Camber adjustment .....
- Thread starter Evans
- Start date
I too would like to know this, if theres a guide, or a howto. Got too much negative camber on the front end.
There are camber bolts that you simply need to turn to get them to press against the tabs on the subfram to add or remove camber.
Though this is for removal, this page illustrates where they are, and what they look like.
http://cygnusx1.net/Supra/Library/TSRM/MK3/manual.aspx?S=FA&P=25
http://cygnusx1.net/Supra/Library/TSRM/MK3/manual.aspx?S=FA&P=25
Kai;1353525 said:
Honestly, I couldn't tell you the specs, cause I always got them off the machine while I was doing it. If it were my car, I could do it by eye fairly well, but that's because I have a lot of alignment experience. Caster is another issue though, as that would be near impossible to do by eye. Is your car lowered?
Nope - stock suspension. The only thing that needs doing, is the camber. I'm getting new camber bolts for it. I had assumed that the only way to have it altered, was to take it to a 4-wheel laser alignment place, although i'd rather save the $500 that'll cost me, and do it myself.
Davismj711
PA Mountain Supra
Kai, I hape that was a typo.
My last alignment one month ago cost me $65.
MY brother sets his own alignment. I do not, I prefer to let the lasers do the walking for me in this respect^^
JC Whitney and others sell front end alignment tools. Presently they sell a camber gauge made by Ingalls for a bit over $100, their SKU ZX456306.
Many years ago when they were cheap, I bought a set of "Tric-Kee" camber and caster tools from them back when their catalog and the Honest Charley catalog were second in thickness only to phone books. However, both the present one and the one I have require an adapter for cast wheels if the faced surface of the steel hub is not accessible. The hub is what the gauge mounts on.
But you can set camber on the cheap too. Make up a straightedge that spans your wheel rim to rim, and use a decent Torpedo style level to measure departure from the vertical, on the straightedge when vertical across the wheel edges (not the tires). "Calbrate" the level first by observing and marking bubble offset for a known departure from the vertical: In a span of 17", 1 degree of tilt is .297" spacing at one end of the straightedge. For 16" and 18" wheels, this is a close enough value. So if you want to set camber to 3/4 of one degree, take 3/4 of .297", or .223". Set your dial caliper (good Chinese ones are now less than $20) for that spacing, tighten the thumbscrew, and space the ID measurement fingers out by that much. Positive camber is when the wheels tilt outward at the top, negative (good in the front for cornering but not tire life) is when the bottoms tilt out. Negative camber at the rear seems to lead to wander, although I have not tried combinations of rear negative camber and rear toe.
You just need to make sure the car is level side to side for camber measurement. That can be done by setting panelling shims in place where the tire patches will be, and using a reasonably straight 2X4 to make a level span the distance.
Also bought a drive-over toe-in gauge, but you can make a trammel gauge yourself to measure toe, but you need to set it in place, chalk mark the tires, remove it, roll the car half a wheel rotation and measure it again. Subtract the two readings. Toe in is if the readings are closer in the front than the rear. But it is just a wooden stick with two nails driven through it. That is really doing things on the cheap.
The toe gauge that JCW sells now is a fancy trammel gauge (SKU ZX192207Y). Don't waste money on it. It reads from the sidewalls of the tires, not accurate enough. Measurement must be from the wheel, or from datum points on the tread as described above. Others I've found with a quick search are also trammel gauges. Wood and two nails are just as good.
I was fortunate enough to find a pair of rotatable floor pads (with translational movement capability) in a junkyard (not a car yard, a real junk yard that a friend and I used to rummage through every Saturday for all types of good stuff). They are not really necessary though. If you really get into alignment, these can probably be found on ebay. If you are young and have multiple cars, these types of things will pay for themselves many times over.
BernieK
'91T, non-targa, refreshed JDM, Walbro, Lex, 550cc ND injectors, 57 trim turbo at 17 PSI (at 3000 pipe), '98 wheels and engine mounts (strong!), Lipp, modified stock FPR, Treadstone IC, hardpipes, Cometic, ARP, Random Tech 3" single cat downpipe, HKS LET-T16 exhaust, Exedy organic clutch (street use), Cr-Mo light flywheel, Raptor BOV (recirculated), deflashed valve bowls, exhaust helicoils, tower strut.
