My front tires are wearing badly on the inside, I believe this is a camber adjustment problem. When I had the front end aligned a couple years ago I was told the caster was adjusted to the limit and could not be brought into spec. Below are specs on the work sheet from the shop. Are the specs correct for a 62? If the caster is adjusted to the limit, what can I do to correct the problem? The car steers great, I can take my hands off the wheel and it runs straight down the road, but the tires are wearing out fast.
Toe spec range 0.00 to 0.13 degrees. Actual left 0.06 right 0.06
Camber spec range -0.5 to 0.5 degrees. Actual left 0.1 right 1.1
Caster spec range 1.5 to 2.5 degrees. Actual left 0.8 right 0.8
Cross camber spec range -0.5 to 0.5 degrees. Actual -1.0
Cross caster spec range -0.5 to 0.5 degrees. Actual 0.0
total toe spec range 0.00 to 0.25 degrees. Actual 0.12

 

My experience with bad inside tire wear was due to excessive toe in or out - I don't recall which.
Looks like you are running positive camber - which wears the outside's.
I only recognize old school toe settings - inch's not degrees so can't quite relate to your settings.

Okay just found my alignment report :
Toe degree readings are numerically close to inch readings ie:
.06 degrees is roughly equivalent to .06" or 1/16"
.14 degrees is approximately 1/8"

 

Are these radials or bias tires?

What is the condition of the kingpins?

Typically, excess toe will show a feathering wear to the tread surface, whereas an inside (or outside) wear edge is a camber issue. Your camber is excessive on only your right side. Do both tires have edge wear similar to each other?

Plasticman

 

The king pins are good, I rebuilt the entire front suspension not too many miles back. the only thing not replaced are the springs. I am running radials and both are wearing on the inside, the right tire a bit more than the left.

 

I would confirm that there is no feathering to the tread as step one (to confirm that it is not a toe issue, since you are seeing wear on both tires). If no feathering, then that tire wear is a camber issue (be it from suspension wear or misalignment). I would take it back in for a check of alignment, and see if anything has changed, plus have them check the suspension for wear.

Note that I have seen where the clamp bolt (on the spindle support) for the camber / caster adjustment was left somewhat loose, and the upper pivot pin then rotated to wherever.

Your total toe looks to be a little shy of what I like to run with radials at about 1/16" total (assuming you have 27" tires) on a C1 (more modern vehicles like the smaller toe settings). And that is why I am asking about feathering. With radials I have found that 1/8" total toe is about an ideal compormise, which would be about .13 degree per tire. But if you are not having directional issues (and no feathering), then run what you feel is good.

Your caster is not ideal, but typically on the lower end, and not much you can do about it, if the adjusments are maxed out. At any rate, caster is not the cause of the tire wear.

Plasticman

 

My alignments were done in Pennsylvania, I'm now living in Virginia and will need to find a good reliable shop to check the alignment.

 

I believe your toe in is way out - play on words LOL !
Look at the front of your car - do the wheels look relatively vertical.
I run about 1 degree negative and it is relatively noticeable - I have never had a tire wear issue in 30 years.
Has your front end sagged since you did the alignment - did you replace the springs before the alignment ?
My everyday car - '83 Malibu [B]wagon /B] had sagged on the front end.
When I got to Florida after driving down a thousand miles - I had worn off the inside of a nice set of tires - no feathering - just worn.
I checked and the toe was out over1/4" - Readjusted with measuring tape and drove back with no further wear.

 

http://images.search.yahoo.com/image...mb=VIBW.Z6d9aY

Click on the arrows in the above link for more sample pictures, and decide for yourself.....

Plasticman

 

I'll try to take, and post some pictures to the tire wear.

 

Why not just take it somewhere and get the alignment checked the way it is NOW.
They don't have to do anything except check the alignment and give you a print out.
At GM dealerships they actually have a price to do (just an) alignment check ~ $30
Once you do that you will know what you have.
Until you do that this is a waste of time speculating what you may or may not have going on.

Sorry I like to deal with facts, not speculating like a bunch of old women.

 

I guess I didn't explain everything in my original post. I rebuilt the front end and then had an alignment and was told that they couldn't adjust the caster to spec. At that time I installed new tires and after a few thousand miles got wear on the inside. I rotated the tires and had another alignment done at another shop with basically the same results, which I posted. I am still getting wear on the inside, which I would expect as the second shop found the same thing as the first. Both shops check the front end for wear and found everything good. The original question that I asked was, what can I do to get the camber into spec? Is there any shimming or other adjustment that can be made?

 

Sorry, but I understand but don't: You say first the caster can not be put in spec, then you ask how to put camber into spec. Is it both, or just one of the 2. I can understand camber being the cause of your wear on the inside of the tire. Caster won't do that.

However, the 2 (caster and camber) adjustments are made at the same adjustment point (upper outer pivot pin), and it is fairly normal to not get enough caster with the C1 front suspension.

Camber should at least be "close" enough not to cause that kind of wear. When I rebuilt my front, I did a couple of things to give me more caster, and move the camber adjustment towards zero (for radial tires). I offset the lower A arm inner forward, and moved the upper inner threaded rod rearward.

However, if it is just more caster you want, I would add another set (assuming you have one set already in place) of tapered shims to angle the crossmember more. But that won't help camber.


Here is a post from back in April that I wrote concerning my changes:


2 "things".

1. Biased the upper inner threaded rods rearward, and shifted the upper inner bushings & A-arm (about 1/8" rearward).

2. Biased the lower inner bushings / A-arm forward by about 1 thread.

Note that I reassembled everything without springs (on both sides), set the camber/caster adjustment as far rearward (max caster) and minimal camber, and made sure everything was free to move (no binding throughout the A-arms range of motion.

Drives very nicely, and feel no real difference in parking (still not "easy" as with power steering).

Frankly it was more of a "goal" than a need (to get as much caster as I could), since it drove just fine before. But I had installed the 53/54 passenger car lowered spindle supports (lowered the front .625"), and the camber on one side was not near enough to zero for my liking. Now it is, and I will probably back off the caster next time I am in there.

Plasticman

 

There is no way that the alignment numbers you posted at the top would result in severe inner edge tire wear unless there is another problem in the front end...or with the alignment guy(s).