I get my 02 alignment done once a year and they are reporting that the camber is way off this time on the passenger front (-1.3 vs the legal range is -1 to 0.5). I recently had to do that front CV axle (torn) and I had been feeling it longer than I would like to admit. Any chance this is somehow interfered with the tire tread or perhaps the strut is failing - I replaced these tires 11/2019 and the struts (Tokicos) are from mid-2016 (some 40k miles). No reports of strut or tires other than low tread. I did the oil a couple of weeks ago and there is no leaking on that strut. Helpful suggestions appreciated. And thanks again for being such a great board.

 

Worn struts aren't typically the cause of camber issues. They can cause uneven tire wear that can look and feel like camber problems, but they’re not the cause.

Worn wheel bearings can also be ‘contributors’.

The typical causes of (-) camber are control arm issues and/or ball joints and suspensions modifications.

 

There is a tiny bit of adjustment in the strut to knuckle bolts.

 

Thanks for all the quick responses. I will just keep an eye on it for now.

 

at one point I had a little too much negative camber on my passenger front. changing out the upper strut mounts got it back within spec even though my car is lowered. I've had Megan Racing springs in my car since the beginning of 2013 and camber or uneven tire wear has never been an issue..

they may wear out fast but they wear out evenly lol

 

Do you recommend to "pull" the hub/rotor assembly towards you when tightening the strut to knuckle bolts or "push"?

 

that wont do anything.

check your upper strut mount and see if the nut is off center..

 

Yes, you would pull it towards you to remove negative camber.

Yes, it will change camber, that's how it works. There isn't a ton of adjustment in stock configuration, but it may be enough for the OP.

To the OP: There is no legal limit to camber, the mechanic must have meant "recommended range". The amount of camber you have is nothing to worry about, and isn't enough to mess with your tires. The far more important measurement for that is your toe. If you have too much toe in or out, that will chew up tires in a hurry. As a reference, I've been running 2.5* camber for a decade without issue. Before you go throwing parts at the car, loosen both of the lower strut bolts at the knuckle and pull the knuckle "out" towards you, hold it in that position, and then properly torque the two bolts, I believe the recommend spec is around 110 ft-lbs. If they aren't torqued properly your alignment can fall out of spec if you hit big pothole.

 

from what I was told, you don't want more than a .5 degree difference in you front camber and caster angles, that's when you start to feel the car not drive straight or pull to one side..

 

Camber bolts are cheap and give a lot of adjustability....even enough for reasonable lowering on coilovers.

 

Sorry to chime in so late on this issue, but i've been having negative camber issues in the front since replacing control arms, illumina struts w/ voltland springs many years ago. I used to think it was bad/faulty illuminas' struts, eventhough they were new out of the box, but after Turbobink statement about the typical causes of "(-) camber are control arm issues.." i started to remember some post some time ago stating the not to fully tighten the control arms [iirc] front bushing until the car was on the ground with wheel on. I believe i may have tightened all the bolts on the control arm while in the air without wheels.

Just to clarify, (-) camber is when the tops the the tire point inwards? I have uneven wear on the tires, the inside burns out faster than the rest. I got regular alignments, but problem still exist for many, many years. I don't know how to get the the front control arms bolt on my driveway. Maybe if i had access to a alignment lift that has all 4 tires planted on ramp but still have access from below?

 

The reason you tighten all of the control arm bolts/nuts with the car on the ground is so the rubber bushings are oriented correctly before things are torqued down. Otherwise, they will always be "twisted" and they will wear out very quickly and possibly make the car handle weird. I doubt doing this incorrectly could seriously affect your camber settings. I do my control arm hardware with the front of the car on ramps; there's just barely enough room to crawl under there and torque things. Make sure you do them in the correct order, there is a sequence.

Did you get an alignment after installing the shocks and springs? Are they able to get the car within spec on the rack?

Yes, negative camber is when the top of the tire tips in towards the center of the vehicle.

And just to note, severe inner tire wear is most likely caused by toe out rather than excessive negative camber. Negative camber only wears the inside of the tires when you're cornering hard, while toe out wears the inside when you're driving straight. Which do you think you spend more time doing in your car?