Camber question

[lostsoul77]

I got a 4 wheel alignment on the LS yesterday at NTB. All was within spec (not far off before) except the for the right front. The camber measured -0.7 on the right front before and after the alignment while the left front measured 0.0. They say that the camber is not adjustable on this car and it was probably negative from hitting a pothole. Is this true? After leaving the shop and testing the new tires and alignment, if I let go of the wheel, the car will roll straight and then gradually start drifting/wandering to the right. Is this due to the negative camber which they say can't be adjusted and is there a way to correct this? I'm supposed to take it back to them today after work as they claim that the problem is one of 2 things:

1. They didn't put enough air in the right tire
2. It wasn't aligned correctly

 

[Outkast]

I don't know if its non adjustable, but if it is, they could use crash bolts to fix it.

 

[joegr]

I think that you can order a shim kit to change/fix the camber.
Scratch that.
Here's how
http://deneau.info/ls/s6x~us~en~file=s6x40004.htm~gen~ref.htm

 

[Outkast]

Joe I have to ask...

you are a plethora of information...

what the hell do you do for a living...just sit at home and read LS tech books?

 

[lostsoul77]

Thanks Joe! I have to find out if mine has the hex bolts for adjusting or not...I have an '05 LS8

 

[T_Man]

Like Joe posted about, the front camber IS adjustable and your camber CAN be corrected and brought into proper spec.

It's my opinion that your alignment shop did not put in the proper time and effort on your LS.

My 2006 LS is lowered with Eibach springs and my shop easily aligned my car without any problems. No cam bolts, shims or other aftermarket parts were needed.

 

[milehighmikey]

I had to have camber bolts added to my ride this past summer. These kits have replacement bolts for both the front and rear sides of the front lower control arm bushings. You need 2 kits to do the front end of the LS. Nothing can be done for the rears. The kits I got have a replacement bolt for each lower control arm bushing per side of the car. The bolts have a flattened side of the bolt that fits into a large washer with a hole that matches the partially flattened bolts. That hole is off center and when you loosen the nuts, turning the bolt turns the washer that is bored eccentrically, causing the bolt to orbit around centerline. When that bolt orbits, it draws the control arm ends in and pushes them out as well, as required to get the camber correct. The front one is possibly only for camber and the rear bolt is possibly mainly used for caster, but don't hold me to that. That is how it was on the marauder, but those cars shipped with an eccentric smooth bolt, unlike this kit which uses the end washers as the eccentrics. The eccentric washers actually make the arms pivot through their bushings because the washers rest in a captive, reverse-notched area that keeps the washers from moving about the longitudinal axis of the bolt hole's centerline. By the washer having no place to travel side to side, the offset hole in the washer causes the bolt to orbit about while being turned.

Got all that? The kits run less than $30 each side on rockauto.com, I ended up paying in the low 40s per side at my FLAPS.

 

[Outkast]

thats what I was talkin about

 

[lostsoul77]

So would the camber on the right front at -0.7 cause the drifting/wandering problem that I am seeing?

 

[Outkast]

I highly doubt it....but who knows.

I ran almost 2 degrees of neg camber on my front right tire of my old stock car...it still tracked fine on the straights.

 

[T_Man]

So would the camber on the right front at -0.7 cause the drifting/wandering problem that I am seeing?

The specified range for the front camber is: -0.65 to +0.35 deg.

The specified range for the rear camber is: -1.75 to -0.25 deg.

 

[lostsoul77]

I took the car back to NTB today. They did a test of switching the front tires (moved the LF to the right front and the RF to the left front); the result....car drifts to the left now and there is a vibration felt in the steering wheel. So they believe that the tire somehow is bad and will be replacing it tuesday.