blo2ck

Everyone has been telling me lately that my alignment is the problem, not my camber. My new tires are wearing fast, only in the front, and everyone tells me that the alihnment is toed in and that my camber doesn't matter. You guys think this could be true or do i need a camber kit for sure? I'm getting the alignment checked to day anyways. Thanks

haiduc

what suspension are you using?

with all due respect, whoever told you that camber doesnt matter is a fucking moron. camber affects the way in which the tire sits on the ground... i.e. wether it's riding on the inside of the tire (negative camber) or on the ourside of the tire (positve camber)

the toe of the car does matter also, but more in straight line direction and handling rather than wearing the inside of the tires out.

after you lower your car, you should have the alignment done anyway to correct the toe and help the negative camber. regardless, if you lower your car more than 1.5 inches you will need a camber kit to keep from wearing the insides of the tires.

athlonxp

1genCL is right on the fact that camber does matter. It actually is the main reason for the rapid wearing of a tire. However, toe does matter a great deal too. Togther with bad camber, bad toe will wear your tires out in a matter of weeks. This I know from experience.

I had a pair of Falken Ziex 512s in the front and in a matter of three weeks they were worn to the threads. This for me was due to "toe out" and negative camber working in tandem. If you noticed terrible handling with your car - meaning almost uncontrollable - then your toe is majorly off, and camber being off is a given.

Get a camber kit off eBay for around $100 shipped, install it, get an alignment, and you should be set!!!

Installation is pretty straight forward and easy. Hit me up if you need help.

Sorry for the long post (Sorry for all my long posts, seems to be the only way I post)...

-James-

blo2ck

Thanks guys, my only other question is how come the front tires wear out so much faster with the bad camber? I haven't really pealed out since I got my new tires, but the back ones are fine and the fronts are jacked. Maybe the alignment has to do with this.? I will get my alignment done in the next few days for sure and then probably just get a camber kit for the front.

blo2ck

I just bought a sprint full camber kit off ebay for $106. Not that bad, but are they hard to install? Do you have to remove the strut or no?

ding069

They wear much faster simply because the weight of the car is not being equally applied to the entire tread. The negative camber wears the inside of the tires because that is where all the weight is focused, on a strip of tire about 3", as opposed the the entire tread which is about double that. The front tires, in the case of a FWD car, do basically all the work, so they wear the fastest, without rotation. There are losts of ways to burn through tires, camber/caster, poor balancing, bad alignment and propper inflation. When you take your car to get aligned they straighen out your camber and you will probably be in specs, unless you have over 1.5" drop.

blo2ck

yeah, I have a 2.25" drop, so I do probably need that camber kit.

athlonxp

If the camber kit is the one that adjusts the control arms then it's not a difficult task and should take less than an hour.

1. Jack the car up and Remove the Front Wheels.
2. Remove the two 17mm nuts that are on each side of the strut. Shouldn't be too hard to find because all the nuts for the struts are all 14mm (4 total nuts to be removed, one pair on each side of the car).
3. Control arms should drop, if not wiggle it a little and it should. If it still does not then lightly tap it with a hammer. (NOTE: Be careful with the brake lines as when the control arms drop the whole assembly will be hanging off of that brake line. Just have something that will hold up the assembly by putting a brace or a jack stand under the rotors.)
4. Now is where you switch out the control arm mounts. It should be straight foward after actually seeing it. On the control arms remove the 14mm bolts and nuts. The control arm mount should be loose enough to slide out of the control arm. (You must do this for both control arms - removing the mounts).
5. Then you simply put on the sprint camber adjusters the same way you took off the mounts. The camber adjusters are the mount. Slide it into the control arm, slip the bolt through the hole and put the nut on, tighten...
6. Do that for all for mounts.
7. Now you simply put the control arm back the way you took it out. Slip the mounts through the hole and if possible have someone at the top put the nuts on but they don't necessarily have to tighten them yet.
8. Do the same for the other side.
9. Tighten all the 17mm nuts.
10. Put the wheels back on and lower the car.
11. Now go back and re-tighten the nuts as the weight of the car may have pushed the control arms up even more.
12. Pat yourself on the back as you have just Done-It-Yourself.
13. Get an alignment immediately!!!

I hope these instructions help you some. If you need any further help, or any question that need be answered, we're all here to help.

Goodluck,
-James-

athlonxp

Here are pics of the original control arm mounts.




The control arm is a wish bone shape and the mounts are on the two ends of the wishbone. The 14mm bolt goes through the hole in the middle of the mount there.

The camber adjusters look slightly different in that they are movable. Sliding in or out, meaning it pushes the control arm in and out and by doing so adjusts the camber.

Here's another pic - close up.



-James-

rEmixnZZa

we have FWD so front does wear out faster...but shouldn't be a LOT faster

blo2ck

mine does wear alot faster in the front.

anthlonxp, thanks alot man!

ib_jimmy

Aight i when threw all this already....a few month ago i got into a slight accident with the side walk and it bented the lower rear beam. After i replace it the toe and camber was off. Before that my camber was bad and it was eating up the tires quick. I put in a camber kit and it ate up the tired quick and evenly too. So i had to adjust the toe by adjusting the rack and pintion. The car now handle even better than before.