Re: Camber & toe

[Shawn C Meze <skerocdriver@juno.com>]

On Tue, 29 Feb 2000 05:52:14 PST "Ben Channard" <zeroid@hotmail.com>
writes:
>I increased negative camber and the car seems to have lost its tendency
to 
>self-center.  Is this an expected result?  Or did I also toe out my 
>car (steering wheel is off center now)?
>Regarding toe, I've heard that rotating the eccentric bolt also affects 
>toe.  True?  My car only has the adjustable tie rod end on one side
which I 
>haven't touched yet.  Can the rack be centered while also adjusting toe?


Kind of the same question asked twice but at the same time, not. BRAVO!
:)
changing the camber also changes the toe. Caster is what centers the
wheel and when you alter the camber, which in turn changes the toe, the
tires fighting against one another  takes away the self centering effect
since one tire will be dominant and usually pull the car to one side or
another. Sometimes neither, just feels awfully funny. 

Its true, rotating the eccentric bolt also affects toe as a result of the
camber change. Since only one tie rod is adjustable( passenger side for
the North American owners ), the 
rack is always centered since the adjustment is made on one side. In
fact, if you want/need to drive the car and don't want to have alot of
tire wear, you can simply sight along the drivers tire and adjust it
until you see the outer edge of the rear tire. Then goto the passenger
side and see where the tire is pointing. Adjust that side until you get
the passenger side tire sighted close to the outer edge of the rear tire.
Its nowhere perfect but it should save some miles on the tires and feel
alot safer than a wacky alignment. Have it professionally set.



>I understand that negative camber is good for our cars but while that is

>good for the outside tire during a turn, isn't grip reduced for the
inside 
>tire?  


Some. If you use -.5 to -1.5 camber, you should'nt notice much traction
loss. -1.5 and up, you do notice the straight line launches are a little
less grippy but the cornering power is extremely better. Depends on what
you do. Daily driver, go with -1 to -1.5 camber. If you Autox, all the
negative camber you can get, which is close to -3 degrees depending on
the car. 


>If so, is the outside tire doing most of the work (grip-wise) during 
>cornering?


No, the whole tire contact patch is being used. On a car with zero
camber, when you corner, the body's natural tendency to "Roll" over
alters the tires camber. Changing the setup to a negative camber setting
compensates for this natural body lean or under hard cornering,
compensates for the tires natural distortion. (I.E. it leans also.) This
is how the car is able to gain better cornering grip by having more
traction with the tires contact patch.
I love looking at the lifted trucks with +camber and absolutely NO
outside edge on the tire. Not only does it not turn for crap, they're
wearing out the extreme outer edge of the tire. (as do passenger car
tires.) Cracks me up. 


Shawn Meze
86' Jetta GLi   82' Scirocco GTi   81' "Project Scirocco FSP"
The Fastest, Quickest, Cleanest and
best looking Scirocco in all of San Diego!
http://www.Geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1308/index.htm

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