Rear Camber Eccentric Kits

[PieEyedPiper]

I first switched from the DIY method because I wanted more exactness. I wanted adjustability. So I picked up the Ingalls kit. The one with maximum adjustment.
I'm 100% sick of my Ingalls rear kit and I've only had it installed for a month. But I think the problem is people, not the parts.

Really, it's not a bad design. But then you put it real world practice and it's a freaking nightmare. This shit isn't hard to operate though. I can practically adjust them with the car on the ground.
I just had my third alignment performed in four weeks time, all because of these damned eccentric cams. The first time I went in with them freshly installed by myself on the day prior. It was not only written plainly in the instructions, but it was also painfully obvious how if you adjusted the cams in different positions relative to one another you would not only introduce large amounts of toe but you can actually cause binding preventing smooth suspension operation. Anyways, The car came out great, as far as the spec sheet said. Camber was exactly what I'd asked for and all tires had ~0.00 toe. All but one. My RR wheel was around -0.09*. I was told "you're out of adjustment". I asked him, I made him swear up and down that the rear toe arms were not, instead, frozen. The tech insisted that I was simply out of adjustment. I left thinking he was an idiot.

I got the car home and sure enough, both sides were adjusted improperly and I all of a sudden felt bad and annoyed at the same time. Bad because I was thinking that that kid must be a tool because I didn't believe I could actually out of adjustment at -0.8* camber, because now that I've looked at the situation I probably was. You can't expect the toe adjusters to account for whatever mickey-mouse games were going on with the eccentric cams on the upper arm. But then I just became annoyed again right away because he's the same guy who 'effed up the alignment in the first place after I gave the clerk specific instructions. Oh and the car clunked, and squeaked like it was coming apart.

Round 2. I had tweaked the bad wheel on my own and got it closer to what I could "eyeball" as less toe out. So back to the shop I go. This time, after being very explicit that there was a problem and that "this" is what must be done to prevent further difficulties, I still ended up with crap. Both sides were still messed up at the upper mounts and the car still sounded like I was going to lose a leg if I hit a seam in the road. Furthermore, loc-tite was used this time to prevent slippage. Someone neglected to tell the tech that he wasn't supposed to use the whole bottle, nor was he to use it on the cams themselves.

When I got the car home, still banging away, I found the mounts soaked in blue juice. This, of course, made it so the entire assembly slipped around altering any setting it once had.

Third time's the charm. Today I just got the car back and I'm finally satisfied. All is not well, but the result is expected.

You see, I already know my RR toe adjuster is frozen. Today I gave the youngest tech I've ever dealt with a 10minute tour of my car. After I was feeling he was well-enough informed I set him off. I'd told him to really crank down the bolts on the adjusters so they don't slip and to avoid the loc-tite. So, sure enough everything worked out as planned. He tried everything we have to get the toe adjusters loose but my RR is locked up as I knew it to be. I finally received the alignment I was looking for.
Camber is right where I want it and 3 tires have 0.00* toe, while one has -0.11* of toe. <--- How awesome it is to know that your camber adjustment wasn't used to make large changes in toe.

Now I just have to find the balance between more negative camber to get me enough toe in. That's how I've had it in spec for years with a frozen adjuster.

Stick to washers and bolts. That's the bottom line. These devices are a great toy for fine tuning, but if you're not handling it yourself you're just wasting your time, money and tires. In my opinion, it just doesn't hold up to the real world.

The DIY method is cheaper, faster and simpler to setup and your alignment shop can't screw it up. The opportunity to mess up the adjustment on the eccentric cams isn't worth all the high-level problems you have to sort through (or make someone else understand) when the low-level problem is the using the parts in combination with other human beings. The general public just doesn't have what it takes - So I stand by what I said before; you won't be happy unless you do your own alignments.