Sup everyone. I installed these about a month ago but just been really busy with moving, law school exams and computer mobos frying to post it up.
Well I was recently having some issues with my Hotchkis bar and the common ball bearing problem some others had and also unlike most people going for 0 camber I needed more Negative camber. The Hotchkis camber plate/strut bar combo kit which I like the look of just didn’t give me enough negative camber to tuck the larger wheels/brakes (19x8 on 235's with 35 offset and an extra 5mm spacer with thick arse rotors makes the wheels stick out pretty far). Well....
-Tein wanted around 280 for their SSP top plates and 3-4 months to wait
-Cusco wanted 290 for their with a 2-3 month wait
-C-one from kamispeed at the time was indefinite wait with around 260-280 shipped and no set date.
-I finally got in contact with K-Sport who wanted 250+shipping for theirs with a 2 week wait to I ordered them up.
They did however tell there were 0 guarantees they would fit the Tein SS setup as they had not tested for that yet. I needed to get this done and figured I could take the chance and see.
Review:
I was very pleased with the plates out of the box. The materials are very strong and solid and the plate fitment on the car was perfect. The ball bearing setup was solid and over the past month I have had it on the car has given me no problems. Turning the wheel is very smooth with no noise to warping. The face is not easily scratched and the “fingerprint” style finish though kind of odd gives it a neat look as well as more secure slider movement.
The camber plate adjustment is smooth and also gives for significantly more adjustment then the Hotchkis. Also the gradations marked on all sides really allows for ease of adjustment as well as having 4 bolts compared to the 2 on the Hotchkis bar which was a paint to adjust. I know the gradations may seem like a minor thing but it really helps for quick sliding for the plate. The 4 bolts and washers are solid even when torque unlike some other setups I’ve seen where cheap washers and bolts strip or bend.
Now for the issue. There is really only one massive con I found with these plates . . . they wouldn’t fit the Tein SS strut. There are 2 issues for the fitment:
1: the thickness of the plate/ball bearing is almost that of the length of the top strut thread so When installed I could only get the top bolt on ½ way. I did torque it down and over the month of hard driving it has not loosened at all. I will keep and eye on it and I may switch to an alternate style bolt later that is ½ the size but has the nylon at the top like this bolt to secure it on.
2: The included “sleeves” which go around the strut thread to keep it solid inside the ball bearing were too tall and too small. If I were to use the sleeve on the top and on the bottom I’d get 1 turn on the bold. So I just used one on the bottom which wasn’t a big issue. To fix the diameter issue, I simply drilled out the center. I was able to get it just to the right size so the sleeve is on very secure and slide just perfectly into the ball.
Also I did try to install it without the sleeve but the mounts would not sit flat on the top plate of the strut without atleast the bottom sleeve. It would wobble and i didnt not feel it would be good for the threaded top strut piece
All in all I am very pleased with the build and design. I will however see how the c-one plate fit with regard to ball bearing thickness as I would like to get more turns on the top not but if it’s the same design, I’d rather stay with the k-sport as I feel it has a more unique finish to the face as well as the gradations.
and just to compare, here is my old hotchkis setup:
