problems after fixing camber

[Dyncaus]

I installed front and rear camber kits on my 97 GST and got it aligned properly for within spec camber. It was dropped when I bought it, only lowering springs, I believe stock shocks. Anyways, after they adjusted the camber they said that now stuff was hitting on bumps. What do I need to do to fix this? I think they said it was the control arm or something. Thanks.

 

[jtmcinder]

This is hard to figure out with only the information you provided, but here's my guess. It sounds like the previous owner used adjustable front upper balljoints to get the front camber back into spec. These force the front upper A-arms to be angled up from the chassis to the knuckle, which can cause them to hit the fender.

If you can verify that this is the problem, we might be able to help you. If this isn't the problem, please provide more information: exactly what is hitting what?

- Jtoby

 

[Dyncaus]

Sorry about the lack of information. I actually installed the camber kits on the front and rear, and the upper A-arms were pushed out due to correcting the camber. I'll have to take a look and see exactly what hits, but I do believe it is the upper control arms. Are there any aftermarket arms I can buy that are made for lowered cars or will i just have to adjust it just enough so that it has clearance? Thanks.

 

[SlowSpyder]

he probably has the front camber kit that moves the whole entire a-arm out, basically putting the whole a-arm closer to the wheel wells when suspension travels through its arc. Hate to say it but maybe your car is too low . Stock shocks isnt helping either so new stiffer shocks might be able to help you out

 

[Dyncaus]

Is there another type of camber kit I could get that would leave the arm alone? Also, What shocks would keep the car stiff enough to not hit the arms? Tokico's?

 

[jtmcinder]

There are only two ways to delete camber: make the upper arms longer (inc. extending the arms with funky balljoints) and make the lower arms shorter. There are no OTS kits that do the latter, so you are stuck with the former, which can cause the front upper arms to hit the inside of the fender. So, I agree with SlowSpyder that your car is too low.

Stiff shocks are not going to help very much. And this is a bandaid on a gushing wound, anyway. The job of the shocks is to control the springs, not to act as springs. Raise the car back up and/or run more than spec front camber.

- Jtoby

 

[Dyncaus]

Well, what is the stock ride height of a 2G GST? Guess this means I am gonna have to buy some new springs at the very least. Sure does look sweet with it this low though.

 

[ACM]

There is actually no need to remove negative camber from the front of a 2G, it's pretty much impossible to get enough, never mind too much.

If only the front is causing a problem, take the kit out. If the front A-arm is hitting there's two probable causes - first you're incredibly low - as in Konis with no bumpstops, so that the ball joint is bottoming inside the cavity Mitsu pressed into the inner fender, or second, your kits pushed the A-arm out far enough that it no longer fits inside the cavity, and is bottoming out on the sides.

The rear is more of a problem. The excessive negative camber does need to be removed, and the only way that happens is by moving the top of the wheel outwards. What usually touches at the rear is the tyre on the fender lip - this can be cured by rolling the lip. After that, if still more clearance is needed, the fender can be flared slightly, or a different combination of wheel/tyre may be needed. If all else fails, raise the car up slightly.


Charles

 

[MNGSX]

1. Get Konis or if you cant swing them get the new part# AGX's

I saw a RX7 today that had lowering springs and stock shocks... He must have.... Lets put it this way any little bump and it looked like he was from east LA... That thing bounced like a superball....

2. Consider getting ground control.. Sell the lowering springs.

3. Just check and correct the toe in the front... The camber does go more negative in the front when droped but nowhere near as much as the rear. Correct the rear camber....

4. Mark or measure the ride height then remove the springs. Reconnect the shocks and obviuosly keep the front on stands run the suspension thru its range of motion... Just use a jack on the LCA. Since I have GC's I just unscrewed the collar all the way and let the spring drop down the shock... This allows you to see any clearance problems with the fender and check bumpstop length and set it to exactly what you need..

Camber does put more force on the inside edge of the tire when driving straight.... It does take alot of camber or alot of miles to cause alot of an ill effect on the tire. Think of camber as the tire rolling at an angle.

Toe on the other hand chews up tires like tyson does ears. Lets say you correct camber but not toe... You are still going to chew up the inside edge of the tire and bad. Think of toe as draging the tire sideways as it spins..