Maverick Lobo Autocross Testing & Handling Upgrades

[DMS]

Interesting that it's under steering on corner exit. Isn't that where the dual clutch rear end is supposed to be helping the truck rotate?

Only does so much. Allows you to get on the throttle sooner, but doesn't eliminate understeer. Still need to play with suspension & tire setup to dial it out more.

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[DMS]

**Easy Camber Mod for Better Cornering on the Maverick**

One of the easiest and cheapest modifications you can make to improve your Maverick's cornering is adding negative camber.

The Maverick uses a MacPherson strut front suspension, which has a key drawback:

As the suspension compresses (like when cornering), it loses camber meaning the top of the tire moves outward, reducing the contact patch with the road.

This is a problem because less contact patch = less grip, which leads to understeer.

The Cheap Fix? Camber Bolts.

Camber bolts are typically used to correct alignment after lowering or lifting a vehicle, but they can also be used proactively to add negative camber for performance.

Here’s how I did it on my Maverick using Eibach camber bolts (which are rebranded SPC bolts):

---
Installation Steps

1. Jack up truck & remove the front tire

2. Remove the upper strut bolt. You'll need to give it a whack with a hammer to remove it.

3. Install the camber bolt in its place.

Having the tab and arrow pointing toward the engine will set it for maximum negative camber (see reference photo).

3. Torque the bolt to spec — (97 ft-lbs for SPC brand bolts)

4. Put tire back on & lower jack. Repeat for other side.

---
What You Get

~1.5° of added negative camber

Before (Level reads 88.64°)

After (Level Reads 86.99°)

Total gain of negative camber = 1.65°

*If you've installed lowering springs you'll gain a total of ~ 2.3° of negative camber, which is about the max you would want to run on daily driver.

---

For less than $30 and 45 minutes of your time, this simple camber mod can noticeably reduce understeer.

 

[NY DIY GUY]

Nice Build

 

[Maverick123]

245/50/19 Indy 500's mounted, but these 265/40/18 Bridgestone RE71RS look like a possibility to try out for a future test.

My experience from thousands of laps on hundreds of setups is that tires and suspension and brakes need to work as a system, and for the car to be enjoyable as a whole you need to have similar mods on each component.

IMO the Indy 500s are fine with the setup you've got so far; the extra grip from the RE71-RSs will just highlight the flaws. You'll just be hanging on for dear life, pushed into the door panel with the outside suspension crushed into the bump stops . Same with the brakes, you'll cook your pads trying to use the extra grip.

IMO the fun setups on track are :
1) Stock suspension, lightly upgraded brakes, stock-ish "all-season performance" tires (ex: Conti DWS)
2) Sport suspension, upgraded brakes, summer "performance" tires (like your 500s)
3) Track-ready suspension, track pads, 200TW tires
4) Race suspension, race brakes, full slicks

You should only move up to the next level once your driving skill allows you to consistently reach the limit of your current setup on a track.

The singe most important thing to have for any track use is fresh, high quality brake fluid. For level 2 and above, you need something like Motul RBF, Gulf RF, etc and it needs to be flushed AT LEAST yearly

 

[r0tax]

**Easy Camber Mod for Better Cornering on the Maverick**

One of the easiest and cheapest modifications you can make to improve your Maverick's cornering is adding negative camber.

The Maverick uses a MacPherson strut front suspension, which has a key drawback:

As the suspension compresses (like when cornering), it loses camber meaning the top of the tire moves outward, reducing the contact patch with the road.

This is a problem because less contact patch = less grip, which leads to understeer.

The Cheap Fix? Camber Bolts.

Camber bolts are typically used to correct alignment after lowering or lifting a vehicle, but they can also be used proactively to add negative camber for performance.

Here’s how I did it on my Maverick using Eibach camber bolts (which are rebranded SPC bolts):

---
Installation Steps

1. Jack up truck & remove the front tire

2. Remove the upper strut bolt. You'll need to give it a whack with a hammer to remove it.

3. Install the camber bolt in its place.

Having the tab and arrow pointing toward the engine will set it for maximum negative camber (see reference photo).


3. Torque the bolt to spec — (97 ft-lbs for SPC brand bolts)

4. Put tire back on & lower jack. Repeat for other side.

---
What You Get

~1.5° of added negative camber

Before (Level reads 88.64°)
After (Level Reads 86.99°)
Total gain of negative camber = 1.65°

*If you've installed lowering springs you'll gain a total of ~ 2.3° of negative camber, which is about the max you would want to run on daily driver.

---

For less than $30 and 45 minutes of your time, this simple camber mod can noticeably reduce understeer.

Great info! Thank you.
And great pics.

As a daily driver (and not on a track), with stock suspension/tires, is this where I should start?
I still have rear sway bar high on my list of suspension/handling mods as well.

I don't plan to lower or change shocks at this stage.
Tires will happen when stocks are worn.
Maybe wheels too, to support a wider tire?

Just trying to improve (i.e. reduce) understeer. Primarily on turn-in.
Especially on decel, on a grade, into switchbacks.

 

[shadow_munk]

Great info! Thank you.
And great pics.

