So I installed new control arms on my 97 maxima and the camber is definitely off. The ones I bought were Moog brand so I thought they would be good quality but turns out they are made in china and they look pretty cheap. The car is riding on the outer side of the tires, and I just bought new tires and you can already see the outsides are starting to wear down quicker then the insides of the tires. I searched the stickies already and I couldn't find the answer I was looking for. I reinstalled the control arms again just to be sure that I had done everything properly and the camber is still off. I made sure to put the front wheels on my wooden boards to get the full weight of the vehicle on the front end and then tightened the bolts underneath. I have removed my steering knuckles from my struts many times before installing these new control arms, and have never had any camber issues until now. This leads me to believe the problem is with the control arms I bought. I compared them to old ones I removed and they looked the same, but maybe the rubber bushings in these new ones are cheap or something, since the new control arms were made in china. Anything I overlooked here when installing these new control arms? Any and all suggestions are appreciated, thanks. Heres the link to the control arms I bought: http://www.ebay.com/itm/330728791186...84.m1439.l2649

 

New control arms = Alignment. No doubt about it.

 

Camber on ours cars in not adjustable though, unless you buy an aftermarket camber kit. My steering alignment is off and my toe needs to be adjusted, but camber shouldn't have to adjusted.

 

Camber is adjustable if taken to the right place. As you stated. you re-installed the old ones only to have the same problem. When ever the control arms are removed, an alignment is in order. Something so simple as the back rubber bushing on the back of the control not being in the exact same spot as the old one will throw your alignment off. A few milimeters off can easily equal a few inches at the wheel. Adjusting the camber can be achieved by simply making the top bolt hole on the strut larger so you can move the wheel in or out.

 

Have you personally aligned your car in the past or do you just take it to the shop because they have the camber gauge and all the right expensive tools to do the job?

 

Depends..I've done it plenty of times myself. Sometimes i still go to the shop to be double ckecked, don't like replacing tires either . On the other hand sometimes I just dont bother with it and take it to the shop.

 

Lol, there is no means to adjust camber on a Max, regardless of who you are or what shop you go too. There are no slots, nor are there eccentrics. The best you can do is a. Eighth of a degree is the most you could hope for.

OP, are you lowered, have you been to an alignment shop? Excessive toe out will cause inside wear also.

 

Guess you didnt understand my statement. True there are no slots or eccentrics. Steps have to be taken to achieve the neccessary results. When the top strut bolt hole is made more oval instead of round with a dremal and a metal bit, only then will you be able to move the wheel in or out. Shops that deal with lowered cars or cars regardless of the situation can do this. So saying that regardless of who or what shop you go to cant adjust camber on a car that does'nt have camber adjustments is not true. Working on my third max as we speak.

 

When you do it yourself, do you just make the holes for the strut bolts larger or do you also have an aftermarket camber kit for adjusting the camber as well? Thanks a lot for your input by the way.

 

It depends on which way you need to go. since your rolling on the outside of the tire then you'll make the top strut hole more of a oval hole than round. you'll make it bigger on the wheel side of the hole. which in turn will allow you to move the wheel in. An aftermarket camber kit wont be needed.

What i would do first is get the alignment checked first. Only make the holes bigger/wider(how ever you want to say it) if you have to. Also keep in mind that when you mess with camber, toe will be affected.

 

Ok, thanks. If I wanted to use a camber kit instead of drilling a bigger hole I could just do that right? I checked the bolt holes and they are all stock and unmodified. I noticed the control arms have a lot of space to move aroundd in their designated slots. If I wanted to I could also just move the control arms to adjust the camber correct?

 

Its very unlikely that you'll have to inlarge the bolt holes. If your control arms have play, then start there, But i'd still have that alignment checked

 

Alright thanks, I'll probably have a shop align it since I won't have time this weekend and need the car for work on monday. Whats your recommendation for a good camber caster gauge for the future though?

 

There is about a degree of camber adjustment (wiggle room) in the bolt holes on the struts lower mount point. FWIW I always pull towards max positive when I tighten the two bolts which yields me -.3 degrees on both sides.

Have the car aligned and post the specs. If camber is way off a simple set of camber bolts which any alignment shop should have will give them the ability to put it back to spec.

 

 

Well had the alignment done today and turns out it was just the toe that was off. Although looking at the tires I could have sworn the camber is off by the way they are sitting but the $30k machine they used to align my car doesn't lie. Left front camber was -0.1 degrees and right front camber was -0.3 degrees so they were both within spec. Toe on the left was 0.47 degrees which wasn't too bad but toe on the right was 1.81 degrees which would definitely explain why it was pulling to the right. Hate paying other people to work on my cars but for $62 and the pinpoint accuracy a shop has with their expensive equipment sometimes its just best to let them do it. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread.

 

 

I think if you lower it a bit more, it may help to fix this...

 

I take my car to a specialist suspension shop that normally preps cars for the track. Our camber is set to what it is for the stock ride height. Once lowered the suspension geometry is now changed so the values don't function the same. All of the values must be changed in order to have a functioning system again. Now my car is far from "slammed", about 26" fender height give or take but my car goes straight as an arrow when I take my car off the line but still squats in the corners instead of bouncing around which is a sure sign of bad geometry. Slammed maxes simply don't handle good, its for looks. looks that I am jealous of....

 

I'm curious to see what my car handles like at an auto X. I have other small suspension bits here and there other than coils. After I get my lip repainted, it's going to take a lot of courage to take my car to an auto X though