Many years ago when they were cheap, I bought a set of "Tric-Kee" camber and caster tools from them back when their catalog and the Honest Charley catalog were second in thickness only to phone books. However, both the present one and the one I have require an adapter for cast wheels if the faced surface of the steel hub is not accessible. The hub is what the gauge mounts on.
But you can set camber on the cheap too. Make up a straightedge that spans your wheel rim to rim, and use a decent Torpedo style level to measure departure from the vertical, on the straightedge when vertical across the wheel edges (not the tires). "Calbrate" the level first by observing and marking bubble offset for a known departure from the vertical: In a span of 17", 1 degree of tilt is .297" spacing at one end of the straightedge. For 16" and 18" wheels, this is a close enough value. So if you want to set camber to 3/4 of one degree, take 3/4 of .297", or .223". Set your dial caliper (good Chinese ones are now less than $20) for that spacing, tighten the thumbscrew, and space the ID measurement fingers out by that much. Positive camber is when the wheels tilt outward at the top, negative (good in the front for cornering but not tire life) is when the bottoms tilt out. Negative camber at the rear seems to lead to wander, although I have not tried combinations of rear negative camber and rear toe.
You just need to make sure the car is level side to side for camber measurement. That can be done by setting panelling shims in place where the tire patches will be, and using a reasonably straight 2X4 to make a level span the distance.
Also bought a drive-over toe-in gauge, but you can make a trammel gauge yourself to measure toe, but you need to set it in place, chalk mark the tires, remove it, roll the car half a wheel rotation and measure it again. Subtract the two readings. Toe in is if the readings are closer in the front than the rear. But it is just a wooden stick with two nails driven through it. That is really doing things on the cheap.
The toe gauge that JCW sells now is a fancy trammel gauge (SKU ZX192207Y). Don't waste money on it. It reads from the sidewalls of the tires, not accurate enough. Measurement must be from the wheel, or from datum points on the tread as described above. Others I've found with a quick search are also trammel gauges. Wood and two nails are just as good.
I was fortunate enough to find a pair of rotatable floor pads (with translational movement capability) in a junkyard (not a car yard, a real junk yard that a friend and I used to rummage through every Saturday for all types of good stuff). They are not really necessary though. If you really get into alignment, these can probably be found on ebay. If you are young and have multiple cars, these types of things will pay for themselves many times over.
BernieK
'91T, non-targa, refreshed JDM, Walbro, Lex, 550cc ND injectors, 57 trim turbo at 17 PSI (at 3000 pipe), '98 wheels and engine mounts (strong!), Lipp, modified stock FPR, Treadstone IC, hardpipes, Cometic, ARP, Random Tech 3" single cat downpipe, HKS LET-T16 exhaust, Exedy organic clutch (street use), Cr-Mo light flywheel, Raptor BOV (recirculated), deflashed valve bowls, exhaust helicoils, tower strut.
Kai;1353537 said:
Davismj711;1353556 said:
Nope - $500 is the converted cost for alignment here, on a 4-wheel laser setup.
Friends of 40 years own and run an alignment shop so I get a price break.
It's worth spending the time and $ to get a good 4 wheel alignment done it makes an enormous difference with the Mk3 chassis.
It's worth spending the time and $ to get a good 4 wheel alignment done it makes an enormous difference with the Mk3 chassis.
Got a new set of camber bolts on their way - going to see what the damage is, $$ wise, next week :/
where did you order the bolts from...my allignment is wayyy off so i went to get it done and the shop told me all my camber, caster and tie rod ends are all seized into the bushings...so i orderd front and rear sets of energy suspension, polyurethane bushings, new tie rod ends but i cant find anywehre to get teh camber or caster bolts
sometimes, the obvious isn't so. :burnout:IJ.;1374154 said:Nahhh you're kidding!
Never thought to try there