My setup is sportlines, with ingalls rear camber adjustment, and the ingalls a-arm bolts for the front (there are two versions of those bolts, the extreme-camber adjustment bolts and the other kind. I bought the latter b/c it has been said that the extreme-camber bolts cause the outer edge of the a-arm to hit the wheel well. I also found some posts where the "less-extreme" kit brought the wheels into alignment with a 2" drop- which is about where the sportlines are.)

So anyways, I installed the springs and camber kit, and then got an alignment. The shop could not provide me with a printout (didn't find this out until after it was all said and done, apparently they do it manually, not computerized!) I wanted real numbers, so they told me that try to set toe to zero, and camber to no worse than -1/2 degree front, and -3/4 rear.

Anyways, I get the car, my rear camber is negative, but that's okay it's not worse than a G35. Bad toe is what I've always heard ruins your tires. The front wheels looked like they had great camber.

It's 3000 miles later. My front tires are almost bald on the inside! The rears look perfect. crap

So I take it back to the shop. They tell me that my toe is zero on all tires, but my front camber is bad. I ask why is that a problem when the rear camber is obviously worse but the wear is fine on those tires. They say that the rear toe was able to make up for the camber (first thing I don't understand.)

Next thing they say is I need a front camber kit. I tell them I have a front camber kit. After explaining everything to them in excruciating detail, they say that oh yea there's a front camber kit on the car, we see it now.

Which means they didn't adjust the camber when I brought in the car the first time.

But I ask what about the camber kit that's on there. They say no, you need more (1 & 1/2 degrees more, as he recalls.)

So despite all my planning, I still got smacked upside the head on a series of events. How can toe adjust for bad camber? And negative camber on the fronts with ZERO toe can wear down tires EVEN FASTER than bad toe (this wear seemed to happen much faster than last time I had sportlines with NO alignment)?!?!?!?!

help TIA!

I would say that the shop screwed the pooch on your alignment. Even running something like 2* neg camber will only reduce the life of a street driven tire be about 4k miles. Then that is because the inside of the tire wears a bit faster than the outside. If it has scrubbed the tires bald up front you have negative toe.

Toe can not make up for camber. Ever. Toe-in or toe-out is in relation to how the tire moves along the vertical plane in relation to the car. Camber is in relation to how the tire moves along a horizontal plane.

Granted when the suspension compresses on the car you will gain some toe-in, but not enough to scrub the tires. Even the toe-in that you gain is only temporary.

I'm not trying to lecture you, but try to find an alignment shop that has a Hunter alignment rack. It's the most precise rack that you can get your hands on right now. I live in a town of about 10K people and there are 2 or 3 shops here with them.

BTW, I've been screwed before by people doing a manual alignment with no printout. Even though I was told the toe was set to specs, I scrubbed the inside of my tires in about 4k miles. Brand new set of tires ruined. I'll never go to another shop with a manual alignment rack unless I absolutely have to.

Pic b/c I can.

Originally posted by freelancefool
I would say that the shop screwed the pooch on your alignment. Even running something like 2* neg camber will only reduce the life of a street driven tire be about 4k miles. Then that is because the inside of the tire wears a bit faster than the outside. If it has scrubbed the tires bald up front you have negative toe. Toe can not make up for camber. Ever. Toe-in or toe-out is in relation to how the tire moves along the vertical plane in relation to the car. Camber is in relation to how the tire moves along a horizontal plane. Granted when the suspension compresses on the car you will gain some toe-in, but not enough to scrub the tires. Even the toe-in that you gain is only temporary. I'm not trying to lecture you, but try to find an alignment shop that has a Hunter alignment rack. It's the most precise rack that you can get your hands on right now. I live in a town of about 10K people and there are 2 or 3 shops here with them. BTW, I've been screwed before by people doing a manual alignment with no printout. Even though I was told the toe was set to specs, I scrubbed the inside of my tires in about 4k miles. Brand new set of tires ruined. I'll never go to another shop with a manual alignment rack unless I absolutely have to. Pic b/c I can.

Hey, thats the rack we have at work! I love it!

I would go to a different shop. I think the factory specs allow for up to one degree negative so I dont think camber is your prob. I dont use any front camber kit and end up with just under 2 degrees of negative camber (dropped as low or even lower than sportlines)in the front and don't really have anytire wear issues. The only time I scrubbed my tires bald was when my toe was all out of wack.

Thank you guys, I really appreciate it. Taking her to a better shop.