mousecatcher

anyone using a magnetic camber gauge on their vette? i wanted to get the longacre digital gauge, but it is 3" and the c6z06 front hub is only 2.5". also, their spindle adapter is the wrong dimension for the rear.

ghoffman

I use a digital guage on the rim. Of course you have to know that when it reads 87.5 that means -2.5 degrees camber, but who cares?


http://hardbarusa.com/hardbar/produc...roducts_id=126

We also have the bubble type but it is for stock cars and cars with Wide 5 hubs.



http://hardbarusa.com/hardbar/produc...roducts_id=131

We have a very nice collection of other setup tools for everyone's needs, newbie to Professional.
http://hardbarusa.com/hardbar/index.php?cPath=25

BEZ06

with Gary's post above.

I have a digital level similar to that one Gary has and you can get a very accurate measurement of camber angle.




That picture above is not great, but it gives you an idea how you can just put it vertically against the wheel rim and measure the angle.

One of those buttons on it is a "zero" button. You can zero it on a horizontal surface, then you'll read camber like Gary said: 87.5* would be 2.5* of camber.

Or, you can zero it on a vertical surface (there's a technique for putting it on each side of a perfectly flat surface such as a window on a sliding glass door, and you can get it to read zero when it's perfectly vertical). I've got a wrench under that wheel/tire in the picture to give it some camber, and you can see how the level reads the camber directly as 4.1 degrees.

You've got to make sure you have the level on the rim of the wheel. On that OE C6 Z06 wheel you can see some bulges where the spokes meet the rim, and you have to avoid them.

Most modern tires have a "rim saver" bead, and you can measure either off of that, or directly on the sidewall of the tire - you just have to get the level high enough to be above the tire bulge.

If you've got the car supported on the suspension with the wheels off, you can put the level right across the face of the hub, and the bottom is magnetic so it will stick right on there and give you a perfect measure of the camber.

So.....I think you'll find that a digital level like on the Hardbar site will work great for camber measurement.

Bob

davidfarmer

the only time you would need to "mount" it would be if you have a fancy castor measuring setup....but you can do it easily with a level as shown above using my technique on my site.

I don't know of any aluminum magnets at the moment....

klasik-69

I've got the same digital level that BEZ06 has, pretty sure mine came from Sears. However, instead of running along the side edge of the wheel, I cut a piece of aluminum 1" square tubing the same length as the height of the wheel, edge to edge. That way I can be perfectly in the middle of the wheel and get an accurate reading.

Remember if you adjust the camber on your car, the toe will need correction as well. Some outfits sell the toe plates so you can use a tape measure and re-set the toe. Not sure how well they work.

klasik-69

The guy who came up with the flux capacitor also invented the aluminum magnet

I was wondering when someone was going to chime in about the magnetic camber gauge !!

mousecatcher

oh right! [smacks head]

ghoffman

Gents, the magnetic type is for sticking to the center hubs, which are ferrous alloys, like our bearing centers.

sperkins

That's ironic that this topic popped up when it did. I was looking into buying one of these just earlier today. It' under $50. What say you guys?

r0nd3L

Definitely interesting in picking one up. Would simplify setting up camber quit a bit. The ones sperkins showed pic of is only $29.99 and has +-0.1* accuracy.

BEZ06

Yes, like in the pictures below.

The first shows the digital level magnetically attached to the hub.

The second shows a cheapo bubble type magnetically stuck down inside the hub. It has a very small circular magnet that will fit down into the hub, but ones with a larger magnetic surface would fit on the outer portion of the hub that the digitial level is on. I think something like this is what was being asked about in the original post in the thread.

If you're doing alignments with the wheels off you'll need to rest the ball joints, or as far out as you can get under the lower control arm, on jack stands so the suspension will be compressed. Gary has a great explanation on the Hardbar website about using his toe plates.

Probably the best tool for checking camber (other than a laser alignment lift) is like in the third picture below, a SmartCamber tool.

Bob













.

ghoffman

Exactly! Personally, I have all 3, sell 2 out of 3, and prefer the short digital one that you put on the rim in a vertical location. It is not rocket science, they all work well.

trackboss

for quick camber measurement you can place the bubble guages on the brake rotor as long as the wheels are open enough to fit it through. Otherwise, longacre makes an great attachment that is placed against the rim and with that caster can be read as well.

BrianCunningham

This thread is both informative and humorous at the same time

rbl

And of course it is all worthless unless the floor the car is siting on is perfectly level left to right and front to back.

ghoffman

It also assumes that the gravity vector is the same around the world, or at least pointed in the same direction...

BTW, what is that green car in the pic above?

RusherRacing

I like the long acre setup very very nice and easy to use.

BEZ06

I don't know what car that is - I just pulled that picture from a website that was selling the Smart Camber device.

Bob

drivinhard

This is why I think it's easier to do wheels off, ends of A arms supported. You can shim your arm supports (jackstands) till your chassis is square and level side to side.

ZR1 MK

I do the alignment on my 4 post lift with the tires mounted. I easily shim the tabs. Very easy and less back breaking.
I still use my old round manetic base from the old days. I just use an aluminum bar across the wheel.