Simple front camber increase

iodine23 · May 5, 2003, 04:57 PM

I got my Evo aligned a few weeks ago and my stupid shop claimed they couldn't figure out how to adjust the front camber. After doing some research here I found out it could be done. The factory spec for the car quotes either -1 or -2 degrees camber up front +/- 30'. This is selected by an eccentric bolt connecting the strut to the hub assembly. My car, and I'm assuming all Evos, ship with this bolt set to the "-1" position. In reality my alignment shop claimed that I had about -0.6 camber on one side and -0.3 camber on the other side from the factory. This is out of spec, not cool. On top of that it's not much camber for cornering either.

I decided to do a "quick and dirty" home alignment this weekend while I was rotating the tires. You will need a 19mm socket to loosen the nuts on the strut bolts. You may also need a breaker bar if the bolt is being pesky, a wrench to hold the bolt while tightening the nut (I didn't need this), and a torque wrench.

Jack up the car and take off the front wheel. Loosen the two nuts on the bolts connecting the strut to the hub assembly. You should see the little arrow on the top bolt head pointing towards the car. Slide the top bolt out enough so that you can rotate it 180 degrees so the arrow is pointing towards you. Push the bolt back in, making sure it's seated properly. You may have to push the hub assembly top inwards to get the bolt to go in all the way. Now you can tighten up the two nuts (torque spec is 123 +/- 7 ft.-lbs.) and put the tire back on. Do the other side and you're done!

This should be good for at least one more degree of front camber. When I was tightening the nuts I made sure to push on the hub assembly to get as much negative camber as possible. It may not be even, but it's probably almost as good as the crap alignment that came from the factory! Hopefully any competent alignment shop (unlike mine I guess) would be able to figure this out and get it done right for you. But if you don't feel like forking ov er the cash for a full alignment (or a second alignment) or just like to screw around with your car, this one is cheap, quick, and easy.

2Cool · May 5, 2003, 10:15 PM

Very good writeup, and only suggestion I can make is to tap the top of the spindle by the top bolt with a hammer and drift to make sure you have the maximum camber, then tighten well. Also, here's a pic to go with the verbage:

iodine23 · May 5, 2003, 11:28 PM

Good suggestion and thanks for the pic, I was going to snap some pics as soon as I could, but you beat me to it!

Kyperion · Apr 7, 2004, 10:05 AM

Just a word of warning.

Changing front camber effects toe settings, so be sure to get them checked if you do this. You can seriously effect tire wear if you bump camber like this and do not make a correspnding adjustment (or at least check) of the toe setting.

livelyjay · Apr 19, 2004, 09:13 AM

Could you please explain how and why this is able to work for camber adjustment? I'm just curious how twisting a bolt fixes camber. Beware, I'm a newb to doing alignments. Thanks.

sethevo · Apr 19, 2004, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by livelyjay
Could you please explain how and why this is able to work for camber adjustment? I'm just curious how twisting a bolt fixes camber. Beware, I'm a newb to doing alignments. Thanks.

the top bolt has an offset lobe. kind of like a cam shaft that goes inside the strut. heres a pic its kinda hard to see, but theres a part on the bolt that sticks out.

livelyjay · Apr 19, 2004, 09:45 AM

I figured that's what it was, just wanted some confirmation. Thanks for the info and the picture.

chrisw · Apr 20, 2004, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kyperion
Just a word of warning.

Changing front camber effects toe settings, so be sure to get them checked if you do this. You can seriously effect tire wear if you bump camber like this and do not make a correspnding adjustment (or at least check) of the toe setting.

yup....

In fact, switching to the -2 setting will add over 1/4" of tire killing toe-in...

DizzyTT · Jun 25, 2004, 08:40 AM

How do you check toe, and how to adjust if anyone knows.

tweakdsm · Jun 27, 2004, 07:35 PM

now i need to re-check my front toe - after an alignment i decided to go with -2 (bolt setting)because it was at -1 and looked strange like almost tires were inside of the fender now sitting right..... would you run your toe at 0 on tein-s ??? i can see tire wear from inside....iam probably dragging the tires....like a plow..

EJEvo · Sep 6, 2004, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kyperion

Just a word of warning.

Changing front camber effects toe settings, so be sure to get them checked if you do this. You can seriously effect tire wear if you bump camber like this and do not make a correspnding adjustment (or at least check) of the toe setting.

Would it be possible to alter the toe settings significantly if just loosening those 2 bolts and retightening? I would think that you would be more likely to affect toe if you were to play with either the strut bolts up top, or if you were to monkey with the tie rod adjustments. I could definitely see it if you had camber plates on a vehicle.

Nad1370 · Sep 6, 2004, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kyperion

Just a word of warning.

Changing front camber effects toe settings, so be sure to get them checked if you do this. You can seriously effect tire wear if you bump camber like this and do not make a correspnding adjustment (or at least check) of the toe setting.

Rules of alignment:

1. Camber

2. Caster

3. Toe

Iv'e seen Toe readings being off .5 degree after a 1 degree camber change. Which is a lot
Better get it re-aligned or you'll be cupping your tires.

Nad1370 · Sep 6, 2004, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EJEvo

Would it be possible to alter the toe settings significantly if just loosening those 2 bolts and retightening? I would think that you would be more likely to affect toe if you were to play with either the strut bolts up top, or if you were to monkey with the tie rod adjustments. I could definitely see it if you had camber plates on a vehicle.

He's also rotated the strut bolts to give him more negative Camber. That will change toe settings.

EJEvo · Sep 8, 2004, 06:33 PM

Here's an interesting tale - I went to the dealer today for an oil and rear diff fluid change, and had also inquired about a camber adjustment & alignment while they had it on the lift. The service manager tells me that he'll talk to the tech who just recently finished up his Evo maintenance training about the camber adjustment. So half an hour later, the Service Manager has the Tech in tow and has him explain to me how it is impossible to adjust camber on the Evo without drilling the strut mounts and the "knuckles". He goes on and says that the only way to add negative camber is by rounding out the holes at these specific points (sorry, once I heard the word "drilling" I started to lose focus on the rest of the words). I inquired about simply rotating the strut bolts since there is a cam bolt on the strut. "There are no cam bolts on Mitsubishis" was the Tech's reply.

So I guess I'm in search of a performance alignment shop that knows what the hell they are doing.

ldstang50 · Sep 15, 2004, 09:34 AM

Caster is camber in a turn. You should not be worrying about caster at all.
Just cause your adjusting camber does not mean you are adjusting toe. This is different on all cars depending on there suspension set ups. The evo having the front strut slightly in front of the center line of the front wheels allows for a slight toe adjustment when doing the camber. The toe is effected because in essense what you are doing by adjusting the camber this way is pulling the top and front of the wheel in towards the car. The top obviously slightly for than the front. What you should be aware of, even though you have given a slightly negative camber in the front tires, thus making them 'stick' better, is that by adjusting the toe in on the front tires you will be creating slightly sharper turn in. This is because your tires are prematurely set to point 'in.' Thus making any steering inputs a little edgier. But if its only a 1/4'' or 1/4 degree difference you probably won't feel much, but you will notice an increase of inside tire wear. Just my .02 from taking my suspension and alignment class.