High Negative Camber on Rear Wheels?

Subscribe
Jan 4, 2019 | 08:50 PM
  #1  
The camber on the rear wheels of my 2013 GS350 seems rather high (negative) but I'm not sure that it's not normal. I hadn't taken notice of it but my two brothers pointed it out to me and it did seem unusual. Is there need for much negative camber on the rear wheels? My assumption was they should be very close to vertical. It seems to drive fine but wondering if I'm causing excessive inside tire wear.
Reply 0
Jan 5, 2019 | 07:05 AM
  #2  
Quote: The camber on the rear wheels of my 2013 GS350 seems rather high (negative) but I'm not sure that it's not normal. I hadn't taken notice of it but my two brothers pointed it out to me and it did seem unusual. Is there need for much negative camber on the rear wheels? My assumption was they should be very close to vertical. It seems to drive fine but wondering if I'm causing excessive inside tire wear.
depends on how negative. stock setup is already about 1-1.5degs. Will be more if u lowered your ride.
Reply 0
Jan 5, 2019 | 06:55 PM
  #3  
Quote: The camber on the rear wheels of my 2013 GS350 seems rather high (negative) but I'm not sure that it's not normal. I hadn't taken notice of it but my two brothers pointed it out to me and it did seem unusual. Is there need for much negative camber on the rear wheels? My assumption was they should be very close to vertical. It seems to drive fine but wondering if I'm causing excessive inside tire wear.
What is your measured camber?

Mine is a stock 2013 AWD and I had abnormal tire wear on the rear inside. I had to install SPC camber arms in the rear to get the camber back to an acceptable level. I like the rear wheels to be nearly vertical with just a -1/2° camber.
Reply 1
Jan 5, 2019 | 10:55 PM
  #4  
Quote: What is your measured camber?

Mine is a stock 2013 AWD and I had abnormal tire wear on the rear inside. I had to install SPC camber arms in the rear to get the camber back to an acceptable level. I like the rear wheels to be nearly vertical with just a -1/2° camber.
I don't know what it is. Just based off looking at it. It's not lowered or anything. Has about 66k miles and according to the service records alignment had been checked at least twice. Looking along the side of the car, the rear appears to have more negative camber than the front.
Reply 0
Jan 6, 2019 | 01:51 AM
  #5  
Quote: I don't know what it is. Just based off looking at it. It's not lowered or anything. Has about 66k miles and according to the service records alignment had been checked at least twice. Looking along the side of the car, the rear appears to have more negative camber than the front.
The rear has more negative camber than the front, that's normal on this car. Most cars on the road are the same way.
Reply 0
Jan 6, 2019 | 04:36 AM
  #6  
Quote: I don't know what it is. Just based off looking at it. It's not lowered or anything. Has about 66k miles and according to the service records alignment had been checked at least twice. Looking along the side of the car, the rear appears to have more negative camber than the front.
I had mine aligned and it obviously had more negative in the rear than the front. The insides of my rear tires were wearing excessively. How are your rear tires wearing and do you rotate them regularly?
Reply 0
Jan 6, 2019 | 04:06 PM
  #7  
Quote: I had mine aligned and it obviously had more negative in the rear than the front. The insides of my rear tires were wearing excessively. How are your rear tires wearing and do you rotate them regularly?
I was told that they had just been rotated before I bought the car. Despite that, I took it to Discount Tire and had them check them out, plus one tire was lower than the others and I wanted to see if there was a leak. There was no leak and they said they looked good so I did not have them rotated at that time. I've only put around 3,000 miles on the car since I bought it. I'm thinking I'll pull them off one of these days and see if they look like they're wearing evenly.
Reply 0
Jan 7, 2019 | 05:58 AM
  #8  
The stock negative camber is not an issue. If you are seeing uneven tire wear on the inside, it means you need to drive the car more aggressively. Take corners at twice the speed you are taking them now. Drive more back roads instead of highway. The outside patch will wear more and balance out.
Reply 1
Jan 7, 2019 | 07:38 AM
  #9  
Quote: The stock negative camber is not an issue. If you are seeing uneven tire wear on the inside, it means you need to drive the car more aggressively. Take corners at twice the speed you are taking them now. Drive more back roads instead of highway. The outside patch will wear more and balance out.
I take your reply as tongue-in-cheek but I do drive very spiritedly but covering long distances requires a lot of highway.
Reply 0
Jan 7, 2019 | 06:14 PM
  #10  
Quote: I take your reply as tongue-in-cheek but I do drive very spiritedly but covering long distances requires a lot of highway.
if your absorbers are fine then some negative camber is normal. Had encountered failed absorber causing car to be lowered resulting in too much negative camber and thus have high tyre inner wear.
Reply 0
Jan 8, 2019 | 09:31 AM
  #11  
Inner tire wear is common complaint, and there is no rear camber adjustment. The solution is as knucklebus notes above: install adjustable camber arms.
Reply 0
Jan 8, 2019 | 10:48 AM
  #12  
Quote: Inner tire wear is common complaint, and there is no rear camber adjustment. The solution is as knucklebus notes above: install adjustable camber arms.
So in other words, assuming the suspension parts are stock, the camber can't be out of spec?
Reply 0
Jan 8, 2019 | 07:15 PM
  #13  
Quote: So in other words, assuming the suspension parts are stock, the camber can't be out of spec?
I believe "shouldn'tbe out of spec" is more correct. If the rear camber is not within spec it is because a suspension component is worn and in need of replacement.

You can probably get a free alignment check done somewhere local. You could also by a tread depth gauge for cheap and take a few measurements. I will mention that many times, inside tire wear is caused by toe, not camber, being of spec.

​​​​​
Reply 0
Jan 9, 2019 | 04:53 AM
  #14  
Quote: I believe "shouldn'tbe out of spec" is more correct. If the rear camber is not within spec it is because a suspension component is worn and in need of replacement.

You can probably get a free alignment check done somewhere local. You could also by a tread depth gauge for cheap and take a few measurements. I will mention that many times, inside tire wear is caused by toe, not camber, being of spec.

​​​​​
My toe wasn't out but I suspect they'd never rotated the tires was why mine wore the inner edge of the rears due to higher negative camber.
Reply 0
Jan 9, 2019 | 10:58 AM
  #15  
I would suggest everyone get the alignment specs from the Lexus Manual and not to use the alignment rack specs. It will give you a better toe angle to reduce inside wear.

The front Lower control Arm Bushing I would replace with firmer Lexus GSF.

Keep your tires at optimum tire pressure, do not over inflate.

I would not get a camber kit.

Visually you will see negative camber on Lexus from factory, it is standard.
Reply 0