Is -3 camber too much?

[VOSS]

I have a 17x9 setup with coilovers and adjustable LCAs. Alignment shop said they can't adjust it to less camber due to the drop. The drop i have doesn't tuck the tire and sits 2 fingers over. Is this too much of a drop?

They mentioned that -3 is not bad and people run -3 track setups and prefer that to less camber.

This car is only a DD for me, i'm not planning on tracking it. Any issues with -3 camber in the back and -2.5 in the front?

I'm most concerned with tire wear. Toe is pretty much at 0 (0.05 if we're being precise)

[strat61caster]

Something is wrong, lazy shop or malfunctioning or damaged parts, maybe even the wrong part installed or an improper install, there's no reason a modest drop (i.e. you can still see the tread pattern from standing outside the car) and an aftermarket control arm can't dial the camber back to less than -2°

You won't die, with -3 wear will be accelerated but it can wait a few days for you to get to a better shop.

They didn't even suggest a solution? Stupid... Post pics, what LCA do you have?

[i8ur911]

Agree with above. Sounds like a shop that either doesn't have the knowledge on what they're seeing/working with or just don't want to go through the effort to dial it back (fyi, it is a PITA to do the rear with adjustable LCA's).

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[Leonardo]

Im running that exact spec alignment now. I plan on dialing back the rear from -3.0 to -2.5. And the front from -2.5 to -3.0. Im getting a bit of camber wear in the rear. But maybe my alignmet got off...

[Tristor]

In a square setup you typically want more camber in the front than the rear to help with cornering. -3 isn't a crazy amount, but it's definitely close to an upper limit for a primarily street car. This alignment shop you went to sounds incompetent, unless you don't have the proper adjustable parts for your car installed.

[DarkSunrise]

Something is off. You shouldn't have -3 camber in the rear with 2 finger gap, especially with adjustable LCAs.

[NoHaveMSG]

Would be easier to help if we knew what parts are on your car.

-3 rear is too much, even for track. The rear gains more negative camber as it goes through it's travel then the front. So you usually start off with less at static ride height then the front.

[VOSS]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Something is wrong, lazy shop or malfunctioning or damaged parts, maybe even the wrong part installed or an improper install, there's no reason a modest drop (i.e. you can still see the tread pattern from standing outside the car) and an aftermarket control arm can't dial the camber back to less than -2°

You won't die, with -3 wear will be accelerated but it can wait a few days for you to get to a better shop.

They didn't even suggest a solution? Stupid... Post pics, what LCA do you have?

No solution, just said that's the best they were able to do and sent me on my way. I have SPC LCA's. Here's a few pics.

Rear height. Definitely a tight fit.


Rear tire


Rear tire wear


Front height


Front camber

Originally Posted by Tristor

In a square setup you typically want more camber in the front than the rear to help with cornering. -3 isn't a crazy amount, but it's definitely close to an upper limit for a primarily street car. This alignment shop you went to sounds incompetent, unless you don't have the proper adjustable parts for your car installed.

Whats an optimal amount of camber? I was thinking originally -1.5 all the way around but you're saying its better to have a bit more in the back?

Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG

Would be easier to help if we knew what parts are on your car.

-3 rear is too much, even for track. The rear gains more negative camber as it goes through it's travel then the front. So you usually start off with less at static ride height then the front.

Car sits on Tein Flex As with adjustable top hats and SPC LCAs in the back. I heard i dont need camber bolts since i have adjustable LCAs in the back and adjustable top hats in the front?

[RayRay88]

-2 to -3.5 in the front
-1.5 to -2.5 in the back

Should be no issue in terms of tire wear... provided you have absolutely zero toe front and back. Toe is the biggest contributor to tire wear, camber at those levels will have no major impact.

Generally you should have more negative camber in the front than rear.

If you plan on taking the car to the track then dial in as much negative camber in the front as you can. Macpherson strut geometry basically gives you zero or negligible negative camber gain under compression. Most people report hard outer wear even with -3 degrees of front camber.

[wparsons]

Yeah, they just didn't try to adjust the rear properly. Mine is at about the same height and has about -2.4* on stock LCA's.


For pure DD, I'd aim for -2F, -1R.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by VOSS

Car sits on Tein Flex As with adjustable top hats and SPC LCAs in the back. I heard i dont need camber bolts since i have adjustable LCAs in the back and adjustable top hats in the front?

Lazy shop for sure. Should easily be able to get the car in spec with those parts. I would almost go back and demand a refund for wasting your time and not doing the job they were paid to do. I bought a camber gauge and toe plates and I can set up my car in an hour working on the floor as long as I am not changing ride height too.

[Tristor]

Originally Posted by VOSS

Whats an optimal amount of camber? I was thinking originally -1.5 all the way around but you're saying its better to have a bit more in the back?

No, I'm saying it's better to have more in the front. The correct alignment is tire, track/road, car weight, driver weight, weather, and suspension dependent. I can't tell you over the Internet.


A good starting point though is -2.5 in the front, -1.5 in the rear. Or if you want to be a bit more conservative, -2 front, -1 rear. 0 toe all around or 0 toe front, 1/16th rear, and as much positive caster as you can do while keeping cross-caster zeroed.

[8RZ]

I'm running -3F and -2.5R for over a year (street and autox) and love the setup. Tire wear is normal so far.

[ssidd]

SPC has cam bolts for adjustment. Reverse the the cam bolt. That was my problem.

I'm dropped ~1.5" on coils with these arms. Had -4.5 camber in the rear initially. First shop could only get it to about -3... 2nd shop (very competent) Dialed it back to ~-1.7 after reversing the cam bolt paired with SPC toe arms.