front pax side wheel have lots of positive camber

[Dominick]

what exactly causes that on e30 suspension?

to be a lil more descriptive when i turn the wheel to the right (toward passenger side) the wheel im talking about angles out like this: /
but a lot more than normal. My car sounds like im running mud tires on the highway.

is it a ball joint, control arm, tie rod, etc.????

[Jordan]

Something is seriously bent? I don't know, your description sucks.

[Madhatter]

It's called toe out on turns, it is surposed to do that when turning. If you think the angle is too large, book it in for a wheel alignment and ask them to do a caster swing, that will tell them if the angle is incorrect.

[Dominick]

thanks madhatter, maybe you can help me explain it better.

ok:

negative camber is this: / \ (looking from the front of the car)

positive camber: \ / (looking from the front of the car)

when the car is parked and the wheels turned right (toward the passenger side), the passenger side front wheel is cocked out a lot more than usual with more positive camber

so looking from on top of the car (aerial view) the front wheels look like this: / / , but the right wheel (front pax side) has a lot more positive camber than normal.

[UNHCLL]

typical suspension geometry

if you look at the drivers side when you have the wheels turned you'll notice it looks to have wayyy more negative camber.

either that or something is bent badly.

[Madhatter]

thanks madhatter, maybe you can help me explain it better.

ok:

negative camber is this: / \ (looking from the front of the car)

positive camber: \ / (looking from the front of the car)

when the car is parked and the wheels turned right (toward the passenger side), the passenger side front wheel is cocked out a lot more than usual with more positive camber

so looking from on top of the car (aerial view) the front wheels look like this: / / , but the right wheel (front pax side) has a lot more positive camber than normal.

Thats how it works, toe out on turns came about because when you turn the inside wheel has to travel a shorter, tighter path than the outside. Toe is increased a little more on the inside allowing the inside wheel to turn sharper yet still follow a common radius. Without it the wheels would skip across the surface. It is called Ackerman's principle. Camber is changed as the wheels turn to full lock, the change is due to the increase in toe out on the inside wheel, if you have someone turn the wheel for you and you watch the front, you will see the point where the suspension actually 'shifts' and the toe angles change.

It is physically built into steering arms, you might just not have noticed it till now.

Like i said, if you are worried, go down and get them to do a caster swing (basically they swing the steering from full lock to opposite lock to check the caster and camber angles). If you have a problem with toe out on turns geometry it should show up during the alignment and they can adjust it.

[sovann]

Nah, the camber change when turning is because of the castor angle, not toe. When you turn the steering wheel, the castor angle causes the outside wheel to gain negative camber and the inside wheel to gain positive camber. This is what you're seeing when the car is stationary and the wheels are at full lock.