mathia

I'm looking to get a camber adjustment kit to eliminate the issue of the alignment not staying set. I've found that both Hardbar and Pfadt make kits and I know both vendors have great reputations here. I'm just wondering what differences there are between the kits. Hardbar says their kit "allows rapid alignment changes from street settings to track" which is a feature I want. Does the Pfadt kit allow this?


Here are links to the products:

Hardbar Camber Kit for C5/C6/C6 Z06 AND Stud Kit for C5/C6

Pfadt C5 Camber Adjustment Kit

Thanks.

davidfarmer

The hardbar (lower)kit comes in 1/2mm increments, so you can really dial things in to the camber/castor really exact. However, in the real world, there is no reason to be this "perfect". The Pfadt kit comes with fewer pieces which again allows for slightly less precise use, but also a lot less hardware to haul around.

I've used both, and both are very good and more than adequate. I do a lot of alignments with and without camber plates, and can pretty much guarantee either will work for you.

gkmccready

I *think* now that Hardbar ships a stud kit that the camber plates are fixed. The rears should get you around -1deg, and the front gets you max track width and you use spacers on the studs on the uppers to set the camber.

I didn't receive this huge box of plates when I ordered; the rear is fixed for the C5/C6 non-Z. The C6Z, I think, gets studs and plates for max track width at the rear just as everybody else gets for front-only...

mathia

Thanks for the responses guys. Looks like someone is trying to get a GP on the Hardbar kit. A nice GP discount could be a deciding factor as the kits retail for almost the same price.

Oyishdog

sorry to highjack the thread, but

I have a kit available for sale, if someone wants it (for a c6, but maybe the same as the c5 kit?) I never used it on the car (car is sold) and it is just laying around the house. I do not have the mm measurements on me at the moment, but my goal was to get -1.5 front -1 rear camber (good compromise for street and track driving - I am sure hardbar can trade plates). For those worried about tire wear, I ran these settings on my c5 z06 and never had any tire wear issues.

will let the kit go for $175 shipped

Hazman

If you want these go ahead and post in the GP thread and let Gary know the level of interest!

dbratten

I bought the Pfadt kit when I purchased COs and sways. It allows around -2.8 F and -2.0 R. It's extremely easy to change from street to race settings.

In front, you set the lower a-arms where you want it and then drop in or remove old-style U-shims on top using studs. I'm running a 4 notch in the lower A-arm forward bolt and a 6 notch in the rear to build in caster.

In the R you only change the forward lower A-arm bolt. Of course, you adjust toe F & R but if you're going back and forth with the same settings it's just a matter of counting the flats without having to measure each time which also allows you to easily adjust toe with the wheels off. As I am changing tires anyway this is not an extra step.

I made my own longer (3") studs for the F as I wanted more range of movement. With a little over 3/4" of shims I can bring the car to zero camber while at maximum track (6 notches) for street and back to -2.5 for autox by removing top shims only. Caster is at 8.3.

On the R going from zero camber to -1.2 is only a switch of 5 notches on the one lower bolt.

--Dan

Aaron Pfadt

mathia,

The Pfadt kit does allow quick changes of camber so that you can have a street setting and a track setting. The mechanism of adjustment is similar to the Hardbar kit, so they should be similar in swapping settings.

The basics of how to do that:

Jack up car and remove front tires.
Loosen upper control arm nuts and remove or add a set amount of shims to change camber (a 2 mm shim on each stud is about 1/2 a degree)
Re-tighten the control arm nuts
Make pre-determined toe adjustment (1/2 turn of the toe rod or whatever corresponds to the camber change you made)
Re-install the wheels.

If you want to do the rear also, you would change to a different set of plates on the front lower control arm bolt. 1 shim size is about .25 deg of camber change.

It is not trivial, but it is quick especially if you are removing the wheels to change brake pads or put on track wheels/tires also.

The toe adjusment step is optional because if the toe is set correctly for the 'street' camber setting, you will get a little toe out in front when you go to the track camber setting. That can be a nice thing. Same goes for the rear but you get a little toe in, also good for a track setting.

There are some variables in this (including ride height) so please confirm the alignment the first time you make these changes.

Hope this helps.

Aaron

mathia

Thanks for the detailed response Aaron. Now I get how it all works.

wtknght1

Gary (Hardbar) was either the first or one of the first ones to come out with an easy camber kit. I used it extensively on my C5 from 2003 to 2007 and they are superb. You won't find a better one.

SPDKNGG

Checkout Van Steel. I use their products and can vouch for their service and quality. They are located in Clearwater, Florida

mgarfias

A little late to the party.