xknowonex

iTrader: (2)

A couple of days ago, I went to an alignment shop after installing the Supra LCAs. I had a little chat with the guy that was working on my car and I asked him what are the best camber settings for my car. His answer was, "3 positive" for stabilty and even tire wear. For such reasons, he said its much better than having 0 camber.

He also went on to tell me that my tire pressure should be 44 psi, not in the low 30s. The low, 30s, he said, are for the old days. (Im still using stock wheels). I asked him about his machine (he uses the old fashion ones) and how much it differs from the modern computer alignment racks. He tells me that the modern machines are junk and, unlike the old fashion ones, it doesnt measure the toe-in and toe-out.

The car drove alright and straight once I lowered the pressure to 32. However, visually, u can totally tell that the front has positive camber. Even my friends noticed it, so I decided to take it back today . The owner said said that for my car, 0 or a tiny bit negative is ideal. He then called the guy in. When we got outside, he gave me attitude and argued with me over what settings are best. He asked me to do him a favor and go inside.

When he's done he went into the waiting room and said outloud in front of everyone that the car was perfectly fine before and that he just made minor adjustments. When I got the car back, the positive cambers gone and the steering is longer centered. That was a total waste of my time and 45 bucks.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

wtf? i don't really understand what you posted, but i think you just went to some stupid shops with morons working there.

first of all, you should have SLIGHTLY negative camber, NOT zero. zero is NOT idea. you want some negative camber for handling purpose. having positive camber is just pretty retarded. that means the top of the wheel sticks out more than the bottom. why the hell would you want that for? to make your car easier to flip?

i am not sure about the reasoning of running 44 psi as well. why do you need that high of a pressure. the higher the pressure, the hard it is to stop the car. there is a reason why lexus recommend 32psi for their stock setup.

and alignment machine, you can tell them to take a hike.... moderm machines (especially the hunters) they hare super precise alignment readings. you can get information for camber, toe, and caster. eveything, cross angle, etc... tell your shop with old school methods to do all that in the same amount of time and we will talk again.

i might not be an expert on alignment, but unless i got your story wrong, sounds like those people know little about what they are doing

camillian

I have heard the word camber quite a bit in the last week on this forum, and by your post above Henry I now know what it is. However how does a shop determine this amount when installing your wheels. Is it relative to the height and width of the wheel?

What is the process?

sockfocks

iTrader: (1)

the shop determines the amount of camber by using the factory specifications for the vehicle. It is not relative to height and width of wheel. Heres a little graphic example: negative camber /-----\ positive camber \------/ and zero camber [------] this is looking at the vehicle head on. Because of the suspension design, when the the car goes into a corner, the body rolls. To compensate for this the suspension puts more negative camber on outside wheel to keep an optimum contact patch. The inside wheel goes to positive camber. This is all designed for when the vehicle turns. Heres a good link for explanation. http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...ell/camber.htm
oh yeah...I'm guessin by what he meant on the positive camber is, when the vehicle is loaded with passengers, luggage, fuel, etc. the vehicle does get lower and camber is pushed toward negative on all four wheels. In a way, he is correct on that being the optimal setting for tire wear.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

actually the size of wheels, the width, etc... together will also affect how the alignment should be done. there is shop here that tunes a lot of racing cars, and they only use the factory settings as a guidance, but they actually tune your toe and camber settings according to your lowering and wheels setup. they actually do the same on their race car as well when they changed wheels.

and when you go to a good shop, they should always ask about your driving habits, the usual load, how heavy you are, etc... and they will actually put those weights inside your car.

sockfocks

iTrader: (1)

I can agree with that rominl. That was a general explanation of alignment procedure for us non racing folks...lol. When you get into specific racing applications...throw all the factory stuff out the window....haha

rominl

iTrader: (4)

you got a point there man, rear seats out of my window

xknowonex

iTrader: (2)

Now that my car pulls slightly to the left and the steering is off-center, this guy who worked on my car pisses me off really bad. The reason why I took it to this shop is because the alignment is extremely off after the LCA install and their shop is right by here in Garden Grove. The shop that me and my pops usually go to for alignments was already book up at the moment.

After thinking about it, this guy is really an idiot.

1. A modern 30,000 dollar computer alignment machine cannot measure the most basic alignment measurement of toe-in/toe-out?

2. Who the hell puts 44 psi in their stock size tires, especially when the temperature here has been in the 90s.

3. The positive camber was way apparent. One of my friends who is a technician at South Coast Subaru noticed and asked me why the camber looks wayy goofy.