Atom 3 Alignment Adjustment

**Frank Orozco** · May 28, 2019, 12:24 PM

Hey Forum Members,

I have recently purchased the Longacre Digital Camber gauge as well as Longacre Toe Plates. This is my first diy alignment, I've always used shops in the past, so please bear with me. I'm trying to learn

I'm struggling to get the type of negative camber that I see discussed on this forum. In the picture below, we are looking at the rear passenger hub/control arms. I have brought in A (top A-Arm) in as tight as possible, and have let out the heim joint a bit from both B (camber adjustment) and C (Toe adjustment).

This seems to net me about -1.9 camber. Even at this level I am concerned about a potential failure of the heim joint with so much of the rod end exposed. What am I doing wrong?

(IMGUR link for those not logged in: https://imgur.com/a/EuNCWbZ)

atom_suspension.jpg

**Frank Orozco** · May 29, 2019, 12:50 PM

I submitted this question to Ariel tech support as well, and received the response below.

Frank,

I have attached the Factory setdown sheet for the SRA. We do not go beyond the recommend -1.5°, due to the reasons you listed.

Thanks

To help anyone else with this in the future, I have created this link to the "Flat Plate Run Sheet". FWIW, it seems to show -2.0 camber in the front and -1.5 in the rear if I'm reading it correctly?

**cvjoint** · May 29, 2019, 04:00 PM

SRAs might be different than street models, I have the SRA. Not sure if yours is SRA or not. In Europe presumably the cup car came with longer wishbones and in general some of the parts might vary from street to track cars. I've run 2.5* camber front and 3* rear for quite some time now with some very sticky rubber. No problems with the heim joint and that's some 30+ hours of track time.

**Frank Orozco** · May 29, 2019, 09:17 PM

Originally Posted by cvjoint

SRAs might be different than street models, I have the SRA. Not sure if yours is SRA or not. In Europe presumably the cup car came with longer wishbones and in general some of the parts might vary from street to track cars. I've run 2.5* camber front and 3* rear for quite some time now with some very sticky rubber. No problems with the heim joint and that's some 30+ hours of track time.

Yes I have the SRA also, and the link I shared from TMI is for the SRA. Their recommendation is to not exceed -1.5 in the rear. (I can see why. A failure there would be a disaster) Would you mind taking a pic of your lower heim joint? B in the photo I shared. That would help solve this for me.

I run Hoosier race rubber so I would like more camber also, but this seems sketchy. The only other thing I can think of is removing the stopper nut on the top (A in the pic) so I can get more camber from the top.

**argonaut** · May 30, 2019, 05:24 AM

Ride height 110/105 mm - any idea where and how that is measured?

**cvjoint** · May 30, 2019, 10:24 AM

Originally Posted by Frank Orozco

Yes I have the SRA also, and the link I shared from TMI is for the SRA. Their recommendation is to not exceed -1.5 in the rear. (I can see why. A failure there would be a disaster) Would you mind taking a pic of your lower heim joint? B in the photo I shared. That would help solve this for me.

I run Hoosier race rubber so I would like more camber also, but this seems sketchy. The only other thing I can think of is removing the stopper nut on the top (A in the pic) so I can get more camber from the top.

I'll snap up a picture next time I work on it.

**cvjoint** · June 25, 2019, 05:02 PM

This is an important topic. I will share what I learned so far.

1) Indeed the Ariel wishbones have a limitation based on thread length.
2) UK Cup cars can get double the camber for a total of 3 deg 45 min rear on the same 105mm ride height as the SRA. This is done with shorter upper a-arms. Why don't we get these on the SRA from factory?? Hoosier says their slicks need 2.5 to 3 degrees of camber minimum and those a-arms were already designed when SRAs came out.
3) Lower ride heights can yield more camber. For example, the UK Cup cars get a full degree more going from 115mm to 105mm height in the rear.
4) Rod ends have been substantially upgraded from Atom 2 to Atom 3/SRA to the race spec. The Atom 2 rod ends are junk. The Atom 3/SRA are Aurora AM grade. The SRA does not get race spec rod ends, but rather the street cars AM grade. The race rod ends are even stronger, the Aurora PRM series. However, it appears the PRM series are slightly shorter so it's unclear how much of an upgrade they'll be.

Pic of my car at 3 degrees rear camber:
20190616_182146 smaller.jpg