How much camber is evil camber?

[Bloody Guts]

hey

I'll start by saying that i've already searched and reread all the old threads involving lowering springs and the camber adjustments. I still have some questions...

I installed the Eibach kit about 2 weeks ago, I got the car aligned today.... here were the numbers:

Front Camber:
Left -1.5º Right -1.4º
Rear Camber:
Left .1º Right .1º

Cross Camber:
-.1º

Front Toe:
Left -.03º Right .06º
Rear Toe:
Left .13º Right .07º


I don't know enough about the effects of camber to know what will be harmful. This is a daily driver with stock wheels and tires. I will be upgrading to 18" wheels and tires in the spring.

I know that negative camber can lead to better handling but more tire wear. Is it harmful to have negative camber in the front and not in the rear? I don't mind a little more tire wear if it will handle better and I don't have to purchase a camber adjustment kit.

My front camber numbers are only .2º and .1º off of the specified range, is this a big problem? I don't take the car to the track, probably never will. I just need someone to look at my situation and give me a more experienced opinion. I've tried to discern a solution from everyone else's situations, but it seems that a lot of factors are at work.

Thank you to anyone who can shed some light on what I should do.

 

[Big-Foot]

Anything more than -1.5* of camber on the front can lead to poorer braking and accelerated tire wear. Handling will also be affected on those surfaces that are less than glass smooth.

 

[Owner1]

Your alignment will be fine the way it is.

Negative camber is dialed in only to compensate for the camber change caused by cornering loads, and by the movement of the suspension.

Being a front engined, solid rear axle car, your rear tires do not need the camber compensation as the solid rear axle doesn't experience any significant camber change anyway. So your rear numbers look good.

For cars that are street driven only, I would use less than 1.5 degrees of negative camber in the front, as the increased grip from more negative camber is outweighed (for me) by the accelerated tire wear. Since it is rare to use 10/10 of the grip on the street anyway, you can probably afford to give up a small percentage of maximum grip.

I absolutely wouldn't sweat being a couple tenths off from the factory camber range, as production variances and alignment shop variances can easily be more than 2 tenths. In fact, unless you paid for a very high quality alignment, you could have it realigned at the same shop, or a different shop, and you probably would see more than 2 tenths variance.

On my old Fox body, I played with alignment settings all the time (my friend owned a shop) and over time I learned what matters and what doesn't.

Owner1

 

[Bloody Guts]

Your alignment will be fine the way it is.

Negative camber is dialed in only to compensate for the camber change caused by cornering loads, and by the movement of the suspension.

Being a front engined, solid rear axle car, your rear tires do not need the camber compensation as the solid rear axle doesn't experience any significant camber change anyway. So your rear numbers look good.

For cars that are street driven only, I would use less than 1.5 degrees of negative camber in the front, as the increased grip from more negative camber is outweighed (for me) by the accelerated tire wear. Since it is rare to use 10/10 of the grip on the street anyway, you can probably afford to give up a small percentage of maximum grip.

I absolutely wouldn't sweat being a couple tenths off from the factory camber range, as production variances and alignment shop variances can easily be more than 2 tenths. In fact, unless you paid for a very high quality alignment, you could have it realigned at the same shop, or a different shop, and you probably would see more than 2 tenths variance.

On my old Fox body, I played with alignment settings all the time (my friend owned a shop) and over time I learned what matters and what doesn't.

Owner1

thank you very much for the help, i'm happy someone was able to look at my whole situation and give me a rational explanation for all of this

it's hard to compare advice when people use their cars for such different things (autocross/drag/daily/etc)

i'm not going to worry about it yet, i've still got the stock rubber on there, i don't mind if they wear out a little faster, i might do something about it when i upgrade my wheels and tires

thanks again

j