Camber / Caster Kit

[dinux]

Hey all! Awhile back I had lowered my car with a set of Tein S-Tech springs. I raised it back up because I was going through tires really fast due to the wearing on the insides because of negative camber. I purchase the SPC (Special Products) camber kit to adjust the camber yet it couldn't be adjusted far enough. Long story short, I raised the car back up.

I was wondering if anyone knows who makes a camber / caster kit for the Protege/Protege5 that allows adjusts of up to 3 degrees. Thanks!

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

Aw man, I just came accross some of those in a thread on here lately & I believe they did more than that, just can't remember the thread or the make. Try doing a search on camber/caster for a recently dated thread. One was like 30 & the other was 35 or so for front & back pairs. I want some too so if I find it again I'll post back.

 

[xelderx]

The camber wasn't wearing your tires out. When you lowered the car it caused a change in the toe. The toe was wearing your tires excessively. All you needed to do was set the toe back withing stock specs and you would be fine. I run -3 degrees of camber on my car daily and only get slightly more inside wear. I've got my toe set to zero all the way around. put the S-techs back on, rotate the tires, and go back and get a good 4 wheel alignment. It is impossible to get "too much" camber just from lowering springs on the Protege. It's really easy to get the toe messed up though.

 

[dinux]

Interesting. The jackasses at the alignment place I took the car to told me it was because I have negative camber (like -2.7 degrees or something like that, I'd have to find the paper) which is why my tires were wearing so bad. Discount Tire (bastards) also said the same thing. I know a little about what I am doing (I did my motorswap and some other stuff on the car) but when it comes to tires and alignments, I obviously know nothing.

Thank you for the input though, I will definitely be doing this Friday! : )

 

[Skoozul]

Precision alignment and brake (PAB) down here in Tucson does some awesome work, but I have no Idea of whats up in phoenix. As for the camber plates AWR make some. They seem to be a little pricey but I'm sure they're worth it.

AWR SUSPENSION

 

[jeg0024]

I just lowerd my car and then took it in for an alignment, my camber and caster wasnt affected at all, my toe was off by 0.30 or something, they evened it up and it shouldnt wear out the insides anymore. My stocker potenzas even wore out to the threds on the inside, with the car stock.

 

[rednecks_r_us]

Adam, I lowered my car with Eibachs and never bought a camber kit. Had a local shop do a 4 wheel alignment and have been fine for 3 years.

 

[dinux]

Hm, interesting information. Thank you all for responding and helping me out. I am going to put my springs back in this week, probably Thursday, and schedule an appointment for an alignment on Saturday. I will probably end up bringing it to a Mazda Dealership to have it done even though they will charge me an arm and a leg. The only shop I have ever brought any of my cars to is Network Alignments but apparently they do a s*** job. It was suggested by a buddy of mine to bring my car to Campus Alignment so I might look into them. Thanks again and if anyone else has anymore insight it would be appreciated.

 

[jeg0024]

Yeah, the only think that is gonna really be off after lowering is the toe, unless your front end was already out of line.

 

[rednecks_r_us]

I just got an alignment today. It cost me $40 and I'm all back into spec. Still no camber kit for me.

 

[dinux]

Ok so we install the springs (again). I called one of the local dealerships that used to sponsor the club I was a part of and the service writer told me that they could adjust the toe so my tires do not wear but not my camber without a camber it. The car is pulling to the right and the steering wheel is a little off center. Any suggestions?

 

[xelderx]

Ok so we install the springs (again). I called one of the local dealerships that used to sponsor the club I was a part of and the service writer told me that they could adjust the toe so my tires do not wear but not my camber without a camber it. The car is pulling to the right and the steering wheel is a little off center. Any suggestions?

Thats all a problem with the toe. Stop worrying about camber. Lowering springs will not adversely affect it.

There is a slight adjustment for camber built into the front upper strut mounts. If you open the hood and look closely at the strut mounts you will see that they don't sit in the center of the hole. They will be off to one corner. The ideal setup is to have them leaning toward the inside and rear of the car. That gives you maximum negative camber to improve handling and maximum positive castor to improve stability. If you take a close picture of the struts from under the hood I can tell you which way to rotate them before you take it to the dealer.

 

[dinux]

Ok so just find a place that does good alignments (stealership wants $80) and have it done?