Camber kit needed?

coilovers and all components making it quality, not trying to offend anyone, but dont get the cheap 500-800. Of course I know there is people are on budgets and they want to look nice but dont have the money. Just ask yourself, is burning X amount of money in the future for premature wear ties, and suspension part worth you saving a bit now? I will honestly say this is something you get as much as the money you put into it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
So would i need camber kit with H&Rs 1.6/1.4 ?? Was planning on getting the alignment this week. I can def see a little camber in rear.
 
Last edited:
The front will just have pretty close to 0 or slightly negative. The rear is where you have to really consider getting the camber arms. As you lower the car it will gain negative camber in the rear from the design of the suspension. You can always put the springs on and then go to get an alignment and see how much negative camber it has in the rear. Around -1.5 is close to factory, maybe a little less. If you're in that range then you are probably fine without it but it's up to you at that point.

I slipped the guy at the place I went a $20 to put my wifes car on the rack and just tell me where it sat with the stock arms. I told him if it wasn't too bad I was just going to buy the alignment right then and there. If it was over -1.5 I would have taken the car home and bought camber arms for it. She is running the HFP suspension and has -1.4 rear camber and -0.2 front. No camber bolts or arms.

The rear arms will allow you to set the camber less negative. Usually around 1.5" drop is where you are going to want the arms since the possibility of getting excess neg camber is there. I have a 1.6" drop and bought the arms. I set my rear camber to -0.8. It will gain enough extra under load during cornering that it will probably be over -1.

The camber bolts for the front will allow you to get more neg camber for better handling. I have my fronts at -1.3 and the strut suspension generally gains no camber from lowering.

Tire wear is also a consideration. Excess camber, like over 2 degrees, will wear the tires but not as badly as having toe in or toe out.



These settings have as much to do with the cars handling as it does with balancing what you use the car for. Ex:

1) My car: Performance alignment -1.3 F and -0.8 R
2) Wifes car: Lots of driving, lots of highway miles -0.2 F and -1.4 R

A good rotation schedule will also help keep the tires wearing evenly and lasting as long as possible.
 
Last edited:
Nix said:
The front will just have pretty close to 0 or slightly negative. The rear is where you have to really consider getting the camber arms. As you lower the car it will gain negative camber in the rear from the design of the suspension. You can always put the springs on and then go to get an alignment and see how much negative camber it has in the rear. Around -1.5 is close to factory, maybe a little less. If you're in that range then you are probably fine without it but it's up to you at that point.

I slipped the guy at the place I went a $20 to put my wifes car on the rack and just tell me where it sat with the stock arms. I told him if it wasn't too bad I was just going to buy the alignment right then and there. If it was over -1.5 I would have taken the car home and bought camber arms for it. She is running the HFP suspension and has -1.4 rear camber and -0.2 front. No camber bolts or arms.

The rear arms will allow you to set the camber less negative. Usually around 1.5" drop is where you are going to want the arms since the possibility of getting excess neg camber is there. I have a 1.6" drop and bought the arms. I set my rear camber to -0.8. It will gain enough extra under load during cornering that it will probably be over -1.

The camber bolts for the front will allow you to get more neg camber for better handling. I have my fronts at -1.3 and the strut suspension generally gains no camber from lowering.

Tire wear is also a consideration. Excess camber, like over 2 degrees, will wear the tires but not as badly as having toe in or toe out.



These settings have as much to do with the cars handling as it does with balancing what you use the car for. Ex:

1) My car: Performance alignment -1.3 F and -0.8 R
2) Wifes car: Lots of driving, lots of highway miles -0.2 F and -1.4 R

A good rotation schedule will also help keep the tires wearing evenly and lasting as long as possible.
Click to expand...
Ah. I had the H&R sport springs he is talking about but that was on a different car (93 del sol). It needed camber kit in the front only. Go figure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nix
Thanks guys. I will go to the shop and ask em to check it out first. Havent thought of that.

Any suggestions on camber kits? Looking at godspeed...
 
Last edited:
You don't have to buy a camber kit if you don't want to with any drop. You will just end up running excessive negative rear camber. It will make the car handle and drive poorly and wear your tires quickly.

I would recommend getting the rear camber arms if your drop is anywhere near 1.5" or more.

Some people say don't bother with the camber kit but people also lower their cars to the point that they scrape their frame and bust oil pans.

It's all personal preference. If you're concerned or just don't have the $$ right away, put the springs on and see if the alignment shop will just do a quick check for you. Depending on your results you can make a more informed decision at that point.
 
I've had my camber kit just sitting BNIB for over a year now, waiting until I needed it. Had it before any other part of my suspension. Almost sold it to Dar-Dar once though :giggle: Glad I didn't because I'll be needing it in the next couple of weeks :shadyhat:
 
Yeah. I remember that. Lol. I placed a bid on the Godspeeds and decided to get the ingalls instead, but I ended up winning the item. :rotfl: I'm pretty satisfied with the Godspeeds though. Are you getting the redshift, HeelsandEers?
 
Going to be on koni yellows all around w/ neuspeed sports or at the very least yellow rears/orange fronts.. depending on how a few things workout. I should know in the next couple weeks. I'd love to go with one of the redshift coilover set ups but unfortunately that's not in the budget at the moment :giggle:
 
You can probably get a decent pipe cutter on Harbor Freight if you're getting the Yellow fronts.
14_2_pipe_cutter.gif
 
I may be buying the yellow fronts off a guy used :shadyhat: So no fab work required for me. It'll be nice being able to keep my front strut cores in tact. If that falls through, I'll probably just end up buying Lou's orange fronts (if/when he decides to get rid of them).


Speaking of Harbor Freight, I wonder how much a decent spring compressor is? I'd like to pick one up for this job and inevitably more in the future. I know you can rent them for cheap/free but I like having my own stuff. Makes things easier.
 
Last edited:
The trick with purchasing tools from Harbor Freight is to go to their website and READ THE REVIEWS. There stuff is very hit and miss.
 
Joe liu lowered his car on coilovers about 2". Check out his alignment sheet. He does not have camber bolts in the front either. His settings are way off. Postive camber on one side (Front Left 0.8) and negative on the other (Front Right -1.6). Both rears are over -2 degrees. This should give you some idea of how necessary proper adjustments are going to be with a drop in the 1.5" to 2" range.

Joe Liu said:
got an alignment. probably going to run without a camber kit for a while, no moneysss

photo_zps90e51080.jpg
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top