Not _enough_ camber after lowering??

[eclipsegsx1736]

I installed coilovers, I have it set at close to a 1.5" drop all around. I did the rear camber longer bolt and spacer mod which helped alot visually. I got an alignment today and the rear was 1.3 degrees on both sides. We got the toe to 0 all around. The front camber on the driver side was 1.5, and the passenger side was 2.3...I read on here that the passenger camber is always higher for whatever reason. I'm planning on tracking the car soon on a road course, after I get a rear swaybar and I think I actually need more front camber. I'm already using 6 washers in the rear to bring it to 1.3, but they're not that thick. Is it safe to go with 8 washers if the bolts are long enough? Im kinda hoping for a rear camber of .75 and a front camber of 2-2.25..Will I need a camber kit (Ingalls or similiar) for the front or is there another way to gain some front camber? All I see is people trying to decrease front camber after lowering.

 

[peanotation]

you're going to want to put a camber kit on the front wheels too and try to get them close to zeroed out. i rode around on shitty camber for a while, then i got front/rear camber kits it handled 10x better than it ever did before. threw a rear sway bar into the mix and it was all over.

too much negative camber and you're going to be riding around on the inside of you tires, decreasing the size of the tire patch that contacts the ground. it's harder to control the car during a slide or skid, but with flat camber the car turns easier and rides like a dream

 

[jtmcinder]

Yes, you can use more washers in the rear (assuming that you use long bolts). I use nylon 3/8" spacers from Home Depot simply because I got sick of trying to keep the washers together during the install.

In the front, you have a bunch of options for getting more camber. Some are easy and not so good. Some are a pain and work well. But first let's deal with the mismatch. This is often caused by the car listing to the left, which adds negative to the right and deletes negative from the left. Make sure the car is level before freaking out. And, annoying as this is, you should get the fronts more even first and then do the rear (which will now not match).

Your options for adding front camber are:
- offset lower inboard bushings ... nothing available off-the-shelf
- funky upper balljoints ... costs a lot of travel
- adjustable pivots (often installed backwards) ... OK
- redrill the upper arms ... pain, but I love having 2.5*

- Jtoby

 

[bjones18]

...put a camber kit on the front wheels too and try to get them close to zeroed out. i rode around on shitty camber for a while, then i got front/rear camber kits it handled 10x better than it ever did before.....

too much negative camber and you're going to be riding around on the inside of you tires, decreasing the size of the tire patch that contacts the ground. it's harder to control the car during a slide or skid, but with flat camber the car turns easier and rides like a dream

Might try reading up a bit on handling. Negative camber is excellent for increasing cornering capacity. Lateral g's will pull a negative camber (outside) tire flat to the road (max grip). Your experience may have been an imbalance between front and rear camber and f/r camber gain.

The problem with a lot of neg static camber is tire wear.

 

[peanotation]

Might try reading up a bit on handling. Negative camber is excellent for increasing cornering capacity. Lateral g's will pull a negative camber (outside) tire flat to the road (max grip). Your experience may have been an imbalance between front and rear camber and f/r camber gain.

The problem with a lot of neg static camber is tire wear.

i'm glad people read what i say before they comment. i even got a negative feedback rating for my previous post.....

too much negative camber and you're going to be riding around on the inside....

i never said negative camber is a bad thing. i know that A LITTLE bit of negative camber in the rear is good, for the same reason you outlined.

 

[jtmcinder]

you're going to want to put a camber kit on the front wheels too and try to get them close to zeroed out.

The above is what probably set people off. The prima facie reading is total nonsense. The only way to interpret the above as coming close to correct is to assume you jump from camber in toe in a single sentence without warning the reader, such that you are saying he wants a camber kit to add more front negative and then have the car re-aligned to zero front toe.

To be clear: the guy who started the thread was asking how to get more front camber beause he knows 1.5* isn't enough. If anyone has options other than the four I listed, or would like to comment on those options, great. Otherwise, let's try to stay on topic and limit our posts to what we know about. Okay?

- Jtoby