[williaty]

I have over 0.8* of cross-camber. To me, this screams of something being bent. However, I can't see anything obvious. The car drives alright, it doesn't act one way turning left and then another turning right or anything like that.

So, considering that there's nothing that knocks my socks off on first look, how do I go about finding why I have that much cross-camber?

[MGizzle]

To me this sounds like you got hosed by the alignment shop or one of your bolts slipped AFTER they supposedly tightened everything down. I tell you man, those guys sometimes think that need to go a bit in one direction to fix the camber setting a bit and after they turn the bolt they don't go back and recheck the readings.

Where do you read this cross camber? What are the individual camber readings. When you drive straight is your car pulling to one side??

[williaty]

The car is currently pulling the left, but that's because the toe is out. The driver's side tie rod is seized and I'm working on it.

I did the alignment myself. Both camber plates are set the same, both OEM camber bolts are maxed out. The top of the rotor was shoved all the way in before the bolts were tightened.

[CGMDan]

Originally Posted by williaty

I did the alignment myself.

Ding Ding Ding. We may have found the problem.

[williaty]

Originally Posted by CGMDan

Ding Ding Ding. We may have found the problem.

That's not the problem. Alignments are trivially easy to do well.

[qcslvr30]

I have often found that the plates have to be different from side to side even with the bolts maxxed out. Nothing to get worried about. If you want the plates to be the same adjust the bolts accordingly or vice versa.

I personally would trust your home alignment (providing you are consistant) over a shop's anyday unless you can watch them do it.

James

[boondocksaint]

Originally Posted by CGMDan

Ding Ding Ding. We may have found the problem.

Did that assumption hurt, or are you used to it?

[williaty]

Originally Posted by qcslvr30

I have often found that the plates have to be different from side to side even with the bolts maxxed out. Nothing to get worried about. If you want the plates to be the same adjust the bolts accordingly or vice versa.

I personally would trust your home alignment (providing you are consistant) over a shop's anyday unless you can watch them do it.

James

The plates need adjusted to the same point because the location of the plates affects SAI and caster. I'll even out camber with the OEM camber bolts.

Which is not the problem. Prior to final balancing with the camber bolts, I would expect to see 0.2 or 0.3 of a degree of cross camber, but I have a HUGE amount of cross camber. I'd like to figure out where it's coming from so I can remove the cause, not just accommodate it with the adjustments.

[MGizzle]

Well these are the options.

1) Your settings are off. Part tolerances, measurement error etc. will add up. Self alignments suck and I am a bit baffled on how you do it. I know its possible, but hardly accurate. You would need to mount plates instead of wheels on your car to be really accurate on everything.

2) You bent something man. Your spindle, your strut, your camber plate etc. Again, do you know what your individual side camber is?? You must have them since you are very accurate about your cross camber of 0.8. I assume your individual sides read the same how ever you are reading them but if you have that much cross camber with the sides reading the same then you bent something. However, if you bent something, there is not way that you can read the same indiviudal camber on each side if your camber bolts and plates are at the exact same settings on both sides. It just doesn't make sense.

How about visually, do the two sides look different??

[williaty]

Sorry, I've got two of these threads going and I thought I had given you guys the data:

Driver's side is -0.9*, passenger side is -1.8*

Yes, the wheels look different visually. The Driver's side looks almost vertical while the passenger side is visibly tipped in.



Self alignments only suck in that they require you to have a lot of patience and spend a lot of time on your back. If you're willing to be patient and be careful, your results are going to be better than taking it to a shop.

[nw-TI]

I prefer self alignments at my friends shop.

[MGizzle]

[quote=williaty;1771847]Sorry, I've got two of these threads going and I thought I had given you guys the data:

Driver's side is -0.9*, passenger side is -1.8*

Yes, the wheels look different visually. The Driver's side looks almost vertical while the passenger side is visibly tipped in.
quote]

Ok, I am a bit confused now. Let me get this straight. You have both sides bolts and camber plates at the same positions, right, and you are seing this big cross camber difference? I guess, how much do you need to move the driver side camber plate to get -1.8 on that side? If it is less than an eight of an inch or so than I understand. That is normal. This will also not kill your geometry, you should see how much deflection our suspensions have under load and believe me, with the bushings we have it is way more than an 1/8 of an inch, hence your camber plate being off that much will not have a big, if any, affect on your geometry. However, if you have to move it a lot then something is messed up. I am sure you installed the camber plate in the right direction and don't have it swapped. I am also assuming your camber bolt is still maxed out and it didn't slip and that your lower link bushings are all OK. Now, your toe can affect camber a bit but I don't think that much. Hence, fix your tie rod and see how much (if any really) it helps.

Finally, look at your rotor with respect to the brake caliper on top and bottom. Does the rotor seem like it is parallel to the caliper sides or is it crooked? If it is not straight than you might've bent the spindle a bit since your brake caliper is mounted to the upright/kingpin.