Alignment shop can't get the front right camber back into spec

alia176 · #1 08-22-2011, 08:40 AM

I need the board's help on this one. After replacing all struts, mounts, rubbers, ball joints, tie rod ends, and the rear camber hardware, I had the local Firestone shop align my vehicle. I did not replace the bushings on the front A arms or the rear trailing arms. They are not able to bring the front right camber back into spec and suggested that I get a "camber kit". I don't think such kits exists for this car besides the OEM camber bolts.

Neither of us could find any signs of damage on the lower A arm or the spindle. The car pulls very slightly to the right but other than that, she drives great. I was tempted to make the camber bolt more eccentric by welding and grinding a bead on there. This sounds rather red neck like and I hope to find a better solution, if it exists.

See the attached PDF file for the printout from the alignment computer. Looks like my camber is at -1.7º and the normal range is -1.2º to 0.3º.

The car have not been in a wreck on my watch and no signs of any damage under the vehicle or on the body.
Thanks for any advice.

Hocrest · #2 08-22-2011, 09:23 AM

You can get a camber kit to allow for more camber than the stock bolts, we had them on the racer. I believe we got them from Summit??

alia176 · #3 08-22-2011, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hocrest

You can get a camber kit to allow for more camber than the stock bolts, we had them on the racer. I believe we got them from Summit??

Holy cow, no crap? If you can get me a link, that'd be great!

Lookin4SVX · #4 08-22-2011, 09:44 AM

EDIT:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hocrest

You can get a camber kit to allow for more camber than the stock bolts, we had them on the racer. I believe we got them from Summit??

Wow, they make camber bolts for the front!? Guess I didn't do enough digging.
http://svx-motorsport-accessories.st...ncambolki.html
Too bad camber bolts can't fix my caster issue :/

Hocrest · #5 08-22-2011, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alia176

Holy cow, no crap? If you can get me a link, that'd be great!

http://www.summitracing.com/search/Y...d=camber+bolts

alia176 · #6 08-23-2011, 06:41 AM

very cool, thanks guys for posting the two links. I see that Ingalls cam bolt from Summit is good for +/- 1 degree. The SPC 81260 from summit is good for +/- 1.75 degrees

SWEET.

Anyone have any preference on which one to purchase? I think I'll purchase a camber gauge as well just for S&G!

Cheers.

alia176 · #7 11-05-2011, 05:26 PM

well, I finally got around to installing the SPC 81260 camber bolts on the front. I'm comparing the OEM camber bolt vs the 81260 bolts and I don't see how they're going to correct 1.75 degrees! The SPC bolts have lobes that are smaller in diam than the factory camber bolts. I don't think they will work for the front?

I'm not installing the SPCs until I get more info on this. Maybe I'm missing something....

XT6Wagon · #8 11-05-2011, 05:43 PM

I personaly would just leave it at -1.7. That isn't that agressive for a street alignment unless you never corner very hard.

While I've never heard of it happening to a SVX, some cars the strut towers will bend into the center of the car some over time. This creates extra negative camber. My 94 SHO at one point had a minimum of -2.5 in front. great for autoX, not so much on the street. Had the alignment shop push them back out some then "secured" it with a strut tower bar. I never was in a frontal colision, just lots of miles on rough roads slowly pushing it in.

A collision guide from subaru will have the exact distance the strut towers should be apart if you are worried.

Hocrest · #9 11-05-2011, 06:46 PM

The smaller bolt allows for more movement. They should give enough.

alia176 · #10 11-06-2011, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XT6Wagon

I personaly would just leave it at -1.7. That isn't that agressive for a street alignment unless you never corner very hard.

While I've never heard of it happening to a SVX, some cars the strut towers will bend into the center of the car some over time. This creates extra negative camber. My 94 SHO at one point had a minimum of -2.5 in front. great for autoX, not so much on the street. Had the alignment shop push them back out some then "secured" it with a strut tower bar. I never was in a frontal colision, just lots of miles on rough roads slowly pushing it in.

A collision guide from subaru will have the exact distance the strut towers should be apart if you are worried.

Good info. These struts are brand new so I don't know why they're giving me -1.7 deg. The problem is that the car pulls to the right and that's annoying me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hocrest

The smaller bolt allows for more movement. They should give enough.

Interesting. The smaller bolt simply spins inside the hole so I'm not understanding how it's going to rotate my strut more. I'm missing something!

icingdeath88 · #11 11-06-2011, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alia176

Good info. These struts are brand new so I don't know why they're giving me -1.7 deg. The problem is that the car pulls to the right and that's annoying me.

Struts =! strut towers. The strut towers are the part of the body that the struts bolt to on the top (with the 3 bolts, inside the engine bay). Even with the SVX's relatively strong chassis, I could see them tilting inward just a tad after 20 years. That's one reason I got that strut tower brace that Dayle sells.

Quote:

Originally Posted by alia176

Interesting. The smaller bolt simply spins inside the hole so I'm not understanding how it's going to rotate my strut more. I'm missing something!

It won't change the strut/knuckle angle on it's own, it will just let you change the angle more, and then hold it where you put it when you bolt it down. The alignment shop should be able to handle it pretty easy.

XT6Wagon is right about -1.7* not being that much, but the insides of your tires will wear a bit quicker than the outside. My wife's lancer wants -1* of camber stock.

alia176 · #12 11-10-2011, 08:11 AM

[QUOTE=icingdeath88;690491It won't change the strut/knuckle angle on it's own, it will just let you change the angle more, and then hold it where you put it when you bolt it down. The alignment shop should be able to handle it pretty easy.

[/QUOTE]

I understand what you're trying to tell me but what I don't get is that the lobes on the aftermarket camber bolts are smaller diameter than the oem bolts. Which means to me that they will not be contacting the ID of the hole they sit in. If the lobes don't make contact with the ID then how in the world are they going to rotate the struts?

Let's use real numbers for illustration. Using a caliper, I found the OD of the SPC 81260 camber bolt diam = 0.536". The OD of the factory camber bolt = 0.635".

I'd have thought that the aftermarket camber bolts would have lobes that are more than 0.635" in order to rotate the strut more than the stock bolts would allow.

icingdeath88 · #13 11-10-2011, 08:59 AM

Dude, don't worry so hard. Just take it to the alignment place and let them figure it out. You're overthinking it. Just watch when the alignment shop does it and I'll bet it makes sense then.

Hocrest · #14 11-10-2011, 11:45 AM

Think of it like this, if the hole is 1" and the bolt is 1", there is no movement available. If the bolt is 1/2", you can move the strut 1/2" in either direction.

alia176 · #15 11-10-2011, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icingdeath88

Dude, don't worry so hard. Just take it to the alignment place and let them figure it out. You're overthinking it. Just watch when the alignment shop does it and I'll bet it makes sense then.

Yeah, you're right. I'll just have them do it and show it to me.