JAJ
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2016
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- Location
- Vancouver BC
- Vehicle(s)
- 2016 GT350 Track Pack
How challenging adjusting rear camber is depends on three things - experience with the S550, the right kind of lift and a really special torque wrench.
So, first, it's not "just one bolt". Every tenth of a degree change in camber delivers somewhere around two tenths of a degree change in toe, so you adjust both together. Even if toe is perfect and all you want to change is camber, the OEM parts require you to turn two bolts.
Second, both toe and camber have to be adjusted and torqued at static ride height. Beyond the obvious need to get the tires pointing in the right direction on the ground, the inner end of the camber link has a bushing and the inner end of the toe link has either a bushing or a ball joint with a rubber cover. In any case, both adjustments must be torqued at static ride height.
Of course, the easiest way to get static ride height is have the car sitting on its wheels and tires. Unfortunately, that means there's about 1,000 pounds of chassis weight pushing the "just one bolt" as far back in its slot as it can go and holding it there. If you want -2.7 degrees, you're good to go.
Now, many alignment shops have a combination lift - a 4-post alignment rack with a bridge that can pick the rear end up under the spring perches after it's up in the air. Lifting the car off the tires takes the pressure off the "just one bolt" so it can move in the slot. Of course, now you've got 100 pounds or so of suspension parts and wheel and tire assembly pulling the "just one bolt" as far out in the slot as it'll go, but hey, at least it's not 1,000 pounds pushing in. Here's where a modestly trained chimp absolutely shines. He or she can maneuver the "just one bolt" in the slot with its hands while using its feet to perfect the toe adjustment.
Now, doing all this on the passenger's side of the car is fairly straightforward, at least relative to the driver's side. On the driver's side, there's about an inch between the plastic pipe that connects the fuel filler to the gas tank and the nut end of the "just one bolt". A box-end wrench will fit through the gap and go over the nut, but a socket, even a crow-foot, is out of the question. So, getting it loose and getting it tight and ready to be torqued, is, to be fair, relatively easy. Torquing, however, is not. First, you can't use a socket, so you need a special wrench. Second, a torque wrench with a handle long enough to deliver 85 ft-lbs is blocked by all kinds of obstacles. Now, it can be done - I've done it - but it's neither simple nor easy. In fact, I think the perfect word to describe it is "challenging".
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