# Autocross/Tire Wear/Camber question...



## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

Adding camber will ruin the outside of your tires. Positive camber is top leaning out. Negative camber is top leaning in. 

You'll need struts designed for camber adjustment. As there's no adjustment on stock struts. But, without a machine, you'll never be able to align it properly. And chances are you'll not only be eating up tires, you'll also be pulling. Camber pulls to most positive. 

You're playing with pandoras box. 

AS for your ugly tire wear on the outside. Your alignment changes as the steering wheel is turned. The tires lean out. Positive camber. Thus, outside tire wear. 
Main reason for tire rotations.


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## mechguy78 (Jun 6, 2016)

meoirosiosi said:


> Hi all,
> 
> 
> This weekend I took my Cruze to an autocross. The car was great as always. However...
> ...


Camber bolts would be the easier of the 2 to do. 

As far as on the fly adjustments, you won’t know what adjustment you made in which direction without being on the alignment rack. The other issue you will run into is that when you adjust your camber, you will also be changing your toe as well, which could negatively affect your cars handling.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

I have a brand new set of Eibach camber bolts if you are interested.


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

Pretty typical to roll the shoulder of your tires on an autocross, even with 1-2 degrees of negative camber, moreso the taller the sidewall you have. You have a 4.5" sidewall, so the shoulder of the tire is definitely going to roll near the limit. 

Even my 225/40R18 Direzza ZIIs have a little shoulder wear on the corner - but it's within spec (there is an arrow on the sidewall showing where you should be rolling to). I'd expect a tire with a full inch more sidewall (your tire size) to roll a bit more. My 195/60R15 UHP All-seasons used to roll like crazy in autocross.


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

There is an instrument that can be placed on your rotor that has a liquid level sight . It is also adjustable to zero the sight . There are also digital angle levels that can and do give the operator an educated guess to a given value . Learn geometry and you will be able to adjust camber accurately .. caster camber plates or camber bolts will suffice for front camber adjustments . The rear camber can also be adjusted with a custom shim kit ... @*MP81* has sound advice also , about sidewalls .


You will need a Digital angle level and a Camber guage !


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

mechguy78 said:


> Camber bolts would be the easier of the 2 to do.
> 
> As far as on the fly adjustments, you won’t know what adjustment you made in which direction without being on the alignment rack. The other issue you will run into is that when you adjust your camber, you will also be changing your toe as well, which could negatively affect your cars handling.


Camber bolts require struts setup for them. Basically a peice of plating on each side of the bolt.


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## mechguy78 (Jun 6, 2016)

snowwy66 said:


> Camber bolts require struts setup for them. Basically a peice of plating on each side of the bolt.


I have used a couple different types. 

What at you are saying is correct for the type with the offset washers at one or both sides of the bolt. I have seen these in oem setups. 

The other type utilizes a smaller diameter bolt with a cam in the middle that is the same size as the original strut bolts to provide the same adjustment. This type uses a washer with tabs that sit inside the bolt hole of the strut to keep the bolt centered allowing the cam in the middle to move things around as the bolt is turned. This is the style I installed when I lowered my previous car as I didn’t want any issues getting the alignment in spec afterwards.


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