[Goose17]

My oldest son and I installed caster camber plates on his 2011 5.0. I’m posting it here because it will help with installs on GT500s, which are basically the same in this regard. We lowered his car awhile back and thought all was well until we put his car on the lift and saw the inside edge of his front tires worn down to the cords! He got these plates:

J&M Mustang Adjustable Caster Camber Plates 24221 (11-14 All, Excluding GT500)

FREE SHIPPING! Perfect Alignment for Street or Strip. Whether you spend your time on the track or the street, you need a good alignment. The adjustability that

www.americanmuscle.com

Got the car elevated and pulled the front wheels. You could do it by raising the front only:

Trip to the tire shop to swap the damaged tires:

Removed the strut tower brace (10mm)

Removed wire harness clipped to strut. We had previously broken this and had it zip tied. Also remove the 10mm bolt that holds the brake line on the engine side of the strut. I didn’t snap a pic of this.

Remove sway bar end link 18mm nut. There is a “nut” on the backside you can get a wrench onto to hold the bolt. You can’t see it, but my finger is pointing to it in the second pic.

Support the rotor with a jack stand to take pressure off the strut bolts. We lowered my lift a bit to raise the A-arm.

Remove two 18mm lower strut bolts. Hold rotor to prevent it from swinging outward.

Run zip ties through the top hole to the sway bar to keep the rotor held in place otherwise brake line damage can result.

Remove strut top nuts (four 10mm) while holding strut and then carefully pull strut out.

 

[Goose17]

Use a spring compressor (outside type) to compress the spring. We rented it for free at our local auto parts store.

Instruction sheet says to now hold the end of the bolt (10mm) and remove the 21mm nut. We were using a 21mm socket, so this wasn’t possible. I used a pliers wrapped with a rag on the shaft inside the spring... just pull the rubber boot down if you go this route. You may want to go buy a 21mm box head wrench... you need one later. I ended up buying one that I could have used on this step.

It worked!

The caster camber plates are side specific. Make sure you install the driver’s side on the driver’s side... etc. reinstall the 21mm nut. Again, we were using a socket so we couldn’t hold the end. The instructions say not to use an impact wrench. I tried holding the shaft while turning the nut with a standard ratchet, but the shaft would spin. I used my impact wrench on “medium” and it worked like a champ!

Remove the spring compressors.

These particular plates have a notch on one side. Depending on racing vs. street and how much lowered, you orient them differently. For a street setup and for lowering more than 1”, you put the notch you can see at the top of the photo (black part) towards the engine. Reverse for road racing or less lowered cars.

Also of note, these are shipped with an 8mm nut on one of the bolts. This needs to be removed before installing. The above picture shows it already removed, but here it is... make sure to remove this before installing the strut!

Reinstall strut. Push up from bottom and secure top with supplied washers and lock nuts. Leave nuts loose. Also install supplied M10x20 bolt into open slot next to the 4 strut top nuts. Tighten all top nuts/bolts.

Reattach spindle to strut with the 2 large bolts and torque to 148 lb-ft. I ended up having to run to the hardware store to buy a 21mm box head wrench for the bottom bolt.. no space for a socket to hold the nut. I could have used this 21mm wrench to remove the strut top nut earlier.

Reattach ABS sensor wire to strut (plastic push pin) and reattach brake line to strut with 10mm bolt.

Reattach sway bar end link. We used my lift and the jack stand to move the A-arm to align the bolt. (85 lb-ft.)

Rinse/repeat other side!

Once done, go straight to an alignment shop. Be sure to call ahead and mention that you have a lowered Mustang with caster/camber plates. Not all shops can handle that.

 

[tomshep]

What kind of springs is he runnning?

I put Ford Racing L springs on my 14 and originally flipped the stock plates and the tires were too vertical. I think they were very close to 0 camber. I put them back to the stock orientation and that added a little camber back in. I've kept a close eye on my tires and they are wearing very good.

Tom

 

[BLKwRD14]

I JUST did this a few weeks ago on my '14. Ford Performance lowering springs and Maximum Motorsports CC plates. Then took it to a local dealer with a Ford Performance department for a 4 wheel alignment.Really like the stance and can't wait to get her out again. Hopefully this weekend! ?

 

[fletchffletch]

I JUST did this a few weeks ago on my '14. Ford Performance lowering springs and Maximum Motorsports CC plates. Then took it to a local dealer with a Ford Performance department for a 4 wheel alignment.Really like the stance and can't wait to get her out again. Hopefully this weekend!

Good stuff, Jon! Let’s see some pics of your newly lowered stance.


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[BLKwRD14]

Good stuff, Jon! Let’s see some pics of your newly lowered stance.


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[BearMan88]

Negative camber makes me

 

[Goose17]

What kind of springs is he runnning?

I put Ford Racing L springs on my 14 and originally flipped the stock plates and the tires were too vertical. I think they were very close to 0 camber. I put them back to the stock orientation and that added a little camber back in. I've kept a close eye on my tires and they are wearing very good.

Tom

He went with SR Performance from American Muscle.