I posted this on the Webb forum but didn't get any takers, so I figured i would see if anyone from NAM wanted to voice an opinion...

It's getting close to track season up here in the Northeast and I'm in the process of making final decisions on track prep and want to get camber plates, but am confused as to what way I should go with the camber plates as I'm concerned about retaining somewhat decent ride quality and the Webb plates seem to be a bearing with no polyurethane, so i'm figuring it should be fairly harsh on the street, so I would like to hear from those who got the first batch and what the difference between stock and/or previous plates was in terms of ride quality.

I plan on setting on a compromise setting between track and street and won't be changing settings often or perhaps at all so indexing isn't that crucial. I mainly want to insure reasonable tire wear during track time. K-Macs seem like they might be an alternative. I'll probably be using either stock spring and shocks, or H-sport springs and stock shocks.

As always... thanks for weighing in with your opinions and experiences.

Tom
North Hampton, NH
2005 MCS Works
1991 M3
1990 535i

 

I've got them with stock springs and shocks. Jan 2003 build so the shocks are stiffer than the later models. Had them put on 10/04. The plates do make front end very jarring, but where I live (SoCal) it's not that bad. I have them set -1.5 full time. Randy promised a wrench to adjust the plates, but has not gotten around to it yet. If you order the plates, get a promise to ship the wrench with them.

So far no problems with the bearing which the shock goes thru. I u/s some of the camber plates don't hold up. these do so far.

 

I ordered the Kmac plates, but sent them back after being pretty disappointed with the quality. I now have the Webb plates installed, and the quality of the units is very high. I have HR springs, and Konis set pretty stiff, so I don't really notice much difference in the ride from the plates.

However, be aware the Webb plates, and some others, will raise the front ride height somewhat.

I was not shipped an adjusting wrench either, and one plate was missing one of the four stainless bolts used to secure the adjustment. I am still waiting on both items.

I run -2.2 degrees front camber street and track.

 

I am running the madness at -1.5, no jarring

 

I'm now using the Sol Snyderman (WMS) camber plates. I picked these up at one of the pulley parties. Nice units, but there are some flaws. Being that WMS wanted nothing to do with hearing about these flaws, I went right to the designer and builder of these units, Sol Snyderman of Perfect Power. Sol, unlike the person who puts his name on these camber plates, was absolutely great about taking care of one of the issues, and had new bearings and housings exchanged to me within two days.
These are the second generation units that I purchased. The problem is that there was way to much vertical 'float' in the bearing housing and the bearing was able to travel up and down 16 thousandths ". This is about 15 thousandths" more then the allowance. I would recommend that anyone that has also gotten these plates check this. Sol now epoxies these bearings in the housing leaving just about 0 vertical movement.
Jack up you cars and put them on jack stands. Then jack up one wheel and watch the nut on the top of the strut, inside the camber plate, and see if it rises and lowers as you raise and lower the wheel. If you are noticing any rattling in the front end on bumpy roads, this is most likely the problem.
The second issue with these plates is actually getting to those four nuts that adjust the camber. I don’t care what kind of wrench you make, it’s just not sufficient to do a proper job. I ended up cutting away some of the tower, just over these nuts, in order to get a proper socket on them.
OK, on the original topic of ride quality. Yes, those jarring bumps in the road transfer about 90% into the car, sometimes momentarily shutting down the CD player. Being that I love tracking my car, I can deal with it, but the ride there can be a bit rough. It all depends on the roads, as most of the time I am quite comfortable.

I run 2.4 in the front and tire wear is about perfect.