Hello,

It's been a long time since I posted on here...

My car chewed up the inside of my passenger front tire. So if go for an alignment I will hear the story about how the front camber is not adjustable. There are some SPC parts I can by to make front adjustable... but obviously I don't know how much adjustment I need so I can't buy anything now. How should I approach this problem to pay least money?

BTW car drives perfectly straight... and I checked all ball joints... everything is in top shape.

Is my best approach as follows:
1 Get the car to alignment... pay $65
2 Listen to tech about how camber is not adjustable.
3 Ask how much adjustment needed.
4 Order appropriate part from SPC $??
5 Pay for install ~$65
6 Do alignment again ... another $65

Any questions suggestions and additional thoughts are welcome...

I would just buy the camber kit yourself, and install it. Find a shop and tell them exactly what you need done and ask them if they will do it and how much it will cost. If they don't want to do it, or if they want to charge you too much, go to a different shop. Make sure they give you a print out of the before and after specs so you know exactly what they did.

Toe will eat tires a lot faster than camber will. Make sure your toe is zeroed out.

SPC makes a -1 to +3 ball joint IIRC. That should more than make up for it.

I personally would go pay 129.99 for a 3yr alignment plan (Tire Kingdom, Discount Tire, etc all offer them) and get it aligned the first time to see what exactly is off. Its unlimited, so if they say its the camber, you just go order the part, install it (not hard), and take it back. The plan is transferable btw.

Also, how is the toe? In my experience (and some people may fight me on this) toe takes out tires, not camber.

Originally posted by teklein
SPC makes a -1 to +3 ball joint IIRC. That should more than make up for it. I personally would go pay 129.99 for a 3yr alignment plan (Tire Kingdom, Discount Tire, etc all offer them) and get it aligned the first time to see what exactly is off. Its unlimited, so if they say its the camber, you just go order the part, install it (not hard), and take it back. The plan is transferable btw. Also, how is the toe? In my experience (and some people may fight me on this) toe takes out tires, not camber.

Toe and camber will eat up the tires. The only measurement that won't eat up tires is the caster. In gramozeka's case his camber is too negative or his toe is too far out.

Originally posted by eclipse9504

Originally posted by teklein SPC makes a -1 to +3 ball joint IIRC. That should more than make up for it. I personally would go pay 129.99 for a 3yr alignment plan (Tire Kingdom, Discount Tire, etc all offer them) and get it aligned the first time to see what exactly is off. Its unlimited, so if they say its the camber, you just go order the part, install it (not hard), and take it back. The plan is transferable btw. Also, how is the toe? In my experience (and some people may fight me on this) toe takes out tires, not camber.

Toe and camber will eat up the tires. The only measurement that won't eat up tires is the caster. In gramozeka's case his camber is too negative or his toe is too far out.

Camber plays just a tad into tire wear, 90% of it is toe that wears the insides out.

Know why its wearing on the inside? Because the toe is "dragging" the already tilted in wheel.

-2.5 front camber with 1/8" of toe on Falken Azenis (super soft) TWICE. No "camber wear" as people put it.

Tim is 100% correct. Camber angle does not play a big part in wheel wear, especially when compared to toe.

My car is lowered on Eibach prokits and I have not purchased a camber kit for the front. I have never had an issue with tire wear and never ran into any trouble at the alignment shop.

I recommend that you do the cheapo camber mod in the rear and leave the front alone. Go to an alignment shop and tell them not to worry about adjusting camber. If you are really concerned, hit up ebay and get an ingalls kit.

Tim and Jesse are right. I am rolling on Tein basics coilovers for 2+ years and have never had an issue with tire wear and camber. The only time I ate up the tires was when my toe was way, way, way off.

Thank you all for your answers. The reason I am suspicious about camber is:
1)The car drives 95% straight and true during braking accelerating coasting.
2)When I had my right front bearing replaced (~15000 miles ago)they put it in to hydraulic press to get the axle out and while in the press there was a lot of deflection in the knuckle extension that goes to the top ball joint... ouch ... then they decided to hammer out the axle.
3)Right now my left front bearing is being redone, and they cracked the knuckle :-( in the press. $300 :-(

...Anyway
On SPC website they have two ball joints:
67170 -1.5 +1.5
67370 +1.75 +3.00

My car is stock height.
Should I put a picture of the tire to help you identify correct range?
Should I change only the passenger side or both?


P.S. I don't have that lifetime alignment place anywhere near me.

Originally posted by gramozeka
Thank you all for your answers. The reason I am suspicious about camber is: 1)The car drives 95% straight and true during braking accelerating coasting. 2)When I had my right front bearing replaced (~15000 miles ago)they put it in to hydraulic press to get the axle out and while in the press there was a lot of deflection in the knuckle extension that goes to the top ball joint... ouch ... then they decided to hammer out the axle. 3)Right now my left front bearing is being redone, and they cracked the knuckle :-( in the press. $300 :-( ...Anyway On SPC website they have two ball joints: 67170 -1.5 +1.5 67370 +1.75 +3.00 My car is stock height. Should I put a picture of the tire to help you identify correct range? Should I change only the passenger side or both? P.S. I don't have that lifetime alignment place anywhere near me.

Whats your zip code?

P.S. Unless you live in a field with cows there is a place that offers alignment plans ;)

11223

Originally posted by gramozeka
11223

Havent found one yet, but here is a coupon for a free alignment from a place called Emil's:

http://emilsalltire.com/about-us/coupons.aspx

Originally posted by gramozeka
Hello, It's been a long time since I posted on here... My car chewed up the inside of my passenger front tire. So if go for an alignment I will hear the story about how the front camber is not adjustable. There are some SPC parts I can by to make front adjustable... but obviously I don't know how much adjustment I need so I can't buy anything now. How should I approach this problem to pay least money? BTW car drives perfectly straight... and I checked all ball joints... everything is in top shape. Is my best approach as follows: 1 Get the car to alignment... pay $65 2 Listen to tech about how camber is not adjustable. 3 Ask how much adjustment needed. 4 Order appropriate part from SPC $?? 5 Pay for install ~$65 6 Do alignment again ... another $65 Any questions suggestions and additional thoughts are welcome...

I know how you feel. I had a similar problem with my rear suspension. I have stock suspension but they told me at the alignment shop that I had 2 degrees of negative camber at the rear on each side. I bought an ingalls rear alignment kit last week and installed it myself. I saved over $100 doing it myself.

My susgestion is:

1. Go to the alignment shop first and have them look at how much camber you have on the front. They are not going to charge you for inspecting it.

2. Then, you can buy a camber kit based on how much adjustment is needed.

3. If you can, install it yourself or have a friend to help you out. Then go back to the shop and get your alignment done.

Trust me. You will have more beer money this way, and you can treat your friend to a beer. :cheers

Thank you all for responses.

Since I just did a bearing replacement, the shop was kind enough to check the alignment for free.
I don't have the print out, but I was told I have about +1 to +1.5 positive camber. However the inside of the front tires was wearing out, how is that possible?

I have BDG Traction tires which are directional, so for now I remounted the front tires so that the other side of the tire is wearing out and I will have to think about what to do next.

Any suggestions are welcome.

If you have positive camber but the inside of the tires is wearing then you probably have too much toe out. Toe settings wear tires way faster than camber.

Thx for reply as far as I remember toe was good (in the green)

It could be a number of things that can be causing it. Worn balljoints and bushings or bent control arms would also cause tire wear.

Shame on Mitsu for non adjustable camber/caster on the 2g.