I have a set of J&M camber plates. Im going to be running 275 front tires. I have Eibach Prokit springs (about 1 inch drop...not even). How much Camber is everyone running? I was told that with big tires you want at least -1 degree of camber. Right now i have the camber plates set to full negative camber, which doesn't seem like all that much.

 

-2.5 is what works best for me, stock springs, 255 tires...

 

probably stupid question but what does about -1 degree look like?

 

Regular street alignment you had better go in the range of -0.5 and -1.0 camber or you will get outside tire wear with any more than that.

the wider the tire AND the lower the profile generally you want LESS neg camber to keep the footprint of the tread flat on the road. You start rasing it and only the inside edge will be touching.

Caster affects camber trough turn radius.

Let me stop here and just say tis is a loaded question BECAUSE... it all depends on the car and the type of driving that dictates the need for settings. (ie- how much camber gain, how much travel, how much body roll affecting travel and gain. Brake dive and rear jacking = caster loss potential, you actual lateraal grip will distort the tire more of less than others....etc.

I would not listen to anyone here's suggestion especially the guy above saying -2.5 is good for him...yeah right partner. With what tires? I want an answer before I comment futher.

Go off of factory specs- or up it a bit to the sites recommendations if you are a little more spirited driver under NORMAL conditions, not spirited only occationally.
https://www.thirdgen.org/suggested-front-end-alignment
Dean

 

if theres anyone on this site I listen to it will be you. Your the crew chief guy that made an thirdgen pull 1.02 gs on street tires adding braces up the waazzuu to increase chassis stiffeness.

I'm looking for a more road course style handling. High speed control but can still throw around a tight turn. I love road holding. I'm more or less building up the car for track time not as much street driving, but im not sure how much track time it will actually see. (I'm afraid of recking it on the street).

I know what you mean buy caster affect camber through turn radius. with no caster the camber would be linear through turn radius. The more caster the more increase in dynamic(i think thats the word) camber.

Correct me if I'm worng. Please continue with explaining everything, if you wish. I love learning about this kinda stuff.

 

Ok I called my neighbor who did my alignment. He set it at -1.5 my mistake sorry. The tires are Goodyear Eagle NCT 245's. I got my best track times w/this @ Mid-Ohio. He says we started at -.5 and worked our way up. And yes I do get uneven tireware, though not badly...

 

what's the range of those camber plates? (max to min camber)

 

i don't know about degrees but the slots for camber adjustment are abut 3/4 to an inch longer than stock.

 

Yes, so basically if you have -1.0 camber with the wheels straight and 5-6* caster (no split caster since no street use for crown in the road {normal caster split for street use is 0.5 higher on the right}) will render you at aprox -3.0 to -3.5* camber at full lock "staticly".

Note I say static, not dynamic. So now when you put the dynamic loads of weight transfer and nose dive into play along with body roll, this overall figure in comparison to the road contact patch is now dynamically at about -2.0 to -2.5* at full lock.

So if you are coming in hot and overshooting a turn for any reason (we all screw up now and then ) you have to put a little more wheel into it and are nosediving hard, the tire will roll over more yet the camber gain through caster helps keep the footprint to about flat on the ground with most performance radial tires (every tire is different with different spring raates to the sidewall design)

Most average hard corners at low speed are about 25-30* (when full lock is say 45*) and will render an aprox -1.5 to -2.0 camber static.

Most average high speed sweepers will render about a 10-15* turn of wheels and will render an aprox -1.0 to -1.5 camber static.

So basically, caster is good for camber gain, BUT too much caster can cause bump steer were your toe settings go to h*ll and your wheels are scrubbing paths. Why? because the tie rods will move up AND BACK with massive caster.

A good alignment shop will charge you, but can tie down the nose of the car and bump check the suspension for toe changes. How low your car ride height is static and suspension travel dynamic will tell just how much your perticular car wil change and how much or little caster you can get away with.

Also note- the more caster you run the heavier your steering will be, but it will straighten out and come "off" the corner easier. Just goes "in" with much greater effort.

 

so im probably going to run about 5.5* of caster and -1 to -1.5* of camber. Thanks. Feel free to add more info.

 

-1 would probably be my limit, in a street application. I doubt too many street tire compounds benefit from too much more aggressive of a setting. But hell if your running super sticky tires and only drive ***** out. Let her eat. and mind your toe.

 

Yes great point. to those of us who have raced we tend to sometimes overlook this fact since we know.
Most street tire compounds will not get enough lateral grip to gain distortion over -1* camber. Most racing tire manufactures will actually recommemd camber specs based on their tires lateral grip and distrotion factors. Example, Toyo RA1's will recommond a basic setting baseline of -2.5 camber because the average person puts them on a street car and the car will roll so much laterally it will sit on the outside edge only due to the massive gain in traction.

http://www.toyo.com/docs/tires/tires...category=sport

 

On the circle track truck I crewcheif on, we run stagger in the rear of the vehicle . To explain to those that do not now what rear stagger is, the RR tire is larger than the LR tire in diameter. On a spool rear solid alxe, this helps the car turn and maintain traction because the outer tie has to track a longer distance around the curve.

What this also helps with is it actually allows camber to be put into the rear solid axle by use of tire size-

 

this is awesome stuff.

So the LESS your car leans in turns the LESS negative camber you need?

Because i have the 1LE front swaybar and harder springs.

 

Thanks this has been very informative.