Alignment with coilovers question

[MrChris]

Is it a good idea (or even advisable) to put the camber at maximum on my BC coilovers and then take it for an alignment? Or will this just ruin it?

I'm not really interested in getting the car corner weighted etc. at this point. I basically just need to get a basic alignment done again as my steering wheel is slightly off-centre after some recent maintenance.

[JB21]

Evenly set camber and toe by eye best you can and then find a garage with decent laser equipment e.g Hunter or Supertraker. The less adjustments/time spent by the garage the cheaper it will be.

[MrChris]

Evenly set camber and toe by eye best you can and then find a garage with decent laser equipment e.g Hunter or Supertraker. The less adjustments/time spent by the garage the cheaper it will be.

So I was just thinking that to improve handling, people always say "moar camber". So if I adjust the camber to maximum using the 4 bolts on top of the suspension and move the strut fully in-board then get it aligned (without paying for full coilover adjustment) should be okay if they're using factory specs for alignment?

No idea on how to do toe.

[JB21]

So I was just thinking that to improve handling, people always say "moar camber". So if I adjust the camber to maximum using the 4 bolts on top of the suspension and move the strut fully in-board then get it aligned (without paying for full coilover adjustment) should be okay if they're using factory specs for alignment?

No idea on how to do toe.

Setting to max on the plates will gain you around -4 degrees each side. It really doesn't matter where you set it if going with factory specs once at the alignment center. Same with toe, just leave it be and let the garage sort it.

I've played about with geometry that much and had that many alignments done I can near as damn set up my car by eye. Had it corner weighted last year and all the guy had to do was raise the OSR coilover 1 tread to get it bang on.

[MrChris]

Setting to max on the plates will gain you around -4 degrees each side.

This seems like a lot. My worry about doing this is utterly ruining the handling, but I also hear that you want as much camber as possible.

[Gaz mr-s]

If you run excessive camber you'll wear the tyre inner edges FAST.  I doubt it'd feel good through the wheel either.

[MrChris]

If you run excessive camber you'll wear the tyre inner edges FAST.  I doubt it'd feel good through the wheel either.

Fair enough, sounds like I should just leave it alone

[Gaz mr-s]

Fair enough, sounds like I should just leave it alone

Do some research. A  lowered car on std struts has neg camber, so I'd think coilovers will too. JB21 can maybe give you a ballpark figure.  Look up a thread on here about fitting Koni's.....there's knowledge in that one.

[Iain]

Are you using it on track? If not its not really worth having that much camber set because as Gaz said above, you'll just wear out your inner tyre.

Also, my BCs are set fully in on the top mounts and i have -2.5 degrees of camber.

You can also have too much even on track. Theres a fine balance between it, takes alot of settings to find what suits you, the car and the tyre best.

[MrChris]

Are you using it on track? If not its not really worth having that much camber set because as Gaz said above, you'll just wear out your inner tyre.

Also, my BCs are set fully in on the top mounts and i have -2.5 degrees of camber.

You can also have too much even on track. Theres a fine balance between it, takes alot of settings to find what suits you, the car and the tyre best.

Yes I do the occasional track day. Mine are currently set "about in the middle" - I can't find a picture of them at the moment. I'm still very much learning about alignment settings and how it relates to handling.

[JB21]

If for road only you want some negative camber 1-2 degrees maybe.

If you want a sporty road set-up without tyre wear drawbacks or a sketch rear end I'd go with something like the below:

Hunter hawkeye set-up:
Camber is in degrees
Toe is in minutes (')
Figure shown is each side NOT total

Front camber -1.5
Front toe out -0.09'
Rear camber -1.5
Rear toe in 0.09'

Supertraker set-up:
Camber is in degrees
Toe is in mm
Figure shown is each side NOT total

Front camber -1.5
Front toe out -1mm
Rear camber -1.5
Rear toe in 1mm

My set up for road/track for reference:

Front camber -3
Front toe out -1mm
Rear camber -3
Rear toe in 2mm

With 2mm of rear toe in each side the car is very predictable at the limit and really helps with snap oversteer. My tyres wear very evenly too, I also use a pyrometer to make sure temps are even across the tread.

[Iain]

Yes I do the occasional track day. Mine are currently set "about in the middle" - I can't find a picture of them at the moment. I'm still very much learning about alignment settings and how it relates to handling.

For the odd day its probably fine where it is. At a guess it probably has around -1.5-2 if set about middle but all cars will differ slightly.

Keep an eye on the outside edge of your tyres, if its looking like its getting chewed up its time to add some more camber.

Only draw back of then adding more camber is you then ideally need to get the alignment done again.

[JB21]

If for road only you want some negative camber 1-2 degrees maybe.

If you want a sporty road set-up without tyre wear drawbacks or a sketch rear end I'd go with something like the below:

Hunter hawkeye set-up:
Camber is in degrees
Toe is in minutes (')
Figure shown is each side NOT total

Front camber -1.5
Front toe out -0.09'
Rear camber -1.5
Rear toe in 0.09'

Supertraker set-up:
Camber is in degrees
Toe is in mm
Figure shown is each side NOT total

Front camber -1.5
Front toe out -1mm
Rear camber -1.5
Rear toe in 1mm

My set up for road/track for reference:

Front camber -3
Front toe out -1mm
Rear camber -3
Rear toe in 2mm

With 2mm of rear toe in each side the car is very predictable at the limit and really helps with snap oversteer. My tyres wear very evenly too, I also use a pyrometer to make sure temps are even across the tread.

Just found the OE specs (below) so mine above aren't a million miles away from OE. Toe is in minutes and the minus sign - is toe out. I like all my cars toeing out at the front as this makes for darty steering, the drawback it can wander about a bit on the motorway but what I recommended wont be to bad at all.

[Dev]

It is toe that kills tires more than camber. The goal is not max camber its the right amount especially for the street with the kind of tires. Too much camber and you will lose your straight line braking performance.
As JB21 pointed out -2 is the maximum you should go for the street which is usually what you get naturally by lowering the car so no need for rear camber adjusters.

[Zxrob]

If you run excessive camber you'll wear the tyre inner edges FAST.  I doubt it'd feel good through the wheel either.

After installing my coilovers, I took the car for a proper set up, told the guys what the car was being used for, spirited road driving with 2 or 3 trackdays a year, he advised basically as you are suggesting, excessive camber and increased tyre wear, I forget what mine was set at, but for majority road use it feels fine

Rob