[zmt]

Hey everyone,

I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on the M3 control arm kit, and was wondering if anyone knew how much clearance you lose between the wheel and the strut/spring assembly. I'm running 255 tires on 18x8.5 wheels and already feel like I'm super close to the suspension on the insides. I'm assuming the camber change will bring the tops of the wheels closer, but I'm too lazy to do the necessary trig to actually calculate the difference . I would estimate I have less than 5mm clearance right now.

[zmt]

Bump, anyone have any ideas? I'd like to order soon but if they won't fit I'll need to find out what size spacer I'll have to run as well (boo).

[IllLojik]

It doesn't change anything regarding clearance. You'll be fine

[NiVeDh]

I wonder if the M3 suspension bits affect the track. I read somewhere that they do widen the track a little bit but I can't seem to find it.

[IllLojik]

Originally Posted by NiVeDh

I wonder if the M3 suspension bits affect the track. I read somewhere that they do widen the track a little bit but I can't seem to find it.

Not the track, they affect is the camber. That and the bushings are stiffer than stock.

[zmt]

Originally Posted by IllLojik

It doesn't change anything regarding clearance. You'll be fine

So the added camber won't push the top of the inside of the wheel towards the shock/strut assembly? I would think adding neg camber would make that gap smaller (basically going from something that looks like || to /| if you'll pardon my Awesome Ascii Art ), especially since the hub isn't pushed out any but I could be thinking about it all wrong.

OK here goes my nerd mode to estimate what I'm talking about. If we assume the old camber settings were straight up and down (they're not but we're just talking about relative difference) and that our wheels and tires at the stock height are 20", then if we also assume that the arms add ~.7 degrees of negative camber, we can make a triangle.

we have two sides of the triangle at 20" (before and after camber adjustment) and an angle (.7 degrees) so if we take a side-angle-side triangle and solve for the third side we get ~.244 inches, which is about 6.2mm. If we then halve that because we're pivoting halfway up that 20" and not at the bottom, we're looking at moving the top of the tire about 3.1mm closer to the springs.

Do I just need to go to bed or am I on to something? (you can tell me I'm crazy). Assuming I'm *not* crazy I'd need to figure out how much clearance I have now to know if I'm ok or not.

[IllLojik]

You are crazy yes. lol But though you are right as far as camber affecting clearance, I honestly don't think it adds enough to give OP any trouble after a proper alignment. I could be wrong since I realized he is running 255. But I've seen plenty pf folks on here running 19's with crazier cambers. Hopefully someone else chimes in with some mathematics.

[tibra1]

The M3 front control arms add about -.8 degrees of camber..you run a 255 tire in the front???..thats very aggresive..so you could possibly have clearance issues between the inside of the wheel and the strut assembly

[zmt]

yeah, I run a 255 with the stock runflats, which are notoriously narrow. It's entirely possible my setup would rub w/ another tire.

[tibra1]

Originally Posted by zmt

yeah, I run a 255 with the stock runflats, which are notoriously narrow. It's entirely possible my setup would rub w/ another tire.

Yea thats gonna be hard to gauge like I said w the m3 arms you will get more static negative camber so it may rub..

[zmt]

Originally Posted by tibra1

Yea thats gonna be hard to gauge like I said w the m3 arms you will get more static negative camber so it may rub..

Right, I was mostly wondering if anyone had any concrete measurements as to how much closer it would bring the wheel. I'm trying to see if I'd need some 3-5mm spacers before I get to the point where I can't put my wheel back on!