i have friends that have lowered their cars ~2 inches and within a month the insides of their tires are gone....im about to lower my car and get new tires...the last thing i want it for the tires to wear out in 5-6 months.... has this happened to anybody here? I know i should get an alignment and the front camber set once the car is dropped... but how can i be sure this wont happen?
I heard something about a camber bolt you can get for 30 bucks that helps...what exactly is this and where can you get it
Thanks

 

Which springs are you gonna get?

 

Your local speed shop should have camber bolts from Ingalls Engineering. ( http://www.ingallseng.com ??????). They may otherwise be known as "fastcams".

 

If you are worried about negative camber, get a set of camber plates from Stillen. Also, it will depend on your springs. If you go with Eibachs or H&R, i know you wont need them. I believe if you go more then 2 inches then your gunna need em.

 

i think i am leaning for the sprints because i found them for $115... i believe they are 2'' though.... does that mean i dont need the camber plates? also how much are the stillen camber plates

 

have an alignment done a week or two after the install. Excessive negative camber and/OR toe out will cause the inner tire wear. Peeps always forget out toe out..

 

Get camber plates if you get springs with more than 1.5" drop (give or take...). I didn't know Sprint had gen3 springs-- I thought they just had gen4 springs (2.25" drop, 400lb/in?)??

 

So lemme get this straight. If you lower your car with H&R or Eibach, the car will be able to get aligned the same way as if you had stocks springs? Does it help if you get the camber bolts with H&R & Eibach? But it the drop if a bit more (2" or more), you should use camber paltes? I heard that camber bolts don't work as well as the plates. Cause camber paltes cost more than the camber bolts. I plan to get these camber bolts when i get my springs. But if I get sprint, should I get the plates? I also heard that Sprints Springs are not progressive. What does that mean exactly?

 

No.

With H&R, Eibach, or other springs with a ~1.5" drop max, you will be able to get your car's camber, toe, and caster realigned *acceptably* but not neccessarily back to stock. You will probably run 1~2 degrees of camber, and toe can probably be set back to factory spec. 2 degrees of camber won't kill you tires too quickly. Camber bolts provide +/- 1 degree of additional correction so you may be able to go back to 0~1 degrees of camber... depending on what your car is like after lowering.

Camber plates offer much more adjustment-- some do +/- 2 degrees additional, others may do more or less.

---

If you get sprint springs, you WILL need some camber correction and you MAY need camber plates instead of bolts. I'd try bolts first and then sell 'em here if they don't provide enough correction. Sprint springs are linear, which means they are a constant spring rate (in this case 400lb/in) for the entire motion of the spring-- this means a less comfortable ride since you are always running the higher spring rate, instead of progressive springs which usually start at a more comfortable 100lb/in or something. IMHO, it's nothing to worry about. With 400lb/in springs, progressive or linear you are in for a bumpy ride!

[Edited by brianw on 11-30-2000 at 08:36 PM]

 

i have eibachs on my car with camber bolts from stillen, and my alignment is fine (of course, after getting wheel alignment). those camber bolts offer +/- 1 degree of camber adjustment. i dont think you need any more than +/- 1 degree of camber with eibachs. my tires wear evenly throughout.

 

Phuong, why a week after? This is just a normal tire alignment right? Do I have to get the camber set with the H&R drop? Also, is there anything I need to tell the dealer or mechanics, or does it not make a difference to them that it has aftermarket suspension when they work on it? Sorry, stupid questions, but better safe than sorry!

 

also are the h&r springs 2 inch drop....

 

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The springs need time to break in and settle.

With the H&R drop, you most likely won't need the camber adjustments since the suspension geometery won't be drastically altered with a ~ 1.5" drop. Each car will behave differently, so some may need it, some won't.

 

Go to a good alignment shop. Midas, NTB, and most chain shops may or may not be equipped to handle lowered cars. Some are, some aren't-- Wheelworks seems to be able to, but a Midas in Santa Monica wasn't...