I've been having a head scratcher with this. My right front wheel will not get more than 0.5 deg negative camber. Not good for autocross! The left front and the rear wheels are fine. No signs of damage. Collision Guide measurements are all good. I have a Racing Beat swaybar reinforcement bar, which should highlight any subframe misalignment/deformation, but it fits. I would think bushings may be a culprit but there doesn't seem to be play- although the shock/spring and swaybar are probably holding it pretty tight. I can't seem to find anybody who had a similar problem by searching. Equipage: Stock rims, Bilstein shocks/Eibach springs.

Rob

 

Pillow ball upper mounts?

 

check your rideheight left and right. if you are high you get positive camber gain which could be difficult to dial out. you should be around 25.5 at the wheel wells in front w the Eibachs.

since you have Eibachs you run the stock upper mount. could it be the pigtail (end of spring) is not in it's recess which would add ride height.

hc

 

I went out and measured just now- right front (the wheel of concern) was 25.5". Interestingly, the left front was only 25".

 

Sorry, this post was moved from the 3rd Gen section. Pillow ball upper mounts don't work on FDs because they have double wishbone suspension front and rear. At least I think that's what you're referring to. Thanks.

 

Oh crap. I thought you owned a FC. Sorry about that.

 

.5 of an inch would be a primary camber factor for you. it sounds like the inner lower bushings might be a problem. remove and inspect them. you can do it w a 17 and 14 mm wrench/socket.

it also seems one of your springs is not in the proper upper recess in the rubber mount. your ride height should be even.

hc

 

I checked the springs just be sure, even though I replaced the shocks less than a month ago myself (this problem pre-dates the new shocks). They are seated properly on the spring seat "notch". Will check lower inner bushings next chance I get.

 

UPDATE: I happened to have a pair of lower control arms laying around from a lower mileage car that I bought here as part of a research project. I pulled the lower control arm off, and got some new end rubber pieces for the bushings. I also refreshed the grease and replaced the dust boot on the spindle and then put in the 'new' control arm- only to find that the top two threads on the spindle were jacked up -I think the previous owner used a hammer to get it off the wheel hub. I filed the threads and attached it to the wheel hub with a brand new nut/cotter pin.

End result: I can now get about 1.5 deg of negative camber (vice the old 0.5 deg max), so clearly the lower inner bushings were a factor. That is still not the max negative camber I should get (maybe the upper control arm bushings?) but it is enough.

Thanks for your assistance!

 

Was the car ever hit?
How many miles?

From a geometric perspective, there are only a few points that will affect camber range.

For what its worth, I've got 130k miles on my car now and I replaced the entire front suspension last year. New upper control arms, low mileage lowers (from a reliable seller), Super Pro poly bushings in the lower control arm and Widefoot racing sway bar brackets. I also did the dust covers and regreased as you did. Shocks, springs and shock tower bushing (sometimes called a pillow ball also for some reason).

the new parts made a very nice difference overall. The 3 main improvements I noticed were less noise due to the new bushings and ball joints. The other was better stability under hard braking from the inner lower control arm bushings. Those bushings had enough play that the alignment guy could push on the arms and watch the alignment change. The 3rd was just more precise steering/suspension movement overall.