While replacing wheel bearings, I finally got around to doing a bit of a performance alignment. With horrible weight distribution and front drive, I’ve been wanting more caster for this car. Sadly, it is only adjustable with offset bushings, or set back strut top mounts from companies like Whiteline. They are dollars though. A poly bushing kit that will do all the suspension and shifter bushings on the car, costs less than what two offset caster bushings, or strut tops costs. Still, I considered making a purchase, until I realized that I could effectively offset my LCA bushings with a spacer.
Hack? Maybe, but I’m not the first to do it. It’s a pretty common thing on the GC forums, but the GD guys are typically much too snobby to put something cut with an angle grinder on their cars. Twelve millimeters of spacer found me a bit less than one degree of caster, and pushed the front wheels forward almost an inch. It’s a very good thing. Combined with an extra degree of negative camber (about 1.5 total negative) the car feels noticeably better on the road, and on the ice. I reset the toe to zero.
It’s work that I’ll have to do all over again in a month or so though. I’ve currently got some inverted Bilsteins and pinks on the boat, and will be ordering new poly bushings as well.
Your Bugeye has the aluminum control arms?! It would’ve came with the stamped steel ones when it was new.
Do you know if they’re the GD STI ones (more caster, more camber) or just the GC WRX ones (more caster, same camber)?
hmm. I’m still a Subaru noob. I wasn’t aware of such a difference between control arms. I was only aware of the JDM Spec C/USDM 04-06 STI arms with plus 1 degree of caster, which these are certainly not.
Mine are dimensionally equivalent to the stock steel arms.