lateral links? Any pix of the parts?

Adjustable Lateral Links

What was the part number for the camber plates and 4box rear lateral links? Any pix of the parts?

 

From what I know, nobody stocks the Cusco Camber Plates for the LGT. I got lucky when RaceComp Engineering had a set. I was actually planning on ordering from japanparts.

 

http://japanparts.com/db/partslist.php?dealer=1&car=6&middlesmall=3%3A9&maker=&volkey=162-084-001

The ultimate setup would be some Bilstein PSSs (I dont think these come with camber adjustment out of the box) or KW V2s and some Cusco camber plates:wub:

The ultimate setup would be some Bilstein PSSs (I dont think these come with camber adjustment out of the box) or KW V2s and some Cusco camber plates:wub:

 

My possible plans for the future, also considering RCE Tarmac 1s.

glad to see the camber plates didn't change ride height. i may get those to have a little more camber up front. i have -1.5 in the rear with stock lateral links and bilstein HD/pinks.

glad to see the camber plates didn't change ride height. i may get those to have a little more camber up front. i have -1.5 in the rear with stock lateral links and bilstein HD/pinks.

 

Is your rear camber even? Mine was not even close before the lateral links.

its something like -1.4 and -1.6, close enough.

Is your rear camber even? Mine was not even close before the lateral links.

 

Do these help with a bit of toe by any chance? My toe is slightly off in the rear...

Do these help with a bit of toe by any chance? My toe is slightly off in the rear...

That should be corrected with factory adjustments

That should be corrected with factory adjustments

 

It won't completely zero out. A slight tweaking of the lower arm will put it at zero. No wear, etc. it just bothers me.

DW, were you able to hit factory alignment settings with Swifts on stock Bilsteins? I am trying to determine if I will need additional parts to get my alignment back to spec after going to HD's/Swifts...

 

Also, do you feel that the Bilsteins can adequately control the motion of the Swift springs? Bosco sold his pinks that were paired with HD's because he said the rear would "pogo" over some moderately rough surfaces.

 

Thanks,

Rick

DW, were you able to hit factory alignment settings with Swifts on stock Bilsteins? I am trying to determine if I will need additional parts to get my alignment back to spec after going to HD's/Swifts...

 

Also, do you feel that the Bilsteins can adequately control the motion of the Swift springs? Bosco sold his pinks that were paired with HD's because he said the rear would "pogo" over some moderately rough surfaces.

 

Thanks,

Rick

 

I was able to get it to "Spec" which is what is allowable but not necessarily the best settings possible. The rear camber was totally off from the two sides, and I just made the fronts equal. But according to the chart, the settings were all over the place and good enough for me. The Swifts paired with the Bilsteins feel great. IIRC, Bosco sold his because he thought they were too stiff for daily driving? I'm used to coilovers so the Swifts and Bilsteins feel very very comfortable with enough stiffness to take turns without holding on for dear life. I have not experienced any rear wheel hop but then again, I haven't taken this setup to the track yet. I will have track impressions in a few weeks.

Cool, street impressions are all I need since I have no plans to track... I'm a little confused regarding regarding your statement about the alignment specs.

 

It seems like you were able to make the fronts within Subaru spec. using just the camber bolts (but still wanted more, hence the plates). However, the rear camber was all over the place and that is why you needed the 4boxparts link, since there is no factory camber adjustment for the rears, correct?

 

BTW, here is where Bosco made the pogo comment:

thanks for the info.

if there was a difference in ride quality with just the sways i didn't notice it i think the biggest issue in the ride was the spring rate/wheel travel. another thing i noticed was sometimes certain roads/bumps at slower speeds would cause the rear end to "pogo" for lack of a better way to say it. oh well when i get the Bilstein's repaired they are going back on with the stock springs. bosco

"Spec" is a varying range, for example for front camber if it is within -0.8 to 0.3 it is considered within "Spec", that is not acceptable to me. If you take your car to get aligned at a place that does not do performance alignments or alignments to your specs, they will just have it within "Spec". There is no factory rear camber adjustment, just toe.

 

I got the front camber plates to reduce understeer, and the correct way to reduce understeer is to increase front end grip which is achieved by adding camber. I reduced understeer significantly without purchasing a rear sway bar, I can't wait to see how my car handles after I get a rear sway.

 

Doesn't Bosco have Bilstein HDs? I'm not sure how different they are in comparison to Spec.B Bilsteins.

Yup, Bosco was on HD's/Pinks.

 

Seems like the adjustable rear links will be necessary since there is no factory camber adjustment, but I will hold off on the camber plates unless I can't hit my target spec, which AFAIK is -15' +/- 45' (or, -.25deg +/- .75deg).

 

After I've gotten used to the HD's/Swifts (w/ JDM RSB, Whiteline Roll Center Kit and AVO Caster Bushings) I will determine if the extra adjustment from the camber plates is necessary.

I am in the same boat basically. I have my set of billstein hds to install with swift springs, Im just having trouble finding the camber plates. Im thinking im going to maybe just buy JDM top hats and stick with that in the front and leave the rear stock. any thoughts on this guys? or know where I can buy the camber plates for under 300 without paying the shipping from japanparts.com? help would be SOOO appreciated.