DIY negative camber setup w/ adjustable megan arms
12-29-14, 12:56 PM
#1
DIY negative camber setup w/ adjustable megan arms
Not trying to overstate the obvious here, but adding negative camber to your setup places a lot of stress on your wheels and suspension and is not for those who want any kind of a "stock" look or feel when they are done. My reasons: I just want to get that VIP look while riding static. When I searched the forums on how to do this all I could find was incomplete information so I made this quick DIY thread. My setup (and methods) may be different from yours so results will vary.
First things first - you can achieve a few degrees of neg. camber by adjusting the factory adjustment bolts that came with the car, so that's obviously the first step. Support the rear of the car on jacks to unload the suspension and (optional) remove your rear wheels. Turn the "adjustment disc" on the short toe arm and the longer camber arm so the flat edge of the discs are pointing towards the centerline of the car.
First things first - you can achieve a few degrees of neg. camber by adjusting the factory adjustment bolts that came with the car, so that's obviously the first step. Support the rear of the car on jacks to unload the suspension and (optional) remove your rear wheels. Turn the "adjustment disc" on the short toe arm and the longer camber arm so the flat edge of the discs are pointing towards the centerline of the car.
Last edited by Hiroshi12; 12-30-14 at 11:44 AM.
12-29-14, 01:16 PM
#2
Once you have the discs where you want them retighten all four points and then loosen-up all four of your megan arms. I chose to remove the rear wheels as well since it's easier to manipulate the arms with the wheels off - working in the wheel well from the outside of the car. This position also gave me a better POV of which direction to turn the adjusters, and while you're here you may want to readjust your coils; compensating for the extra drop you're gonna get by leaning the wheels. I lengthened both sides up to 4.5" from 4".
Last edited by Hiroshi12; 12-29-14 at 02:00 PM.
12-29-14, 01:18 PM
#3
My highly scientific neg. camber adjustment method: eyeball the toe and desired camber angles as I extended the short arm out to 4" and the long arm to 5" (both pieces were measured from one locking nut to the other). At this point (with the suspension unloaded) it will be nearly impossible for you to judge if you added too much until you get the car back on the ground so you may have to repeat this process a few times. Hand tighten the locking nuts and put the wheels back on.
With the wheels back on, however, you should be able to see if your toe in/out is good or not. Not trusting my calibrated eye this time I used the old string level method and dialed it in as close as I could by readjusting the short arms.
With the wheels back on, however, you should be able to see if your toe in/out is good or not. Not trusting my calibrated eye this time I used the old string level method and dialed it in as close as I could by readjusting the short arms.
Last edited by Hiroshi12; 12-29-14 at 02:01 PM.
12-29-14, 01:24 PM
#4
Once I was fairly confident that everything was where I wanted it to be, I retightened everything and put her back down for a look. Results achieved: a nice little gangster lean with almost full tire contact. Not too aggressive and thanks to the prior coil readjustment, the residual drop of the entire vehicle was minimal. As long as it can still maneuver up/down my driveway I'm good!
Last edited by Hiroshi12; 12-29-14 at 02:03 PM.
12-29-14, 01:28 PM
#5
Since I was working on a sloped driveway I pulled back into the (relatively level) garage and took a measurement with this handy clinometer app and despite my eyeballs telling me one side leaned in more, both sides actually fluctuated between 8.5 and 9.2 degrees so they are basically within a fraction of a degree off from each other. Next up: the test drive.
12-29-14, 01:36 PM
#6
Test drove the car and I did not see one bit of difference (yet) it it's handling characteristics. It still rides tight over the bumps and everything else that goes along with a lowered, heavy car yet still goes down the highway straight as an arrow at 90+. 
Last job for tonight is to get her up on the ramps (suspension loaded), crawl under there and final tighten everything down. I don't have a shorty torque wrench so I'll just be using the PFT method. Cheers.
Last job for tonight is to get her up on the ramps (suspension loaded), crawl under there and final tighten everything down. I don't have a shorty torque wrench so I'll just be using the PFT method. Cheers.
Last edited by Hiroshi12; 12-29-14 at 01:52 PM.
12-29-14, 02:17 PM
#7
Nice write-up but why in the name of god are you adding negative camber when you have such weak fitment that doesn't require it? 
Also, I may be a bit rusty but i'm pretty sure you're doing the string-toe wrong, you're not supposed to use the outside of the body as the reference point. You're going to destroy those tires until you get it properly aligned.
Also, I may be a bit rusty but i'm pretty sure you're doing the string-toe wrong, you're not supposed to use the outside of the body as the reference point. You're going to destroy those tires until you get it properly aligned.
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12-29-14, 03:18 PM
#8
Nice write-up but why in the name of god are you adding negative camber when you have such weak fitment that doesn't require it?
Also, I may be a bit rusty but i'm pretty sure you're doing the string-toe wrong, you're not supposed to use the outside of the body as the reference point. You're going to destroy those tires until you get it properly aligned.
Also, I may be a bit rusty but i'm pretty sure you're doing the string-toe wrong, you're not supposed to use the outside of the body as the reference point. You're going to destroy those tires until you get it properly aligned.
Last edited by Hiroshi12; 12-30-14 at 11:01 AM.
12-30-14, 11:42 AM
#13
Last edited by Hiroshi12; 12-31-14 at 10:20 AM.
