034 Negative Camber Strut Mounts

[victorofhavoc]

Yeah I hesitate when I see 034, but glad that on this their build quality seems to be better than usual. Thanks for that review going over the issues!

So basically you've used the stock struts throughout all these spring changes. Interesting that Bilstein may also have some issues.

The stock struts and springs worked fine. The dcc struts are fairly long and the gti spring has almost no preload, so any stiffer spring (which is generally shorter by design), will end up being loose. Since these are mostly metal, the noises and jarringness (is that a word?) are far more apparent than they would be with a rubber mount. I'd recommend a full strut and spring replacement or just much better struts if looking for performance.

I've heard of two Bilstein pss10 failures with these mounts, and in both the strut shaft by the strut nut ended up failing. One was an R I met up with on a track nearby, and another was a gti who I also met at a track further away. Bilstein does not recommend the pss10 for track use, so I'm not sure how much it was the bilstein vs the 034, but a few others around the forum run the pss10 with other mounts and seem to be fine... So who knows

 

[flipflp]

The stock struts and springs worked fine. The dcc struts are fairly long and the gti spring has almost no preload, so any stiffer spring (which is generally shorter by design), will end up being loose. Since these are mostly metal, the noises and jarringness (is that a word?) are far more apparent than they would be with a rubber mount. I'd recommend a full strut and spring replacement or just much better struts if looking for performance.

I've heard of two Bilstein pss10 failures with these mounts, and in both the strut shaft by the strut nut ended up failing. One was an R I met up with on a track nearby, and another was a gti who I also met at a track further away. Bilstein does not recommend the pss10 for track use, so I'm not sure how much it was the bilstein vs the 034, but a few others around the forum run the pss10 with other mounts and seem to be fine... So who knows

The PSS10 failures are not with the Camber+ mounts, it was with their HD Mounts which makes little sense, but there you go. Navi was one of them, if that is what you're referring to.

My Camber+ mounts are still going strong, I have a little squeak when I turn the wheel from the driver side but I don't know what that's related to. No other NVH or changes to report from their installation 20k miles ago. I've had them on Bilstein B8s the whole time as well, if that means anything.

 

[victorofhavoc]

The PSS10 failures are not with the Camber+ mounts, it was with their HD Mounts which makes little sense, but there you go. Navi was one of them, if that is what you're referring to.

My Camber+ mounts are still going strong, I have a little squeak when I turn the wheel from the driver side but I don't know what that's related to. No other NVH or changes to report from their installation 20k miles ago. I've had them on Bilstein B8s the whole time as well, if that means anything.

I wasn't sure which mount Navi was using so I wasn't going to reference him. The two guys I met in person said they had the 034 "camber mounts", so I would assume the dynamic+.

Good to know you're not having issues though .

 

[flipflp]

I wasn't sure which mount Navi was using so I wasn't going to reference him. The two guys I met in person said they had the 034 "camber mounts", so I would assume the dynamic+.

Good to know you're not having issues though .

Navi was on the HD mounts, and he had posted previously a friend of his had the same issue with the same mounts.

You would be the first person I've heard...hear about that issue with Camber+ mounts, I believe. I'm sure stuff happens all the time that don't make their way to the forums, or that get missed. I don't go looking for issues with the products I own that I don't have issues with haha.

I wonder what the problem could be with Bilstein specifically. Seems odd.

 

[victorofhavoc]

Navi was on the HD mounts, and he had posted previously a friend of his had the same issue with the same mounts.

You would be the first person I've heard...hear about that issue with Camber+ mounts, I believe. I'm sure stuff happens all the time that don't make their way to the forums, or that get missed. I don't go looking for issues with the products I own that I don't have issues with haha.

I wonder what the problem could be with Bilstein specifically. Seems odd.

Yeah both of the guys said they weren't on this forum. On said he had a vortex account and the other just used reddit/Facebook. I don't know them more intimately. They both mentioned having issues with the strut nut area on the driver's side specifically.

My issues are all because of springs. It is what it is, but springs were a poor choice to begin with. I should have gone for a good dampener set, like motion control, instead of wasting money on the mss springs. I hated the idea of getting rid of dcc, but now I can't wait to be rid of it.

