I'm thinking of putting a set of the fixed camber plates on my MCS to prevent mushrooming and improve the handling. I was wondering if this was a DIY project for the average garage mechanic. Once the plates are installed do you need a alignment? I thought that our cars were not adjustable up in the front.
TIA

 

My understanding is if camber is changed, toe will change. Definitely if there is a height change. But as been mentioned, there will be a slight compression of the bushing after some time. So wait a few days before bringing to a specialized alignment shop (avoid big box stores with an attached shop).

As for a diy, you'll need a way to compress the beehive springs. And you may need to shape the ridges in the strut towers to get clearance with the increased negative camber.

Search on fixed plates in this group for more info.

I'm not a suspension guru but I did sleep at an Holiday Inn Express. :D

 

The only "fixed" camber plates I know of are the Ireland's. Is this what you are getting?
I know many here have posted that camber plates will help stop mushrooming, but the fact is, they will usually do the opposite. Now, being the the Ireland's are a factory plate that has been modified with added - camber, then they will just be the same as the factory setup as far as shroomin goes.
Aftermarket camber plates tend to be anything from somewhat firmer then stock to 'much' firmer then stock being that they use a harder and sometimes a solid bushing. These bushings transfer pot hole hits much more severely to the strut towers then the much softer stock units. Thus pounding the towers much more , .. cause shroomin to happen that much easier.

Oh yea, .. yes you can do this yourself pretty easily. And yes, you ned to have the car aligned, mostly toe as heyduard says.

 

IE in the thread title = Ireland Engineering

 

They are not factory plates though. They are much heavier and stronger than factory plates. The metal is much thicker. It is a DIY project. For spring compressors, go to your local auto parts store and rent one. The advance auto parts that I used charged me $50 for the compressor and then refunded the cost completely when I returned it...free tool rental.

A major factor that causes mushrooming is the metal plate in the mount. On the stock mounts, it bends with force. It mushrooms, causing the tower to mushroom. I found this out when I did the install. The stock mounts were very mushroomed. The heavier plate with the IE plates will definitely help a lot in preventing mushrooming. The plate is at least 3x thicker than stock. The rubber bushing is also stronger and is surrounded with metal, unlike the stock one which has the rubber opened on the sides.

 

... sorry about that. Maybe they used to be modified factory plates? I know someone who got them a couple of years ago and I thought that's what they were at that time.
Just to note, I used the Webb plates which are about as heavy dutty (the plate that is)as they come. They shroomed the heck out of my car. There were times that I thought the strut was going to shoot out through the hood.

 

Really...I'm glad that I got the IE ones then with the rubber bushings...I just hope the rubber holds up. Onasled, what suspension set up do you have? IMO, the best way to avoid mushrooming is to switch from the factory dampers.

Also, how big is the plate? The IE plate is much bigger than the factory one, so more surface area is better...theoretically should also help reduce mushrooming.

 

I was using factory struts with H-sports first then when to PSS9s.
The plates are about 1" thick aluminum. Not sure about surface area. i'll take a look at that.

 

I would not totally agree with you on this statement. Although most camber plates use more rigid bearings, the actual plate base on most camber plates help reinforce the super thin strut tops. Most camber plates distribute the load over a wider surface of the strut towers, thereby reducing mushrooming. I've experienced mushrooming on my MINI, but once I installed my camber plates I have had zero mushrooming afterwards. FYI: I have 450#/" springs on my PSS9's with Hotchkis camber plates and I daily drive, autocross, and track my car. Zero Mushrooming for over a year.

Cheers