Kenny Brown upper control arm -- broke!

JoeAsheville

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Originally posted by Snake Eyes
Hell there CC plates aren't even true caster/camber plates. Here is their description of there Caster Plus Kit (link), I quote this directly from there site. "Optimum caster is preset in the upper strut mount and allows for adjustment of camber settings for performance driving" So basically they are telling you that all you need in a CC plate is camber adjustment because Ford's factory spec (about 3.2 degrees not adjustable) is enough caster!!! Adding as much positive caster as possible is one of the first things you do when you get CC plates that allow additional caster adjustment, and their plates apparently don't allow you to change that. Some one correct me if I am mistaken but that is just completely wrong. From what I have been told five to six degrees of caster is optimal on a street-driven Mustang.

Back in '95, this is the advice that I followed on my Cobra. I didn't know it was the same advic as was recommended for a Fox body. However, the advice of "get as much camber as possible" on a street driven car will whip off the tread on the inside edge of an expensive set of tires in just a few thousand miles. It was my experience that camber was a relatively static setting that stayed constant throughout the rotation radius and caster did little while the car was straight ahead but would cause the wheel to increase its camber as it was turned. I had 3.5 degrees static camber and with all the caster I could get, I believe I had close to 10 degrees at full lock.

If you're building a race car, the best route to take is to do test sessions with a tire pyrometer to measure temps across the face of the tread to arrive at optimal tire pressures and suspension settings.

If it's going to be a street driven car I would recommend staying within 5-10% of the Ford factory settings for decent handling but similar to stock tire wear.

BTDT, ruined a set of $400 each Michelin MXX3's with improper suspension settings.:cryying:
 

hpbyhermann

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kenny brown stuff is really not the best...

They have poor build quality, i remember a set of their subframe conectors a guy brought in one time to put on a 93 stang, they were wrapped together and you could literally bend them together and they would flex enough to actualy touch!! Yea i want that on my car to prevent flex!!!:eek: I would never sell anyone such a poor quality part because i couls never trust it enough to stand behind it!! Vendors that sell it must be brave or maybe they just don't have the experience to know any better?:shrug: in any case AVOID !!!!!
 

Cobra-R

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Originally posted by JoeAsheville
Back in '95, this is the advice that I followed on my Cobra. I didn't know it was the same advic as was recommended for a Fox body. However, the advice of "get as much camber as possible" on a street driven car will whip off the tread on the inside edge of an expensive set of tires in just a few thousand miles. It was my experience that camber was a relatively static setting that stayed constant throughout the rotation radius and caster did little while the car was straight ahead but would cause the wheel to increase its camber as it was turned. I had 3.5 degrees static camber and with all the caster I could get, I believe I had close to 10 degrees at full lock.


If you were running 3.5 (negative 3.5 I assume) of camber on a street driven car, it's no wonder that you were wearing tires out fast. -3.5 is alot even for a track car. I run -3.0 with 7.3 degrees of caster on my track car.

Brian
 

toofast4u

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Originally posted by JoeAsheville
I had 3.5 degrees static camber and with all the caster I could get, I believe I had close to 10 degrees at full lock.

Damn. You shouldn't run more the -1.5 degrees of camber on the street or you will ruin a set of tires very fast and some will say this is to much. On the street 5 degrees of camber is a lot and 10 is insane. A race car will usually have between -2 and -3 degrees of camber and 6.5 degrees of camber. If you have the car aligned incorrectly it is not the plates or tires fault.
 

Bingo13

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Originally posted by toofast4u
Damn. You shouldn't run more the -1.5 degrees of camber on the street or you will ruin a set of tires very fast and some will say this is to much. On the street 5 degrees of camber is a lot and 10 is insane. A race car will usually have between -2 and -3 degrees of camber and 6.5 degrees of camber. If you have the car aligned incorrectly it is not the plates or tires fault.

I run -1.8 on camber and +4.5 on caster with 1/16 toe on this car for daily driving. It seems to be a sweet spot for me.
 

coleman

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geez, i didn't mean to start off such a powder keg!

anyway, just got back from a little needed vacation & KB said they were express shipping replacement parts for my car. from my short conversation with them, they do stand behind their stuff.

I should get my car back early this week, and I'll take some pics of the replacement parts.

I got the parts mainly because of all the open track racing that i'm expecting to do. I doubt they expected us (read me or anyone) to be putting down 500+ RWTQ through these parts, but that's where i'm at. I will continue to open track, autocross, and drag with the replacement parts...

I have been more than satisfied with the customer support :beer:
 

ShelbyGuy

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ginsu knives stand behind them too. not becuase its a superior knife, but because they need to unload a warehouse full of them.

the part is misengineered as-is. unless the new one is revised, it will do the same thing. the emperor wears no clothes.
 

JoeAsheville

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No powder keg Coleman. Just good info. :thumbsup:

You guys are right about the settings of course. I just went by someone else's recommendation and ruined a new set of tires. After that happened, I began using a variation of the stock type settings and get great handling with good tire wear...so good, in fact, that I don't even need to rotate (unless I've been to the track).

With those extreme settings, at 10 degrees camber at full lock it was hilarious to look at. The car almost looked like it was doing a pirouette.
 

Bingo13

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Originally posted by coleman
geez, i didn't mean to start off such a powder keg!

anyway, just got back from a little needed vacation & KB said they were express shipping replacement parts for my car. from my short conversation with them, they do stand behind their stuff.

I should get my car back early this week, and I'll take some pics of the replacement parts.

I got the parts mainly because of all the open track racing that i'm expecting to do. I doubt they expected us (read me or anyone) to be putting down 500+ RWTQ through these parts, but that's where i'm at. I will continue to open track, autocross, and drag with the replacement parts...

I have been more than satisfied with the customer support :beer:

Just trying to keep you alive for the next run. The KB parts are not worth the money(imho) (no real benefits in their design compared to the stock setup) nor the worry. :thumbsup:
 

coleman

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i've heard that the replacement parts are stronger ... i wish i could post some pics, but i'm no where near my car :(
 

KHsonic03

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Thought I would chime in here--it's been a while. KB is CRAP. Enough said. I am sure some of you have heard of my KB front control arm fiasco. The arms shortened my TW by roughly 1". When I called KB to talk, no one could answer why this was so, other than "To allow the use of wider wheels" LOL!! Good reason. The truth is, they took the cheap route, and created a control arm to fit FOX and SN95 mustangs. Unfortunately, the FOX stock control arms are shorter than the SN95 control arms. So what does that mean to SN95 owners? Shorter TW, and we all know "wider is better." This is why Griggs and MM make TWO control arms---one for fox, one for sn95. Anyway, during that whole thing, they mentioned their rear control arms and how great they were. The gentleman I was speaking with (head of the KB motorsport--I forgot his name--it's been a while) said that they had a problem with the structural integrity of their upper control arm, so they were working hard to fix that with their CAD system. I guess this is the result of their "fix". He really shouldn't have mentioned that to me. I would never, ever buy KB products again, and have strongly diverted people away from them as well. MM or Griggs--they are the only way to go.
 

mustarrosa

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I am getting ready to put in a D&D K member setup and coilover ...Any one have expeience with this stuff? Sorry coleman about your deal and I hope it can be fixed to your satisfaction
 

jonas

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I hear their stuff has a tendincy to butcher any car they are mounted on. as for rear a arms, you are the first one I ever met who installed em and I gues sthats makes em 0for 1 on the irs dept
 

maoun

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the stock rear control arms are pretty decent, not too much change really from my understanding

m.
 

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