HELP: Rear camber/toe adjustsments - can't adjust once in the car?

[Matt-B]

i did marshalls subframe, and can get a wrench on fine?

[Wishno87]

i did marshalls subframe, and can get a wrench on fine?

Did you adjust it once It was on the car?

[LJ851]

Yea. I might take a can of white spray paint with me? I love to tack it in place....but...

My only question is, how inter-related are the two adjustment, camber and toe. Can I lock the toe in place like that? Or, when you adjust the camber a bit, its going to move the toe in or out, and so you need to have two adjusters. I thought I saw someone say that you have to keep going back and forth on the alignment cause they affect one another how the adjusters are set up.

Are you going to be changing your camber and/or toe settings often? Yes changing one setting affects the other but not a lot if the settings are close. Your alignment guy should have no problems. I was suggesting a tack weld on the edge of the eccentric to the edge of the bracket it is pinched against, that way if you need to change it you just slice the weld down the center with a cut off wheel and readjust. Drive it home very gently and then weld.

[george graves]

Not planning on changing it ever, unless I go lower. The only reason I got the "kit" (actually bought it pre-installed on a subframe) was to improve tire wear and get camber back to near stock. I fell like with mid-range summer 225 tires that I have plenty of grip for a street car.

I haven't been to the shop I'm going to take it to, hopefully he can tack the toe adjustment with a tiny weld, that would work for me. There's almost no reason for a street car to have anything other then the stock rear toe settings - none that I can think of.

I kinda feel like having the both kits isn't the smart way to go. More is not always better. Except on car forums, were everything becomes a pissing match. :|

I'm wondering if other people that are looking to doing this should not buy the toe kit, rather just the camber kit. Unless by installing the camber kit, it requires the toe kit to be installed to correct toe changes caused by the camber kit install/adjustments. Did that make sense?

[LJ851]

I haven't been to the shop I'm going to take it to, hopefully he can tack the tow adjustment with a tiny weld, that would work for me. There's almost no reason for a street car to have anything other then the stock rear tow settings - none that I can think of.

I kinda fell like having the both kits isn't the smart way to go. More is not always better. Except on car forums, were everything becomes a pissing match. :|

I'm wondering if other people that are looking to doing this should not buy the toe kit, rather just the camber kit. Unless by installing the camber kit, it requires the toe kit to be installed to correct toe changes caused by the camber kit causes. Did that make sense?

I understand what you are asking now. It depends on your ride height . As your suspension compresses (LOW) your camber and toe increase. If you remove the camber, you still have the increased toe that is going to wear your tires out. You can change the toe setting somewhat by using the the front (12 o clock to 6 o clock)or rear (6 o clock to 12 o clock)of your camber adjustment, but it wont be accurate. Toe wears your tires out , camber not so much.

[george graves]

Really? You mean people that wear out the inside of the rear tires, people with too much camber, where the tops of their wheels are tilted in an inch, you're saying that the bad tire wear they get is almost entirely caused by toe and not camber?

[Matt-B]

Did you adjust it once It was on the car?

I played with the bolts and nuts, and was able to adjust it myself ya, I still need to take it to a shop to have it laser aligned

but i was able to move it, as a matter of fact, i bought another 17 wrench i think, just for it

[george graves]

I played with the bolts and nuts, and was able to adjust it myself ya, I still need to take it to a shop to have it laser aligned

^If your car isn't being supported by the tires or subframe it's different. You have less room when there is weight on the bushings.

[LJ851]

Really? You mean people that wear out the inside of the rear tires, people with too much camber, where the tops of their wheels are tilted in an inch, you're saying that the bad tire wear they get is almost entirely caused by toe and not camber?

Yes i am . A tire with 0 toe is ROLLING down the road whether it has 0 camber or 3 degrees camber. Obviously the tire with 3 degrees camber will wear unevenly over time but not as much as you would think. A tire with a 1/2 inch of toe is SLIDING down the road no matter the camber.Toe will wear your tires out with unevenness matching your contact patch. ( unless you are driving very hard (cornering)in which case a heavily cambered tire can wear evenly)

[LJ851]

True story: My brother bought a '70 2002 back in the mid 90's in DC where he lived. It had dry rotted tires ,so he got a new set put on and i drove it home to Atlanta (650 miles) to work on it for him. It was twitchy as hell so i knew the front alignment was off but figured i would fix it in ATL. It wore one edge of the front tires to the cords on my way home .0 camber, 3/4 inch toed out. I couldnt believe it.

[george graves]

Thanks! - I'll read up more. Somewhere I have the "how to make your car handle" book. This alignment stuff seems like a black art half the time - glad I'm learning more about it.

[j0oftheworld]

The fact E30's have trailing arms means when they move it's not in a perfect arc.
Only even length a-arms on purpose built machines give you that!
It'll be good that you have these adjusters on the rear since once you slam it you'll have to dial "out" a lot of unwanted toe/camber as stated. Aggressive or BAD toe will kill tires more than mad camberz.. :)
Should be fun once you get it licked.. this is next on my list of upgrades!

[surebimmer]

I googled around and couldn't come up with a place that had them in metric size's. I would love to have a 12 point nut. I have thought of cutting holes in the floor to adjust the camber toe but 12 point nuts would be great!

I also raised my subframe 12mm so i have even less space to get a wrench in to adjust them.

Replace the nuts with 12 point aircraft nuts. They are much smaller will give more working room. Then use starter wrenches or home bent long box end wrenches. While not real easy, those items make it possible to adjust the eccentrics.