Camber & Tire Wear

zeno · Feb 15th, 2004, 11:51 AM

I'm curious of other's experience regarding tire wear when they lower their car. Recently I got a nail in my tire and took it to the shop to get fixed. Two of my tires were completely jacked from the camber wear, one tire actually have part of the steel showing in one spot. I've had my toe set to stock but I don't have a camber kit to adjust the camber. I'm running H&R springs so the drop isn't that big, what has your experience been?

Colochine · Feb 15th, 2004, 01:30 PM

Ilowered my car about 3 inches and like 3 weeks later my tires were shot. I have a 200sx 96. But i took it to a local tire and got an alignment and it fixed my camber and everything.

KA24Tech · Feb 15th, 2004, 11:25 PM

Check into getting a Camber Bolt kit from the guys at Ingalls Engineering down in Longmont. Then ask them where they would recommend to get a performance alignment done.
www.ingallseng.com

Troy

vanillarice · Feb 17th, 2004, 11:58 AM

Hey. I saw that you have your 96 200sx lowered and you said the tire shop aligned it no problem??? are you sure??? I was told by someone who knows nissan suspension in n out that there is no way to align it without some kind of mod such as a camber kit like the hondas have. I supposedly got mine aligned at a tire shop as well n it didn't do crap! i kept on wasting my tires, even now that it's only lowered 1.5" Is there anyone who knows about the b14 200sx and aligning it? please help!!!

vanillarice · Feb 17th, 2004, 11:59 AM

o yea n i tried the ingalls AND eibach bolts and they're exactly the same and don't seem to work at all...

zeno · Feb 17th, 2004, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanillarice

Hey. I saw that you have your 96 200sx lowered and you said the tire shop aligned it no problem??? are you sure??? I was told by someone who knows nissan suspension in n out that there is no way to align it without some kind of mod such as a camber kit like the hondas have. I supposedly got mine aligned at a tire shop as well n it didn't do crap! i kept on wasting my tires, even now that it's only lowered 1.5" Is there anyone who knows about the b14 200sx and aligning it? please help!!!

They can align the toe but not the camber. The camber cannot be adjusted on the 200SX w/o a camber kit. Out of alignment toe is the main destroyer of tires but camber still wears on them.

My tires were also about a year and a half old, I'm thinking the camber just quickly worsened already worn tires. From the experience I have heard from members, as long as the camber is not too extreme (the greater the drop, the more negative camber), the wear will be noticable but not extreme.

Greg200SE-R · Feb 21st, 2004, 01:08 AM

I have a dropped 200SX, probably about 2" drop and my tires rubbed away in a matter of months even with those camber wedges/bolts. The wedge that goes in between the strut and the hub was almost at its limit of adjustment, and I suspect they move when I roll over bumps and potholes. I dunno if camber bolts work for other people but they haven't for me. I have a new set of Falkens but they're not being mounted until I fix my camber problem once and for all very soon.

vanillarice · Feb 21st, 2004, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg200SE-R

I have a dropped 200SX, probably about 2" drop and my tires rubbed away in a matter of months even with those camber wedges/bolts. The wedge that goes in between the strut and the hub was almost at its limit of adjustment, and I suspect they move when I roll over bumps and potholes. I dunno if camber bolts work for other people but they haven't for me. I have a new set of Falkens but they're not being mounted until I fix my camber problem once and for all very soon.

hey man let me know if/when you fix it and how...i actually do have camber plates I bought off a NX but they didn't seem to work...they made metal-on-metal creaking noises and made the steering stick, but maybe I just installed them incorectly...but they also made my ride really bad...

KA24Tech · Feb 21st, 2004, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg200SE-R

I have a dropped 200SX, probably about 2" drop and my tires rubbed away in a matter of months even with those camber wedges/bolts. The wedge that goes in between the strut and the hub was almost at its limit of adjustment, and I suspect they move when I roll over bumps and potholes. I dunno if camber bolts work for other people but they haven't for me. I have a new set of Falkens but they're not being mounted until I fix my camber problem once and for all very soon.

For the street you should have no more than negative 1.25 degrees of camber in front, negative 1 in the rear and your toe should be at zero. You may need a different camber bolt with a wider range. Although many times the rapid tire wear is accelerated by toe. Check around and ask the locals there in Hawai'i about a place that does a good performance alignment.

Troy

KA24Tech · Feb 21st, 2004, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanillarice

hey man let me know if/when you fix it and how...i actually do have camber plates I bought off a NX but they didn't seem to work...they made metal-on-metal creaking noises and made the steering stick, but maybe I just installed them incorectly...but they also made my ride really bad...

It sounds like the spring hat was binding on the plate. I'm not sure what suspension setup you are running but you might try getting the "washer" from Nissan that goes between the hat and the mount. I have fixed quite a few Ground Control setups because these pieces were not installed and the spring was binding on turns. Ground Control does have a bearing for this now.

Troy

Chicago Tony · Feb 21st, 2004, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeno

I'm curious of other's experience regarding tire wear when they lower their car. Recently I got a nail in my tire and took it to the shop to get fixed. Two of my tires were completely jacked from the camber wear, one tire actually have part of the steel showing in one spot. I've had my toe set to stock but I don't have a camber kit to adjust the camber. I'm running H&R springs so the drop isn't that big, what has your experience been?

I have a 98 Sentra Se with Eibach Sportlines (1.9") front and ProKits(1.4) rear. Had it aligned about 6 months ago and no uneven tire wear. You shouldn't have any problems getting it aligned.

Greg200SE-R · Feb 21st, 2004, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanillarice

hey man let me know if/when you fix it and how...i actually do have camber plates I bought off a NX but they didn't seem to work...they made metal-on-metal creaking noises and made the steering stick, but maybe I just installed them incorectly...but they also made my ride really bad...

I recently bought a set of Tein's pillow ball mounts, to be installed soon. As far as the camber plates you tried, they're a tradeoff between performance/adjustability and overall ride comfort. Plates will eliminate all of the compliant bushings in your suspension and will pass on all of the vibration and noise the bushings were designed to cushion. Truer suspension geometry and peace-of-mind with the alignment and travel are the benefits. Hopefully the install goes without any problems!

B14GEE · Feb 26th, 2004, 12:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeno

I'm curious of other's experience regarding tire wear when they lower their car. Recently I got a nail in my tire and took it to the shop to get fixed. Two of my tires were completely jacked from the camber wear, one tire actually have part of the steel showing in one spot. I've had my toe set to stock but I don't have a camber kit to adjust the camber. I'm running H&R springs so the drop isn't that big, what has your experience been?

THE SAME AS YOURS...I BOUGHT A OBX CAMBER KIT AND NOW I AM FINE..AS A MATTER OF FACT I HAVE A SPARE NEW ONE IF YOU WANT..FOR THE B14....let me know ......back to the tire wear...i was showing steel and all too..after about a month and a half of riding on them.....

spdracerUT · Mar 4th, 2004, 12:43 AM

How much camber are you guys running? I've been running -1.7 without any wear issues at all. Usually, tire wear probs come from people lowering cars without getting an alignment. This causes a lot of toe-out which will kill the tires in a thousand miles. I've heard of guys running -2.5 on the street without much in the way of wear issues though that's the absolute upper limit. I'd probably stay close to -1.5 though I run a bit more.