DSAS-Droopy Stub Axle Syndrome

[Rodger]

Hi all,

Thought I'd share a long running saga.

Problem 1: With my Celica TA-22:-- Can never get an even setting on camber. Cannot get enough on the passenger's side compared to the driver's side.

Problem 2: When I moved to RA60/65 rotors and magna calipers I began experiencing dragging brakes. So bad they were holding the car on moderate hills.and I was using half a tank to drive to Wakefield Park. But when they work they really are good.

Not good for economy or for a good track set up.

Problem 1 has been with me for years since putting the RA23/28 struts in from my old race shell. All I talked to and had align the front, picked on a bent strut tube as being the obvious. Or I had another strut assembly from a later model that shows a different camber from factory ie a RA60/65 as we all are learning.
We bent it to increase camber, we spaced out the wheel so it would not rub, we bent the strut back because I did not want to have different off-sets on each side. I gave up and with the K-Mac strut tops settled for a max of -0.5 camber. My really old tyres did not mind as they would slide before rolling onto the side walls.

Problem 2 came along and I thought I had it licked. I noticed that the caliper needed spacing out at the top to run it parallel to the disc, 3-4mm. Thinking the bracket was not flat due to the welding I had done. However it was not a cure.

At Wakefield Park last time in the wet I checked the caliper alignment, played a bit and went out to find they still dragged. Another adjustment and they now rubbed on the outer upper section and inner lower section of the disc. Out of alignment in the other direction. So I made dodgy spacers to correct this. Suprisingly the brakes now worked a treat and did not drag. Then I dropped the exhaust (another story).

I got home and figured, F! this I am going to get to the bottom of this.

The pictures below tell the story: Suffice to say it is enough to loose 2 degrees of negative camber and it added a couple of mm of toe in.





That is around 5mm difference. The rear stub axle is the one that is correctly perpendicular to the brake mounting flange surface.

It takes a fair whack to do this and I would never have thought to check. And I reckon that driving into drain at Fairbairn Park Hillclimb in my race TA-22 twenty odd years ago did more than we first thought.

So if you appear to have camber issues one side to another this is another place to look for answers DSAS. A 2mm droop may not effect brakes but may loose 1 degree of camber.

Regards

Rodger

[GasedT18]

Yeh but what's 'DSAS'?

Usage convention: when using an abbreviation, in the first instance, follow the terms to be abbreviated (capitalisation may be an option) with parentheses.

D

[jimmmayyy]

droopy stub axle syndrome as per title?? anyway it seems that the front stub axle is bent?

[GasedT18]

OOps

time to sleep

D

[Rodger]

Yeah Gased,

You are right, I even write technical documents at work and I should have followed my guidelines. Thread title changed.

Regards

Rodger

[cambelt]

This is also what ive found with cars is that have hit super big potholes or big ditches in 4 WD,s . So many 4WD,s suffer negative camber isues from bent housings, the trouble being it stuffs the axel seal to seal properly and they leak.
Dave