Camber question for rr/ax
 

Is there a way of simply adjusting the camber, I think this is right, so that my tires will tilt top in or bottom out. So that my left front tire doesn't wear so hard. Haven't gotten to slicks yet. Suspension is z51 if that matters.
TIA
David

bump

Simplest way is to go to an alignment shop. :-)

Check out www.davidfarmerstuff.com for a DIY guide.

Are you saying you want to adjust alignment before and after events.

Bill

Your profile indicates you have a C6, so I'll assume that's the car you want to align.

DIY track alignment is pretty easy, at least if you start with a good street alignment!! ;)

First of all, like gkmccready says, check out davidfarmerstuff.com for some good info.

Click the thumbnails below for info from the service manual on adjusting camber using the cam bolts:


http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i1...tmentFront.jpg ................... http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i1...stmentRear.jpg



There are 2 cam bolts on each lower control arm (A-arm) to adjust the camber. I didn't mess with them at all. If you do (and you'll need to in order to adjust the rear camber on a regular C6), mark your street camber settings so you return to it easily.

My C6 Z06 is a little different than your regular C6. The C6Z has the same setup on the rear upper control arms as in the front. If you look at the first thumbnail of the service manual above (the front suspension), the bottom picture on that page shows that the upper control arm is bolted to the frame with 4 bolts, and between the control arm fitting and the wheel well there are some washers/shims. Take a look at the thread below and scroll down to post #4 where Frank says that each washer you remove increases negative camber by about 1/2 degree:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...and-setup.html


I recently adjusted the camber on my C6Z for a track event. The street camber on the C6Z is about -1*, and I wanted to crank it over to around -2.5 to -3 degrees for my R6 Hoosiers. My street toe-in was zero.

I pulled the wheels and unbolted those 4 bolts holding on the front upper A-arm, and there were 4 washers behind the fitting. I removed 3 washers from each of the 4 bolts on each side and measured the camber and it had brought it in to about -2.4*, and I was happy with that.

Take a look at this thread where David Farmer mentions that when turning the tie-rod to adjust toe, each flat is about 1/32 inch on each side.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...ing-flats.html



I had started with zero toe, and after increasing negative camber by about 1.4 degrees, the toe was WAAAAYYYY messed up!!! I had something like 10/16" toe-out!!! :eek:

So.....you will need to adjust toe after messing with camber!!!

Like David says - if you start out with a good street alignment, DO EVERYTHING SYMMETRICALLY!!!

I wanted about 1/16" to 1/8" toe-out for the front for my track settings, and I tightened the tie-rods by 9 flats on each side to get that.

As I mentioned, the C6Z is the same in the rear as in the front. I pulled the 4 bolts on the upper control arms and found 2 washers behind each fitting, and I removed both. I started with about -1* camber in the rear, and removing the 2 washers brought it to about -1.7*. I went with that, but next event I'm going to have to crank the cam bolts to get about -2.5* like in the front.

I started with zero toe in the rear and wanted about 1/16" toe-in for the track, and after removing the 2 washers from the rear I found that I had excess toe-in and had to tighten the toe adjusters 4 flats on each side (the adjusters are behind the rear wheels, so tightening pulls the rear of the wheels closer together).

I have Hardbar alignment plates and that makes checking toe very easy.

http://hardbarusa.com/hardbar/images/DSC_0022-1.jpg

For camber, I have a digital level and place it vertically on either the wheel rim or the Hardbar plates.

After the track event it took about 3 hours to swap back to my OE rotors, swap to my street pads, put the washers back in, turn the toe adjusters by the exact same number of flats that it took to get my track alignment, put on my street wheels/tires, and reprogram my sensors - and that got me back to my street alignment.

Unfortunately, for your regular C6, the rear upper control arm bolts on differently and you can't just take out washers to adjust the camber - you'll need to adjust the camber bolts.

All the above may sound kind of daunting, but it's really not bad at all. If you start out with a good street alignment and do everything exactly the same on both sides, I feel positive that I can get the alignment settings I want darn near as accurately as your typical alignment shop.

Good luck!!!

Bob :flag:

For C5/C6's, the "easiest" way to gain camber without screwing up the castor is to remove any washer behind the front upper control arms. Unfortunately, you can't do this in the rear (except for the C6Z06).

Each washer is about .5deg (must take all four out), so you can approx the amount you'll gain based on the number of washer you have. Then simply adjust the tie rod ends to compensate for the toe change.

How thick are these washers? I've got the HardbarUSA camber & stud kit so I just use regular M10 washers and they don't seem to be 0.5deg each to me.

I'm just guessing, but they seemed to be about 1/16" thick - I think 4 of them are about 1/4".

if i am reading correctly taking out the washers will whack the toe settings off the correct range though on the c6z06 right, so that has to be checked after removing the washers??

thanks

Yes, after adjusting camber you'll need to reset toe.

Every adjustment you make will change the other settings. You end up chasing your tail lot during an alignment. It takes about two hours to align my car - if everything is close to start with.

I got my tire store to sell me a lifetime alignment for $200. They have a really good alignment tech and he costs me a case of beer each time I go in for an alignment. I have the car aligned before every event.

Richard Newton
Corvette C5 Performance Projects: 1997-2004