[Andrew]

Well,
My 'ole A509s went out the door today in favor of my new Ziex's. I asked for an alignment, however I couldn't get one because they needed:
Front & Rear Camber Adjustment Kits
Toe Adjustment Kit

Questions:

Is this BS?
Am I correct in assuming that there are no rearcamber kits available for our cars just a front one from KMAC?

How about a Rear Toe Adjustment Kit?

How about one of these for a celica:

http://www.gmpperformance.com/products/suspension/camber/toyota.htm

 

[SilverMk2]

I don't know why you'd need a rear toe adjustment kit when there are factory adjuster cams in the rear for the toe. I've never even heard of a F or R camber adjustment kit for a Mk2. I think you need to find a better alignment shop.

 

[SupraFiend]

well theres front camber kits but thats alot of work for a simple alignment. Theres nothing you can do for the rear though, except adjust toe, which is adjustable from the factory. If they can't figure that one out take it elsewhere. For the front if you are lowered and want to get back to stock camber settings theres a group buy for some RCAs in the gb section. It explains what they do there, cheaper and easier then aftermarket camber adjustment kits. But really, I'm lowered 1.3 inchs and don't have any problems in the front with my alignment though I'm sure its out of factory spec.

 

[SilverMk2]

The RCAs won't make any change at all in the front camber. They'll change the toe slightly though.

 

[SupraFiend]

ahh no. Do you understand how they work? Adjusting the steering rods changes your toe on the front, RCAs are a spacer between the shock body and the steering arm, definatly reduces negative camber.

 

[SilverMk2]

Ummm.... yeah. Unless they are significantly thick (like more than 2") or offset the camber change is going to be extremely small. I belive I only gained about a 1/10 of a degree or less from changing the control arm height about an inch and a half. RCAs are for moving the control arm back to stock to put the tie rod links in the factory position to reduce bumpsteer not for camber adjustment. If you want to play with camber buy camber plates. And moving the suspension arm position (with RCA or normal travel) will change the toe.

 

[Dean]

Andrew,

Take your car elsewhere.
Rear toe is adjustable.
Find out what your front and rear camber are. If not too bad, you can just live with it. Rear camber on my Eibach/Tokico equipped white 83 is -2.5 on one side, -2.7 on the other. Insides of tires wear out a bit faster, but if you corner hard/fast then the outsides of your tires will be wearing fast too (especially on the front) so it evens it out.
If rear camber is excessive, then you may want to add spacers on the tops of the springs to bring the rear end back up a bit. I'm going to go that route myself, around 3/4 inch or so.

 

[rsdeo]

Andrew, when I finished builing my 17s and mounted new rubber on them I took the car to Burlington Toyota and had the alignment done.

The mechanic walked me through the whole thing as he did it. Seemed to do a good job and no extra parts needed. Time will tell as the tyres wear how well it was done. I have only put on about 4000km since then, (last year) and so far so good.

Sorry I can't remember what everything was adjusted to.

 

[SupraFiend]

SilverMk2, ok, I see what your talking about now. Yes the primary reason to add rcas is to reduce bumpsteer when the suspension is compressed, but like you said, it does this by returning all of the front suspension geometry to stock positions. If your front camber changed dramaticly from lowering then RCAs the same thickness as your drop should restore the camber to stock. I agree thats not their primary purpose nor the best way to "adjust" your front camber, but hes talking about getting his suspension back to stock specs on an alignment machine, in which case RCAs would do this if he is actually lowered. And I think to most that would be a more attractive route then slotting your control arm bolts and camber plates are mucho money. Sorry if I offended you, I know you knew your stuff so I was wondering what you were getting at.

 

[Andrew]

The mechanic walked me through the whole thing as he did it. Seemed to do a good job and no extra parts needed. Time will tell as the tyres wear how well it was done. I have only put on about 4000km since then, (last year) and so far so good.

Man, I wish I had a mechanic like that...

Okay,
I got my Vehicle Alignment Report Heres what it reads for the rear

-----------------------------------------------
Left Rear
Min---Spec---Max____Before____After__
Camber--------------------------------------
-.9_________.6______-1.6______-1.7__
Toe-------------------------------------------
-1/32"______1/32"___1/16"_____1/16"
-----------------------------------------------
Right Rear
Camber--------------------------------------
-.9_________.6______-2.1______-1.7__
Toe-------------------------------------------
-1/32"_____1/32"____-5/32"____-5/32"_
-----------------------------------------------


Unless I'm illiterate, my camber now, would be -1.7 degrees on both sides..

good? bad?

 

[Don L.]

Wow, I wish my rear camber was -1.7 degrees each side ! Actually, I'd be happy with anything less than -2.5 degrees. Currently at about -2.9 and not much I can do about it but at least I balanced left and right sides.

Just so hopefully other members aren't confused regarding the RCAs that Jim K. is making, they DON'T change camber at static setting. Only benefit of RCAs is limiting toe change as the suspension compresses.
The orientation of the strut housing/hub/spindle to the ground is the same with or w/o the RCA in place.

The RCAs are a good addition to a lowered front suspension car, but only for the above reasons I noted.

Don L.

 

[Dean]

Andrew,

I agree with Don L, your camber is not too bad.

Going by your report, your toe is out of spec and they didn't adjust it. Before and after numbers are the same. I'd go back and ask them why they didn't get it into spec and why they didn't even seem to try.... Seems like they only did half the job, so you should get half your money back....

 

[RWDCelicadude]

I'm curious as to how they adjusted rear camber and not toe. I would definitely take it to a different shop. If you look at my alignment specs almost everything is out. I'm not worried about it because factory specs suck. If your tires aren't getting worn out don't worry about it, but definitely find a better alignment shop.