I'm hoping these mounts with some yanking around of the subframe and the ohlins will leave me with closer to -2.5* (maybe add css swivels), and have the car comfy enough for the street so the wife doesn't shout when we hit a pothole, while competitive enough on the track to run with other cars in my category.

 

[flipflp]

Yeah both of the guys said they weren't on this forum. On said he had a vortex account and the other just used reddit/Facebook. I don't know them more intimately. They both mentioned having issues with the strut nut area on the driver's side specifically.

My issues are all because of springs. It is what it is, but springs were a poor choice to begin with. I should have gone for a good dampener set, like motion control, instead of wasting money on the mss springs. I hated the idea of getting rid of dcc, but now I can't wait to be rid of it.

I'm hoping these mounts with some yanking around of the subframe and the ohlins will leave me with closer to -2.5* (maybe add css swivels), and have the car comfy enough for the street so the wife doesn't shout when we hit a pothole, while competitive enough on the track to run with other cars in my category.

Gotcha.

I'm running RS3 lowering springs from EMD now on the B8s, and the RS3 springs up front were shorter than the R springs which was a little concern. After about 12k miles on those springs I've never had any issues. The springs stay preloaded or at least seated at full droop. It's a pretty comfy setup all things considered, maybe a bit soft for full track duty but I daily the car. Fairly cheap in the end too.

I think -2.5 is completely doable with either swivels or LCAs. I just checked my last alignment and I'm actually -2.15 even left to right up front, and -1.7 in the rear. Less than the advertised -1.4 more but I think that's how the strut mount bolts were tightened to make it even left to right. I don't have deadsets for the subframe, and my last alignment front camber was -2.1 Left and -2.6 Right which I didn't like.

 

[blaqsheep]

With the deadset kit I got my fronts -2.1 with the Superpro plates, zero toe. Prior to alignment it was -2.27 and -2.24 but toe was severely off. Definitely not anywhere close to the advertised increase but it is what it is. I doubt the strut mount bolts allow for much adjustment, maybe +/- .05 degrees. My god are these harsh over poor pavement. Because racekar, right?

 

[flipflp]

Well then I'm not 100% sure why my first alignment was so far off camber-wise on the passenger side. Something must have been off somewhere, but toe was even.

As far as harsh, unless I hit a bump big enough to touch bump stops, it's not too bad for me. Not sure what the difference is in rubbers for the inserts between 034 and SuperPro though. Still, racecar for sure.

 

[blaqsheep]

Well then I'm not 100% sure why my first alignment was so far off camber-wise on the passenger side. Something must have been off somewhere, but toe was even.

As far as harsh, unless I hit a bump big enough to touch bump stops, it's not too bad for me. Not sure what the difference is in rubbers for the inserts between 034 and SuperPro though. Still, racecar for sure.

I saw that, was wondering why it was so off. Definitely recommend the deadset kit if you can get your hands on it.

I went from a nice cushy ride on 17's to feeling every bump, crack, expansion joint in the road. Potholes or manhole covers that didn't bottom out the car before now make the car feel like it's bottoming out. Still, worth it for the smiles on on/off ramps and I'll get my first track impression next week.

From my understanding 034 uses rubber inserts and Superpro poly, which would probably explain the roughness compared to what I read about 034.

 

[flipflp]

I saw that, was wondering why it was so off. Definitely recommend the deadset kit if you can get your hands on it.

I went from a nice cushy ride on 17's to feeling every bump, crack, expansion joint in the road. Potholes or manhole covers that didn't bottom out the car before now make the car feel like it's bottoming out. Still, worth it for the smiles on on/off ramps and I'll get my first track impression next week.

From my understanding 034 uses rubber inserts and Superpro poly, which would probably explain the roughness compared to what I read about 034.

My camber is even now, when the 034s were first installed something wasn't right because it was off. No subframe noises otherwise so I'll save my money on the deadset for now at least haha.

That would make sense, 034 says 75 durometer on the insert and it is rubber. A poly puck could be much more than that.

 

[victorofhavoc]

With a 400lb spring it's going to be stiff for me no matter what, especially since we got my wife a Q7 for a dd and that thing rolls over potholes like they're nonexistent, while my car with the topmounts and 034 springs bent a 17" oz racing rim...the difference is truly drastic.