As a daily driver (and not on a track), with stock suspension/tires, is this where I should start?
I still have rear sway bar high on my list of suspension/handling mods as well.

I don't plan to lower or change shocks at this stage.
Tires will happen when stocks are worn.
Maybe wheels too, to support a wider tire?

Just trying to improve (i.e. reduce) understeer. Primarily on turn-in.
Especially on decel, on a grade, into switchbacks.

I'm in the same boat as you. I'm doing rear sway bar and tires (eventually) I'm happy with everything else. I do have a strut bar but that's personal opinion if you want that.

 

[DMS]

My experience from thousands of laps on hundreds of setups is that tires and suspension and brakes need to work as a system, and for the car to be enjoyable as a whole you need to have similar mods on each component.

IMO the Indy 500s are fine with the setup you've got so far; the extra grip from the RE71-RSs will just highlight the flaws. You'll just be hanging on for dear life, pushed into the door panel with the outside suspension crushed into the bump stops . Same with the brakes, you'll cook your pads trying to use the extra grip.

IMO the fun setups on track are :
1) Stock suspension, lightly upgraded brakes, stock-ish "all-season performance" tires (ex: Conti DWS)
2) Sport suspension, upgraded brakes, summer "performance" tires (like your 500s)
3) Track-ready suspension, track pads, 200TW tires
4) Race suspension, race brakes, full slicks

You should only move up to the next level once your driving skill allows you to consistently reach the limit of your current setup on a track.

The singe most important thing to have for any track use is fresh, high quality brake fluid. For level 2 and above, you need something like Motul RBF, Gulf RF, etc and it needs to be flushed AT LEAST yearly

All great advice there, especially the driving skill part It's very common to see people spending money on mods that don't do much and not spending it were it actually matters. Seat time!... and better tires.

 

[Maverick123]

Just trying to improve (i.e. reduce) understeer. Primarily on turn-in.
Especially on decel, on a grade, into switchbacks.

Is it really understeering, or does it only feel sluggish on turn-in? On decel, many pickups tend to get tail-happy from the light rear end. If you learn to trail brake, I'd be careful about adding a lot of rear bar

Rear sway bar can't hurt if you adjust it fairly soft to start, but it might just be the front toe-in that's bothering you ... I'd try the zero front toe alignment suggested by OP first, it'll really liven up the front end

 

[Buggy Man]

By stiffening up the rear sway bar you will lessen body lean which will also reduce camber change.

On one of my old daily drivers, adding a stiffer rear sway bar also made the front tires wear more evenly. Any car is more fun to drive with less understeer.

BTW, I liked your post about adding the camber bolts, nice work and thanks for posting.

 

[DMS]

Great info! Thank you.
And great pics.

As a daily driver (and not on a track), with stock suspension/tires, is this where I should start?
I still have rear sway bar high on my list of suspension/handling mods as well.

I don't plan to lower or change shocks at this stage.
Tires will happen when stocks are worn.
Maybe wheels too, to support a wider tire?

Just trying to improve (i.e. reduce) understeer. Primarily on turn-in.
Especially on decel, on a grade, into switchbacks.

The camber bolts will help a bit, but not much if you're using the stock tires. The tires are just that terrible. They have no grip, which is why you reach the point of understeer so easily.

But as a cheap mod to try out, yes adding the camber bolts will have an noticeable effect on reducing understeer.

Another option is setting your front Toe to 0°, this will make the the truck turn in faster.

I'll do a write up on how to set front toe so people can try it out for themselves. It's another easy "mod" & costs nothing to try out.

 

[r0tax]

I'll do a write up on how to set front toe so people can try it out for themselves. It's another easy "mod" & costs nothing to try out.

Look forward to it.
Only way I know is to take it to an alignment shop and have them do it. But not really interested in paying for an alignment quite yet.. Maybe with new tires.

Appreciate all your knowledge.

 

[DMS]

Autocross Test Results – Minor Mods, Big Gains

Last night, I finally got to test out the recent mods at an Autocross event—and they made a noticeable difference.

Results:

The updates shaved off approximately 5 seconds. Goal achieved!


Current Setup & Mods:

• Tires: 245/50/19 Firestone Indy 500s – 36 psi front / 38 psi rear
• Front Camber: Camber bolts maxed out (~2.5°)
• Front Toe: Set to 0°
• Sway Bars: Goodwin rear bar – Max stiff setting
• Springs: Goodwin lowering springs

Driving Impressions:

• Grip: Huge improvement. The truck holds more speed and transitions faster.
• Understeer: Still present mid-corner and on exit, but much better with added camber and rear bar.
• Tire Wear: Front wear is much more even now.
• Tire Heat: Fronts overheat quickly—grip fades by the end of a run.
• Rear End: Now very planted. Previously, lifting throttle would rotate the truck—now it stays stuck. I prefer some off-throttle rotation, so I’ll need to work on suspension tuning.

