TotoGT06

Alright I have my Sportline springs coming in and I know the camber will need to be adjusted but I have no clue what camber is. All I see is it is usually set to a negative number but what do these numbers mean. Just all information about camber would be great. Like of course you need a camber plate and adjustable shocks but whats with a camber bolt? Completely lost

bigDFord

Camber is the angle of the wheel compare to perpendicular to the gound. Negative camber is where the top of the wheels are closer, postive camber is where the bottom of the wheels are closer to each other. Negative camber is better for cornering but too much will cause uneven wear on the tires. Without a camber plate, you are able to adjust the camber slightly. Race cars generally do not run more than 3.0* of negative camber, but that is certainly not recommended for street use.

Here is a wikipedia entry about Camber i found helpful along with the links on the bottom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camber_angle

TotoGT06

That helps a little with the knowledge of what camber is. Now what I would like to know is 2 things

1. What is the camber bolt for if I get camber plates?
2. What camber do our cars lowered need to be set at and how do you know what camber your at?

Sleeper_08

Camber bolts are the inexpensive way to get the camber back into spec after lowering. If you track your car or run hard on the street you might want to think twice before getting them per post #9 in this thread

http://www.gtamc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70825

Also see the thread in this forum about Front Spindle Delfection (sic).

The toe-in should also be checked and adjusted.

If the stock bolts do not allow getting back in spec then the best solution is a new upper strut mount that allows for camber adjustment. There are several brands but here is a link to the Steeda one

http://www.steeda.com/products/heavy...nts_street.php

Norm Peterson

Any camber setting is something of a compromise, meaning that there is no single best setting that covers every possible situation and individual driver. Best braking, longest tire life, best dragstrip performance, best ultimate cornering grip, and likely best cornering turn-in response all call for slightly different settings (and the optimum settings for some of those functions can vary a little among different tire makes/models).

The Cliff's Notes version for choosing your own camber setting is that the harder your normal every-day cornering becomes, the more likely it will be that you'd benefit from setting more negative camber than the middle of the factory range of acceptable camber. This works the other way too - if you're an exceptionally mild driver you'd probably benefit from camber that's less negative. IIRC, the factory preferred setting (middle of the range) is
-0.75°, and the tolerance is at least ±0.5° from there.

It's really not that difficult to measure camber yourself, as long as you can get the car set up on a level surface (or shim under the low side tires to make it level). If nothing else, being able to do this can give you some idea how much you need or want to change it, and provide you with another means of "sanity-checking" how well a professionally-done alignment was carried out (especially if you requested a particular camber setting for any reason).


Norm

jayel579

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...e.jsp?techid=4

Google is a wonderful thing

TotoGT06

Okay so what about the camber plate and camber bolt? Are both needed or can a camber plate just be added without the bolt??

Norm Peterson

If you use the camber plates, you should not need camber bolts.


Norm

TotoGT06

Thanks!!

notsofast

Camber bolts are less expensive but less versatile/adjustable than camber plates from what I've read on similar posts. I just went through this myself - added Eibach Pro-Kit springs over a year ago without getting the front end aligned afterward. Now the front tires have worn out on the inside from excessive toe-out. I've replaced the tires and had the front end aligned. Camber was -1.5 degrees, now set back to factory spec -0.75 degrees. Toe now corrected, also. Moral of the story - get the front end aligned after lowering car.
Hope this helps.