Overinflate to Compensate for - Camber?

[nolig2278]

Does anyone know if overinflating tires to compensate for excessive innertire wear would help increase the footprint of the tire and reduce wear?

I know I can get parts to fix the camber, but the bolts do not last and the plates are a little more than I can spend right now.

Thanks

[wytbishop]

Overinflating won't solve the problem it will just move the point of contact and you'll see excess tire wear in a different spot.

Slot the holes slightly in the strut mounts so that you can tilt the wheel out a bit. Or get yourself a smaller diameter bolt for the top hole and use a wedge to move the wheel out a bit. You can buy camber wedges but it's easy to make a shim with a piece of steel.

[Nd4SpdSe]

You can rotate the strut mount as one of the tricks to gain camber adjustment.

How do bolts not last? I bought one set ever, used them for about 5 yeasr, did a few alignments on the car, including when I changed frmo B+G to H&R springs, put about 70'000kms on them and was very hard on the car, raced it farily often. I don't understand how bolts don't last, they're not a moving part in the driving of the vehicle, only used for adjustments.

If you can lower a car properly, don't do it at all.

Had a friend who didn't want to pay for an alignment on a car he bought, figured he could drive it for the summer that way. Month later, the tires were worn to the belts (he commutes 200km/day), so he had to buy new tires, AND still get the alignment that he didn't wan to pay for. You want to be cheap, it'll cost you in the long run, I'd bet money on that...

[nolig2278]

I have read stories of camber bolts snapping.
They do tend to not stay aligned and I would image that if they were to turn enough they could cause a wobble of the bolt and then get sheared.
But that is not what I am trying to discuss. I just wanted to know if putting a few psi more of air in the tires might help expand the footprint of the tires.

[Dali]

no, putting more or less air in the tire will not solve this. spend the 30.00 on obx camber bolts off ebay....problem solved.

[Daninski]

Ok movie time. Roll it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6ZZ_U_Fl1Y
and here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D_vg8gn ... re=related

[Josh]

I have read stories of camber bolts snapping.
They do tend to not stay aligned and I would image that if they were to turn enough they could cause a wobble of the bolt and then get sheared.
But that is not what I am trying to discuss. I just wanted to know if putting a few psi more of air in the tires might help expand the footprint of the tires.

Might happen if you buy crap OBX bolts. Purchase yourself the Eibach camber bolts there like 35 bucks a set. Never Ever heard of them breaking or snapping off in an MX, even with GC's.
Les schwab will even warrentee Eibach camber bolts and alignments...

Over inflating is probably the worst thing you could do. What springs are you running? camber couldn't be that bad.

[nolig2278]

Eibach springs with about 100k miles. ZX2 struts with about 15k miles. I have had the bolts several times, and firestone has a tendency to get very confused with adjusting them. My car has been in a few accidents so the alignment will never be perfect. I know my camber is off from -1.5 to -3. I am not sure where I have bought bolts from but I can try one more time. Firestone years ago also installed some of the ones with the wedges but the wedges came out over time. I go to firestone because of the lifetime alignment that I have with them.

So where do you install the eiback bolts to compensate for - camber : top or bottom?

[Evo_Spec]

Eibach springs with about 100k miles. ZX2 struts with about 15k miles. I have had the bolts several times, and firestone has a tendency to get very confused with adjusting them. My car has been in a few accidents so the alignment will never be perfect. I know my camber is off from -1.5 to -3. I am not sure where I have bought bolts from but I can try one more time. Firestone years ago also installed some of the ones with the wedges but the wedges came out over time. I go to firestone because of the lifetime alignment that I have with them.

So where do you install the eiback bolts to compensate for - camber : top or bottom?

i would have said to go to a different place to get your alignment if they couldn't do it right, but if you have a lifetime alignment with them then there's not much i can say.

the camber bolts go in the top, there'll be a manual that comes with them, read them and it'll tell you how to install them

[Ryan]

The fronts should be able to be done within OEM spec just with the stock mounts, and the rears, just oval out the strut holes... zero issue with structural integrity. The purpose of 90% of bolts is not to work in shear, but to generate enough friction between the components so that they work in shear, and the bolt only along its axis.

[nolig2278]

Wouldn't ovaling out a hole allow for movement? do you have a picture of this?

I need this setup to last for a good 50, 000 miles on some of the worst streets.

[Ryan]

No...

You have too much negative camber, that is, your wheel points IN at the TOP.

The strut has two holes in it. Oval out the TOP hole towards the OUTSIDE of the car, so it can pivot in the bottom hole, and the top can move OUT (correcting the negative camber) Doing it about 1/4" should be lots, but do it just as much as you need so that your alignment is perfect when you rotate it as far as you can, that way if you have to drop the strut for any reason you can re-align it perfectly.




When you clamp the bolts onto the strut, it will hold fast, it will not slip. In hard cornering the outside rear is loaded, and that would cause the TOP of the tire want to come OUT anyway, which would be fine, it would but the bolt up against the edge of the oval you made.

I'd say a solid 75% of the cornering force is taken by the lateral links, struts are not supposed to be the main supporting members for lateral force... it would wear them out quickly, but they have to take some of it via bending since you can't have the lateral links touching the ground.

If that last paragraph confuses you I apologize, its disguised engineer-speek.

[nolig2278]

In regards to ovaling:
What stops it from sliding back into - camber?
I get that when cornering it will pull outward but just driving a straight line or when hitting a bump. What will stop the wheel from pivoting on the bottom bolt and sliding in the top?

Thanks

[Josh]

^^^ a hope and a prayer^^^

I strongly advise against ovaling out the top hole. If you hit a curb or maybe a rock/pothole as your going through a corner it will bump out of alignment in a big way. Kick the top of the tire

Spend the 35 bucks to do it the rite way.

I ran eibach's on OE Tokikos and Koni inserts, I sold the camber bolts i bought because i was at -1deg on all 4. completely within oe speck. weird that you are having this much of a camber issue with this setup. Eibachs are the smallest in drop you can buy.

Maybe you should look into going somewhere else for your alignment.

What size wheel and tire combo are you running?

[Josh]

Came across this on another forum. for a 323 but same strut tower mounts. thought it might be handy for you if you haven't corrected your camber yet