Issues to Address:

• ESC & Transmission Behavior:
  The ESC is cutting power, and the trans keeps upshifting to 3rd or 4th mid-run. I had to alter my lines and constantly paddle-shift down before corners to avoid bogging on exit. Sometimes it would let me shift down & sometimes it wouldn't.
• Brakes:
  Modulation is tricky. The pedal feel is vague, and the transition from light braking to lock-up is abrupt. No fade though.
• Vehicle Size:
  With the truck being longer than what I’m used to, some tight AutoX elements are tough to navigate. “Backsiding” cones isn’t always an option—it’s more about just fitting through cleanly.

What’s Next?

• Learn to better drive around the ESC and transmission quirks and length of the truck
• Install adjustable rear toe links to reduce rear toe-in and improve rotation
• Try different brake pads for better modulation and pedal feedback

Drone Videos!

 

[NIKwithoutaC]

You are doing the Lord's work with these posts. One of my biggest frustrations as a prospective Lobo buyer has been the relative lack of track or performance driving tests and reviews from any of the big name car review establishments. Thank you sir and please keep it coming.

Regarding the ESC intervention- have you experimented with pulling fuses? I know that historically, you could sometimes defeat ESC on AWD Ford vehicles just by pulling its fuse, but IDK if that would also disable Lobo mode (or the dual clutch rear axle entirely).

Also- do higher res copies of those videos exist? If so, you should definitely put it up on YouTube.

 

[r0tax]

Autocross Test Results – Minor Mods, Big Gains

Last night, I finally got to test out the recent mods at an Autocross event—and they made a noticeable difference.

Results:

The updates shaved off approximately 5 seconds. Goal achieved!


Current Setup & Mods:

• Tires: 245/50/19 Firestone Indy 500s – 36 psi front / 38 psi rear
• Front Camber: Maxed out with camber bolts (~2.5°)
• Front Toe: Set to 0°
• Sway Bars: Goodwin rear bar – Max stiff setting
• Springs: Goodwin lowering springs

Driving Impressions:

• Grip: Huge improvement. The truck holds more speed and transitions faster.
• Understeer: Still present mid-corner and on exit, but much better with added camber and rear bar.
• Tire Wear: Front wear is much more even now.
• Tire Heat: Fronts overheat quickly—grip fades by the end of a run.
• Rear End: Now very planted. Previously, lifting throttle would rotate the truck—now it stays stuck. I prefer some off-throttle rotation, so I’ll need to work on suspension tuning.

Issues to Address:

• ESC & Transmission Behavior:
  The ESC is cutting power, and the trans keeps upshifting to 3rd or 4th mid-run. I had to alter my lines and constantly paddle-shift down before corners to avoid bogging on exit. Sometimes it would let me shift down & sometimes it wouldn't.
• Brakes:
  Modulation is tricky. The pedal feel is vague, and the transition from light braking to lock-up is abrupt. No fade though.
• Vehicle Size:
  With the truck being longer than what I’m used to, some tight AutoX elements are tough to navigate. “Backsiding” cones isn’t always an option—it’s more about just fitting through cleanly.

What’s Next?

• Learn to better drive around the ESC and transmission quirks and length of the truck
• Install adjustable rear toe links to reduce rear toe-in and improve rotation
• Try different brake pads for better modulation and pedal feedback

Drone Videos!

Good stuff, actually looks quick! The Lobo is actually quite quick from 0-45 or so when pushing hard.

I can see the brake modulation issue.
They do bite hard initially, with a short throw.
But have minimal modulation, esp with stock tires.
So easy to lock up the stockers fully.

Body roll looks minimal! I bet the lowering springs help.

The "auto up shift" in Manual mode is quite annoying.
Sometimes you just need to send it and hold it at a high RPM instead of upshifting, especially on a track where you want to be 'setup for the next corner'.

For the ESC, I think Lobo mode does it already. But can you press-and-hold the ESC button on the console and deactivate it further?
I know you can do it in some modes. But not sure if it makes any difference in Lobo.

In my FoST, I'd get in and press that button for 'Sport' mode everytime. I actually found the 'sport' mode worked well for the FoST because it still would brake the corners for brake torque vectoring. Not sure how bene that is on the AWD and a real 'torque vectoring' rear diff though.

Vehicle size is something i'm having to get used to as well. I finally have gotten a feel for its width, and can place it pretty well. But its def still a large vehicle, coming from a truly "compact" hot-hatch pov.

 

[DMS]

You are doing the Lord's work with these posts. One of my biggest frustrations as a prospective Lobo buyer has been the relative lack of track or performance driving tests and reviews from any of the big name car review establishments. Thank you sir and please keep it coming.

Regarding the ESC intervention- have you experimented with pulling fuses? I know that historically, you could sometimes defeat ESC on AWD Ford vehicles just by pulling its fuse, but IDK if that would also disable Lobo mode (or the dual clutch rear axle entirely).

Also- do higher res copies of those videos exist? If so, you should definitely put it up on YouTube.

Lol thanks. There is no info on this truck yet for track setup & use. Edmunds has the best review of this truck I've read so far.

Pulling fuses will be tested if I can't find any magic "pedal & button dance" that will shut it off.

This is the only place I have those videos posted so far.

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