Need help with suspension clunk after Verus camber plate install

[SilverBully]

I sent mine in to Verus for warranty repair and they replaced the bearings, the new bearings are A LOT tighter in there - the old ones I could move around by hand... I haven't re-installed them yet because it is hot as hell in TX right now, but will try them this fall.

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[Eastwood]

I have Vorshlag camber plates on KW DDC coilovers, for about more than a year, perfectly quiet.

Then they started making a clunk on weird angles going up/down drive ways to avoid scraping. Eventually the clunk started happening at low speeds in parking lots making turns. I thought it was some spring bind at first but did some more research.

I tightened the shaft nut with an ugga dugga, no idea if it was loose but did it anyway since it was recommended by Vorshlag. Clunk went away but came back after a few drives. So I tightened the shaft nut again, but this time I tightened the camber plate bolts. There's 4 on each side and I would say 3 bolts per side had some light play in them. I think 2 had a lot more play than the others.

Got those tightened down and it's been good ever since. Now I make it part of my maintenance routine to re-tighten those bolts every few months. I also marked them to see any movement.

 

[MoreIceTea]

Alright I thought I was the only one encountered this issue but apparently not.

I got the same set from Verus, same stock suspension like you, they start clunking from day 1. I checked all bolts and nuts, everything tight. All camber plate bolts and nuts were thread locked and paint marked before installation.

Took a video with paint marked dots on both inner and outer of the bearings, confirmed it is the bearings themselves making noise when suspension fully drops.

If you want to reproduce and pin down the issue, have your car on a lift/quick jack with wheels off. Have another jack under the front suspension knuckle, jack up the font suspension to compress, then release the jack let suspension drop. You will hear the exact clunk at the moment when suspension fully drops and when the floor jack leaves the knuckle. Repeat this process with the floor jack, this time with one hand touches the inner part of the bearing. You WILL feel there is a drop inside of the bearing.

Got in touch with them, sent the plates back. They confirmed the bearings were "defective/damaged". Replaced bearings, I received repaired camber plates, installed again with same process.

The new ones worked fine for one track day, then start to clunk again after being parked weeks later, but one side only this time. Same symptom.

Root Cause IMO: The PTFE inlay these FK bearings they use will get compressed under loads. This compression is bidirectional.

#1. Compression for the top part of the PTFE inlay happens when suspension under compression. This load is being mostly taken by the strut bearing, NOT these FK camber plate spherical bearings. The spherical bearings only take load from damping force.

#2. Compression for the bottom part of the PTFE inlay happens when suspension fully rebounded. This load is being FULLY TAKEN BY THE CAMBER PLATE SPHERICAL BEARINGS. Which includes the mass and impact from ALL your suspension parts (strut/knuckle/rotor/caliper/pads/wheel/tire/etc.), PLUS the preload from the very long OEM spring.

For #2, be aware this could be a directional change of the load from push to pull, at the exact moment that the spring fully rebounded. The pull event is not necessarily larger in magnitude, but it's a hard-stop impact on the bearing's weak retention side, versus the cushioned push from damping — and every load reversal hammers across any developing play.

I Think #2 is the main contributor to this issue and causing the PTFE inlay damage. It could be that Verus did not correctly estimated/simulated the amount of impact when suspension rebounds and drops, and such load exceeds the rating that these FK bearings allow.

I'm trying to get in touch with again to confirm my theory and observations and theory. If this is the root cause, then this is a structural limitation for the camber plate that can't be resolved, unless they change the design or switch to a stronger/different spherical bearing with sufficient load rating.

Or: Could Verus got bad luck and have a whole batch of bad bearings?

 

[Baz_sta]

Alright I thought I was the only one encountered this issue but apparently not.


.....

Or: Could Verus got bad luck and have a whole batch of bad bearings?

I Believe you go the answer in the last sentence there.

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