Rear camber adjustment @ home

[Bbarfoot14]

So I’m very clear on how to adjust it as that’s been discussed a lot in this forum. But my question is, doing it at home I don’t have a stand lift or the means to do it with the weight on, But in my mind it seems fine, if not easier to do it in the air?
Obviously it will go to an alignment shop after to get toe corrected and everything but need to fit the new rear setup and it’s too positive to do so at the moment.

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[o-man]

It's not that easy, even on an alignment rack. I'd do it with wheel in the air. You will probably need a helper to put pressure on wheel at top to gain negative camber

 

[Norm Peterson]

Camber changes as the suspension moves up into 'bump' or down into 'droop'. So any camber setting that you make with the wheels hanging free won't be what you end up with once you lower the car back onto the ground. Same goes for toe.

With air ride, you're going to run into this all the time unless you have a truly repeatable means of resetting your "while driving" ride heights to the same places every time.


Norm

 

[AlbertD]

I have done it many times at home. You can use the jack right under the outside edge of the tire to pivot the tire in and out (camber neg/camber pos) while the camber arm nut is loose. The only problem, as Norm mentioned, is that there isn't really an accurate way to measure camber with the tire in the air... you have to lower the car after every adjustment, roll the car forward and back, re-measure, and re-adjust if necessary. That process can be a lot of work, but... it works.

 

[Bbarfoot14]

I have done it many times at home. You can use the jack right under the outside edge of the tire to pivot the tire in and out (camber neg/camber pos) while the camber arm nut is loose. The only problem, as Norm mentioned, is that there isn't really an accurate way to measure camber with the tire in the air... you have to lower the car after every adjustment, roll the car forward and back, re-measure, and re-adjust if necessary. That process can be a lot of work, but... it works.

Thanks man, I didn’t expect it to be easy but just wanted to check and be sure it could be done.
To norms point, I assumed there would be adjustment to it once you put the weight back down and moved it around a bit, I’ll just measure that difference with my angle gauge to get a relative idea of the change from no weight to settle.
Did you torque it in the air? I ask because I don’t have air and my car is pretty low. Not sure if I can torque on the ground. Thanks

 

[Norm Peterson]

Maybe start by measuring the cambers before you even lift the wheels the first time. Then measure the cambers once lifted. Decide how much you want cambers with the car on the ground to change and use that number to change your "in the air" cambers measurement. With a little luck - and success in resetting static ride heights to what they were for the initial measurements - that might get you close.


Norm

 

[AlbertD]

I have done it several times at home. I have found that if you place the jack at the very edge of the tire

Thanks man, I didn’t expect it to be easy but just wanted to check and be sure it could be done.
To norms point, I assumed there would be adjustment to it once you put the weight back down and moved it around a bit, I’ll just measure that difference with my angle gauge to get a relative idea of the change from no weight to settle.
Did you torque it in the air? I ask because I don’t have air and my car is pretty low. Not sure if I can torque on the ground. Thanks

Once I was happy with the camber measurement, I lifted it back up and torqued it down with the wheels off.

 

[NightmareMoon]

Since you will need an alignment anyway, maybe either:

1) bring your wheels to the alignment shop and have them mount them in the air and do it all there, or

2) Just dial max camber at home and drive a short distance immediately to the alignment shop.

I dont see any reason to even attempt to finess the camber at home, its just too much raising, tinkering, and lowering, and without slide plates you dont be seeing the true ride height after lowering until the wheels can spin or slide a ways to settle.

 

[P.R.]

Reviving this thread after searching for a bit.

I'm looking to adjust my camber at home and I've just installed Steeda's rear camber mount adjustment kit to add the eccentric bolt to make it easier.

I'm curious how professional shops even access this location and are able to get the bolt torqued to spec. With the car on it's wheels on stands I can get to the bolt to keep it in place (which is pretty hard to reach and hold). However, for the nut I have to use a long extension and swivel joint. I don't feel I can get to the torque needed with this swivel joint. Even if I can... won't the swivel joint require more force and make my torque wrench settings not represent what the bolt is experiencing?

Does anyone have experience torquing this bolt and setting their own camber? Any tips or tricks?

Thanks!

 

[NeverSatisfied]

Reviving this thread after searching for a bit.

I'm looking to adjust my camber at home and I've just installed Steeda's rear camber mount adjustment kit to add the eccentric bolt to make it easier.

I'm curious how professional shops even access this location and are able to get the bolt torqued to spec. With the car on it's wheels on stands I can get to the bolt to keep it in place (which is pretty hard to reach and hold). However, for the nut I have to use a long extension and swivel joint. I don't feel I can get to the torque needed with this swivel joint. Even if I can... won't the swivel joint require more force and make my torque wrench settings not represent what the bolt is experiencing?

Does anyone have experience torquing this bolt and setting their own camber? Any tips or tricks?

Thanks!

Torque spec on that rear camber bolt its snug as I can get it with a few grunts given the crappy access.

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