Does anyone manufacture an aftermarket strut mount that allows caster adjustment for the Cobalt? Not looking for a coilover, just something that can be used with the stock strut/spring setup. Thanks...

 

the only way you would be able to allow for caster adjustment would be to slot the strut tower and pull or push the strut to adjustment. I do not reccomend an anyone without a Good deal of experience and knowledge (not read on the internet) to do this bring it to a shop preferably with a new hunter alignment machine and it will give them the specs that they need to know how much adjustment is needed to bring you within specification!

 

No one currently offers a caster adjustment plate for the Cobalt, the racecars use Ground Control plates for a VW. about $400 and require some fab to make work 100%

 

I remember seeing a Racing part in the Phase 5 build that allowed that kind of adjustment. But it was a completely reworked strut tower.

 

stance coilovers may be coming with caster\camber adjustment soon

 

they don't make a cam kit for these yet?

 

no there is no way to adjust caster with a "cam kit"

 

Too bad no one makes them since it'd be a nice adjustment to have and doesn't seem like a difficult part to design. I'd love to balance out my LH-RH caster better and dial in another degree or two.

GC lists two camber/caster options for VW:

1) Audi/VW, A4 chassis, which appears from the pic to be closest to our strut mount config

http://www.ground-control-store.com/.../II=653/CA=195

2) generic VW

http://www.ground-control-store.com/.../II=148/CA=195

Do you know which is the correct one? Also, any idea what sort of fab is involved? I could probably have them modded if its not too involved...

 

An extra degree or two of caster would be great.....I'd love to be able to run 5* caster

The racecars use the "generic" vw one. I cant really share info on how the racers get these to work, its not my time/effort that went into the setup. It is done...........

 

^ I see. Thanks for the pic.

I'm used to 8+ degrees of caster in my other cars, so the 3 degrees that I'm seeing with this car and the corresponding "nervousness" at speed and lack of self-centering behavior feel a bit unusual to me. Not a big deal, but I too, would love to get 4-5 degrees of caster and see how it feels...

 

No but you can adjust camber with them if they made them

 

3 degress dunno what you guys are talking about but when i aligned mine at my shop after my fender bender if i recall i know for a fact there was at least 4deg and 4 1/2 on the right you want more caster on the passenger side to compensate for the crown in the road. With a total caster spec of about .5degress. And you dont need a kit to adjust camber there is little adjustment all ready but all a camber kit is, is a narrower bolt to allow for more adjustment. i thought i would have had alot more negative camber with my sportlines but to my surprise it was still within specification

 

I hear ya, this thing is down right twitchy, even a little scary at speed if the road is less than perfect....which pretty much describes all the roads around here. Sure turns in nice though

 

So, I've been talking with Jay Morris at Ground Control and it turns out that they actually do have a caster/camber plate for the Cobalt (see attached pic). The problem is that it is considered a race-only unit and is not set up to work with the stock springs. He is, however, open to looking at designing a version that does work with the stock perch/spring setup. I offered to provide him a complete strut/spring assembly to get the ball rolling, but before I go through the trouble I am curious whether there is even any interest in pursuing something like this. What say you guys?

Oh, and if anyone knows where i can procure a complete strut/spring assembly for cheap please let me know - can be either passenger or driver side and can be an old used piece that someone's swapped out as long as its intact with the perch, etc. (the interface should be same for all Cobalts, correct?).

Any other thoughts or input are appreciated.

 

snazzy. I guess.

 

I figured this would draw at least some passing interest from the more hardcore Cobalt crew here...

Regardless, and in the apparent absence of any other caster (and camber) adjustable mounts for this application, I'll probably pursue it just to see what we can come up with. To this end, I've located a complete strut assy off of a wrecked 2006 Cobalt (no additional info given) that looks like its in mint condition. Can someone please confirm whether this would be an appropriate template to use for the SS/TC? It is my understanding that the Cobalt strut mount interface is same for all 05-09 models, but I'm a newb so I could be wrong.

 

yes the upper mount is the same in all Balts.

 

Thanks.

 

Anything ever happen with this?

 

Unfortunately not. I ended up ordering a spring/strut assembly off of eBay and sent it to Jay at Ground Control per our agreement, but I never heard from him after that and he never responded to my repeated attempts to contact him. I guess it wasn't worth his time...

 

That sucks. He's usually better than that.

 

I"ll probably ordering the B&G plates soon. Just to may threads like this, good parts gonna be made then just fades out and ...........nothing.

 

They don't fit progressive wound springs.

 

ScottHerbert runs them with his Pro-kit springs right?

Edit: Nope, found the pic of them on his eibach springs. I REALLY need some camber plates but, hate the idea of tearing up the strut towers for the VW ones.

 

I have heard very few good things about JBP. What is so bad about these camber plates ? Part Details JP0709