How to best adjust camber?

[notoriousracing]

Just get a blowtorch and a big pipe and bend them back, I did this, it works great!

[einstein57]

Not sure. I'm just through with eccentric bolts.

[iamsam]

I'm happy with my kmac fronts but hate my bav auto adjustable rear eccentric trailing arm bushings. They are constantly coming loose. If i were to do it again (and i might) i'd just relocate the mounting points on the rear subframe and weld on reinforcement plates.

IE makes the weld-on rear eccentric bolts. Are they any good?

[einstein57]

I'm happy with my kmac fronts but hate my bav auto adjustable rear eccentric trailing arm bushings. They are constantly coming loose. If i were to do it again (and i might) i'd just relocate the mounting points on the rear subframe and weld on reinforcement plates.

[Fidhle007]

new bushings as in offset hole bushings? or stock?

Stock if everything's straight. You'll still have camber but things will be more consistent.

[iamsam]

No, but if your control arms and subframe are straight you should be able to just put in new bushings and call it a day. You'll want to have that checked by a shop though, IE does sell kits for adjustment should you need it.

new bushings as in offset hole bushings? or stock?

[Fidhle007]

thank you, that makes much more sense. Since i am relatively new to this whole thing (my first E30, my first time lowering a car substantially) i have alot to learn. I never thought of the fact that as the car leans around a corner, camber increases (negatively) to keep the wheel flat on the road. good info.

Sorry I came off so strong. My point was basically to check your alignment first before you spend money on stuff that may not help. Knockenwelle hit the nail pretty square on the head.

gotcha. Is toe factory adjustable?

No, but if your control arms and subframe are straight you should be able to just put in new bushings and call it a day. You'll want to have that checked by a shop though, IE does sell kits for adjustment should you need it.

i was looking at them, they don't look all that sturdy (compared to GC for example)

Don't bother. They look like overpriced Kmac knockoffs.

[iamsam]

Bavauto has a sale on camber plates. But my concern is are they any good??

i was looking at them, they don't look all that sturdy (compared to GC for example)

[iamsam]

OP:

Toe out will wear the insides of tires WAY faster than negative camber. Toe-out is a scrubbing situation, while negative camber is a rolling one. The E30 is sorta unique in that the rear alignment goes toe-out as well as camber neg when lowered or RTABs are shot. This presents a compounded tire wear problem. My point is that you should do whatever you can to correct toe before camber.

gotcha. Is toe factory adjustable?

[iamsam]

The suspension gains camber as it cycles through it's travel, this is why lowering it increases that camber. At stock ride height with stock springs there is a fair amount of body roll so as it cycles through this the camber is increased to keep the tire better on the road surface. When you lower the car you're maintaining this and in certain situations an increase in negative camber is desirable (track, autox) but to ADD POSITIVE camber is changing the geometry in a way that is not beneficial in any way. If you want your car to drive like stock, put the stock suspension on. If you want the car to look cool, go to E30 tech. If you want to improve tire wear, get an alignment.

thank you, that makes much more sense. Since i am relatively new to this whole thing (my first E30, my first time lowering a car substantially) i have alot to learn. I never thought of the fact that as the car leans around a corner, camber increases (negatively) to keep the wheel flat on the road. good info.

[838Kelli]

Bavauto has a sale on camber plates. But my concern is are they any good??

[Knockenwelle]

OP:

Toe out will wear the insides of tires WAY faster than negative camber. Toe-out is a scrubbing situation, while negative camber is a rolling one. The E30 is sorta unique in that the rear alignment goes toe-out as well as camber neg when lowered or RTABs are shot. This presents a compounded tire wear problem. My point is that you should do whatever you can to correct toe before camber.

[Fidhle007]

The suspension gains camber as it cycles through it's travel, this is why lowering it increases that camber. At stock ride height with stock springs there is a fair amount of body roll so as it cycles through this the camber is increased to keep the tire better on the road surface. When you lower the car you're maintaining this and in certain situations an increase in negative camber is desirable (track, autox) but to ADD POSITIVE camber is changing the geometry in a way that is not beneficial in any way. If you want your car to drive like stock, put the stock suspension on. If you want the car to look cool, go to E30 tech. If you want to improve tire wear, get an alignment.

[iamsam]

The point of lowering a car is to get the center of gravity closer to the ground, stiffen the ride AND ADD STATIC NEGATIVE CAMBER. Adding positive camber will be fucking up your suspension geometry and doing it for looks is just plain stupid. Get a civic.


This is all assuming your car is straight though, why not get it aligned first before you go around fucking up the geometry?

ok i guess we have different ideas as to why someone would lower their car. Adding static negative camber was not one of my goals in loweing my car. i just see it as a side effect. My goals were as you described, to lower the center of gravity and to stiffen the ride. This is for better cornering ability and of course there is always the looks. And you still have not told me exactly how it would "fuck up" my suspension geometry to adjust camber back to normal, i am still curious as to why this is. I am also truly sorry that you think me doing this is "just plain stupid", and that i should get a civic. Those comments aren't neccesary, if you want to further say things like that to me, you can PM me, but don't fill this thread with it.

does anyone else have any useful info?

[Fidhle007]

let me clarify:

I wouldn't say my car is "slammed", and why would getting the camber back to normal be "fucking up" the suspension geometry? The biggest reason i want to get the camber straight again is mainly for the looks. I want to look down the side of the car and have the wheels appear mostly straight up and down, and more importantly, parallel to each other. The tire wear is also a concern for me, because i am planning on getting staggered wheels, and you can't rotate staggered wheels.

last point: tires aren't just a few bucks.

The point of lowering a car is to get the center of gravity closer to the ground, stiffen the ride AND ADD STATIC NEGATIVE CAMBER. Adding positive camber will be fucking up your suspension geometry and doing it for looks is just plain stupid. Get a civic.

wouldn't swapping the wheels on the same side still cause the inside of the tire to wear due to camber?

i am trying to strike a good balance between adjustability and "cheapness"

Front tires will wear faster because the camber angle increases during a turn and puts your outside tire more on it's outside edge. The rears wear flat across with only a slight inside bias so rotating them front to back will improve tire length.


This is all assuming your car is straight though, why not get it aligned first before you go around fucking up the geometry?