whats the magic degree for caster/camber?
03-17-2013, 01:44 AM
#1
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: NJ
Posts: 410
whats the magic degree for caster/camber?
I remember reading theres a certain about of camber that is actually good for handling, what degree is it? Will it create excessive tire wear? Installing coil overs soon so I wanted to know what was best for the alignment
03-17-2013, 10:21 AM
#2
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: state of confusion
Posts: 7,635
There is no such thing as a magic one-size-fits-all camber setting. What you need depends on several things.
For starters, how hard do you normally take corners? The harder your average cornering becomes, the more negative you'll want to set your camber. The flip side is also true - the further negative you set camber, the harder your average cornering has to become. Unless you're mixing in something like an occasional autocross.
So the first thing you need to do is honestly estimate where on the spectrum between "I never take corners hard at all" and "I never met a corner that I didn't step up to the challenge of" that your normal cornering really fits. This isn't a some's good/more's better/too much is just right quiz; too much is too much.
For reference, the OE preferred setting is -0.75°, and the max negative end of the OE "acceptable range" is -1.5°. Somewhere in there ought to work as an initial setting, and without knowing anything else I'd suggest running no more than about the middle of that range.
If you're doing your own C/O installation, you should be able to do your own alignment, in which case I'd suggest making whatever initial setting a little conservative (IOW, not as far negative as you think you can use), driving it, and resetting from there. Don't forget to check and reset toe, since that varies as you adjust camber.
Norm
For starters, how hard do you normally take corners? The harder your average cornering becomes, the more negative you'll want to set your camber. The flip side is also true - the further negative you set camber, the harder your average cornering has to become. Unless you're mixing in something like an occasional autocross.
So the first thing you need to do is honestly estimate where on the spectrum between "I never take corners hard at all" and "I never met a corner that I didn't step up to the challenge of" that your normal cornering really fits. This isn't a some's good/more's better/too much is just right quiz; too much is too much.
For reference, the OE preferred setting is -0.75°, and the max negative end of the OE "acceptable range" is -1.5°. Somewhere in there ought to work as an initial setting, and without knowing anything else I'd suggest running no more than about the middle of that range.
If you're doing your own C/O installation, you should be able to do your own alignment, in which case I'd suggest making whatever initial setting a little conservative (IOW, not as far negative as you think you can use), driving it, and resetting from there. Don't forget to check and reset toe, since that varies as you adjust camber.
Norm
03-18-2013, 04:34 AM
#3
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Texas
Posts: 1,044
Mr. Peterson know his stuff, I really appreciate his involvement in this forum. I'm 50 plus
years and he teaches me something every time I get on this forum. By the way, that is
what forums like this are for.
years and he teaches me something every time I get on this forum. By the way, that is
what forums like this are for.
03-18-2013, 01:27 PM
#4
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: NJ
Posts: 410
There is no such thing as a magic one-size-fits-all camber setting. What you need depends on several things.
For starters, how hard do you normally take corners? The harder your average cornering becomes, the more negative you'll want to set your camber. The flip side is also true - the further negative you set camber, the harder your average cornering has to become. Unless you're mixing in something like an occasional autocross.
So the first thing you need to do is honestly estimate where on the spectrum between "I never take corners hard at all" and "I never met a corner that I didn't step up to the challenge of" that your normal cornering really fits. This isn't a some's good/more's better/too much is just right quiz; too much is too much.
For reference, the OE preferred setting is -0.75°, and the max negative end of the OE "acceptable range" is -1.5°. Somewhere in there ought to work as an initial setting, and without knowing anything else I'd suggest running no more than about the middle of that range.
If you're doing your own C/O installation, you should be able to do your own alignment, in which case I'd suggest making whatever initial setting a little conservative (IOW, not as far negative as you think you can use), driving it, and resetting from there. Don't forget to check and reset toe, since that varies as you adjust camber.
Norm
For starters, how hard do you normally take corners? The harder your average cornering becomes, the more negative you'll want to set your camber. The flip side is also true - the further negative you set camber, the harder your average cornering has to become. Unless you're mixing in something like an occasional autocross.
So the first thing you need to do is honestly estimate where on the spectrum between "I never take corners hard at all" and "I never met a corner that I didn't step up to the challenge of" that your normal cornering really fits. This isn't a some's good/more's better/too much is just right quiz; too much is too much.
For reference, the OE preferred setting is -0.75°, and the max negative end of the OE "acceptable range" is -1.5°. Somewhere in there ought to work as an initial setting, and without knowing anything else I'd suggest running no more than about the middle of that range.
If you're doing your own C/O installation, you should be able to do your own alignment, in which case I'd suggest making whatever initial setting a little conservative (IOW, not as far negative as you think you can use), driving it, and resetting from there. Don't forget to check and reset toe, since that varies as you adjust camber.
Norm
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
