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K-MAC front Camber and Caster adjustable Top Mount Group Buy

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  • #16
    K-MAC front Camber and Caster adjustable Top Mount Group Buy

    Sorry guys, big day/night yesterday. 'Twas me Troy was talking about.

    I bought these for my 8L A3 as I was looking for a solution to more camber adjustment without having to modify my strut towers or running a specific type of coil spring. A bit of background, I'm running airride using Bagyard's custom Bilstein setup. These are compatible with standard mounts.

    Installing the KMAC mounts weren't very straightforward; the Allen bolts holding the plates that offer the camber/caster adjustments were hard to reach at the extreme end of adjustment (maxing out the camber wasn't possible as the Allen bolts sit directly under the lip of the strut tower opening).

    KMAC suggests that on-the-fly adjustment is possible but when I tried, I was not able to budge the components; each time I had to jack the car up to relieve the load. This makes alignment a tad difficult as it'll take a reasonable amount of hoist time and guess work. I help with my alignments at the alignment shop so it doesn't cost me extra, but it's a frustrating exercise.

    Caster adjustment tends to be towards the negative, which is a little annoying to have in a daily driver. Tramlining became amplified as the steering didn't want to track straight as easily as it was on standard mounts.

    I'm used to driving cars with harsh suspension setups, and these mounts definitely provided one. But then again, changing from standard rubber mounts to these poly + pillow ball set up, you'd be expecting a harsher ride. I wouldn't recommend it for a daily, especially if you like your comfort.

    Build quality wasn't the best; metal cuts weren't smooth nor straight - the section where adjustment is made easier by inserting a 1/2" extension was not big enough for all my 1/2" attachments. The poly mount was flaying at the tip of the lip where it wraps around the strut opening.

    The upsides I saw for these mounts were the amount of negative camber that I could achieve and the mount height. My final front camber reading when maxed out (along with the custom arms and balljoint I had setup to max camber too) was at almost 5 degrees, and this is with my car airred out. I'm not sure if the geometry on the Polos are different to the Mk4/8L but when lowered past a certain point, they start to exhibit positive camber. So yeah, I was achieving a lot of negative camber compared with standard components. I had no issues with the 'bag rubbing the strut tower.

    Also the mount height; they're about the same height as the standard mounts so they don't raise the car up any higher than your standard setup. Something that was important to me.

    For the price, I wouldn't recommend them. But I believe at the moment it's the only product off-the-shelf for our cars that provide a lot of camber adjustment for no body/suspension modifications to our cars. I've currently switched them out for 6N Polo mounts (shorter height for Mk4/8L).




    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.
    Past: Mk3 Golf 2L 8V, Audi 8L A3T.
    Present: Mk3 Golf variant.

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    • #17
      Thanks Ray
      MODS- TOO MANY

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      • #18
        Thanks lads! Just had a reply from the organiser of the UK GB and it seems the revised version for the Polo is sweet. I asked for details of the guys that have them installed.

        Fingers crossed.

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        • #19
          Cool, they must have fixed the problems, anyway i might sit out and see how you go with them
          MODS- TOO MANY

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          • #20
            Good call, hopefully 9N3 Turbo will try a set for us first

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            • #21
              Ok it seems the new design might be a winner with testimonials such as this;

              "Hi mate, sorry yea I've never had the suspension off to take photo's.
              They are quite loud to be honest but I'm in the process of sorting that.
              End of the day they're a race spec top mount so they're not exactly built for roadcars.

              They aren't wrong though, no jacking up needed. Literally loosen the 3 nuts and you can set the camber/caster how you like.

              Might be able to grab some photo's soon as I'm cutting the top mount cup out to get better access to them + show them off."

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              • #22
                Picture seen here

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                • #23
                  Look the same...

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                  • #24
                    What a shame. You made the same mistake as another person I know, you fitted them backwards!

                    The real clue is in the fact that you get negative caster with adjustment while they're designed to give you positive caster.

                    Fitted the right way there's plenty of access for the adjuster lock bolts.


                    Originally posted by rayray086 View Post
                    Installing the KMAC mounts weren't very straightforward; the Allen bolts holding the plates that offer the camber/caster adjustments were hard to reach at the extreme end of adjustment (maxing out the camber wasn't possible as the Allen bolts sit directly under the lip of the strut tower opening).

                    KMAC suggests that on-the-fly adjustment is possible but when I tried, I was not able to budge the components; each time I had to jack the car up to relieve the load. This makes alignment a tad difficult as it'll take a reasonable amount of hoist time and guess work. I help with my alignments at the alignment shop so it doesn't cost me extra, but it's a frustrating exercise.

                    Caster adjustment tends to be towards the negative, which is a little annoying to have in a daily driver. Tramlining became amplified as the steering didn't want to track straight as easily as it was on standard mounts.

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                    • #25
                      Yes just spoke to Kevin from KMAC and it does seem to be the case.

                      Anyway I have a set on the way to put this all to bed

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                      • #26
                        Originally posted by VWindahouse View Post
                        Anyway I have a set on the way to put this all to bed
                        i'm keen to see how this goes as i'd like a set for my a3; i hope they have upgraded all applications...
                        sigpic

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                        • #27
                          Hi all

                          I have finally signed up to this forum and am the guy organising the group buy.

                          Hopefully there's another member on here interested??
                          389.3 BHP Polo GTI

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                          • #28
                            K-MAC front Camber and Caster adjustable Top Mount Group Buy

                            Originally posted by 9n3 Turbo View Post
                            Hi all

                            I have finally signed up to this forum and am the guy organising the group buy.

                            Hopefully there's another member on here interested??
                            Yah the best polo going has signed up now people listen to this man
                            Originally posted by seangti
                            The price of the car rarely indicates driver ability/lap time.

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                            • #29
                              Originally posted by jasn78 View Post
                              Yah the best polo going has signed up now people listen to this man
                              Wow that's a big statement. Thanks

                              When I have some time I'll get a build thread together for those that don't know about my car but for now there's an intro in the "Newbies" section
                              389.3 BHP Polo GTI

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                              • #30
                                Also just so you all know we currently have 4 of the 5 needed to complete this group buy.

                                Surely there's another one on here wanting to get involved?

                                Would love to get these ordered sooner rather than later.
                                389.3 BHP Polo GTI

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