mckellyb

Has anyone found if there is any adjustment available in the front end for camber? Normally, it'd be in the strut-to-steering-knuckle bolts, but I'd like to verify this before I delve into it.

The LF tire is just a wee bit off, and the inside of just that one tire wears more quickly than the others, so it's not toe-in/out. Also, I'd swear I can see it has the tiniest amount of negative camber when comparing left-to-right and front-to-back.

It took 55K miles to kill two tires, but the previous owner had snows on for part of the year, so who really knows how many miles are on the OEM shoes.

Thanks!

Oh, and I need to pull the front rotors to have them turned, anyway, so if I find out, then, I'll let everyone know. Alignment isn't difficult, you just need to make very, very small adjustments, and having some knowledge of trigonometry helps when you don't have a machine to do it.

thomas1

Yes there is, you change the camber adjusting bolts to get the proper camber. Apparently you change the bolts to adjust the camber....Sorry wish I could download the picture.

salimshah

Toe-in is threads based and I thought the caster and camber were shim based adjustments. I defer to thomas1 and others who have real info.

Salim

Lexmex

There is a way as thomas1 mentioned. I wish I could be more descriptive, but it involves the two vertically aligned bolts on the bottom of the shock tower by the rotors. (the two holes in the upper corner of the photo above, this was when I got one of my front shocks fixed down here).

It makes zero sense for me to play with the camber as it will be messed up within 5 seconds after I hit the streets down here, though I do play around with the other parts of the alignment on a monthly basis. What you want to do is loosen those bolts, dip them in motor oil and reinstall them. Then basically loosen these bolts and pushing the shock tower toward the vehicle and you are going toward negative camber, pulling it out and you are going positive. There is a way the place I go for an alignment is able to do this with much more ease than I am describing when they have it on computerized alignment and perhaps next time I go I'll remember to take the camera and show (even though such adjustment will be lost after I hit Mexico City streets).

mckellyb

Thanks Thomas1 and Lexmex! They're likely eccentric bolts which adjust camber based on how they're rotated. Think of the middle of them as being offset from the rest of the bolt.

I put a set of these in a previous car to offset the positive camber, which is worse than negative, as the tire is always leaning to the outside...cornering is interesting, after I lifted it about one inch.

This rocks!! I hate bringing cars to places to have them fixed. I want to know what needs to be done, if I have to do it on the road.

FWIW, I did my first timing belt in a rest area south of Colorado Springs, CO. Took six hours, but it worked just fine.

mckellyb

Well.

I've pulled the bolts out, but they are not eccentric like I expected, just regular ole bolts...mostly. They have a very slight narrowing where they pass through the strut holes, but I can't imagine this having much of an effect on camber. I'll mount the wheel and start tugging.

Again, thanks for the help, as if others can align it this way, I should be able to as well.

Udate: Lexmex has the secret! I didn't remove the bolts, initially, just took the nuts off and knocked one of them out. However, after pulling them out, dunking them in some oil, and putting them back, everything moves around just fine, and it appears there was enough adjustment available to put everything back straight. You need a 7/8" wrench, or 20MM (I think) to remove the nuts and bolts. Make sure the knuckle doesn't move too much when the bolts are out, or else you could rip a brake line. There can't be more than a couple of degrees of movement allowed by this system, but I wasn't looking to do major corrections, either. I'm sure someone makes eccentric bolts to replace the OEM's, in case you need to make large changes.

salimshah

I am bad with terms, but the only angles you can change are
toe-in/out (with the threads on tie rods)
side to side angle angle (how your tire sits on the road -- flat or more or less on edge (this one is shim in the bolts you talked about).

The wheel geometry is in 3 dimensions and is hard to explain .. but I hope you got the picture. [the shims/washers will give you what you want].

If you were counting on eccentric bolts that would move one wheel ahead/back from the other front wheel [should happen only in an accident]


Salim.

thomas1

I have the repair manual, and camber is adjusted with those bolts, they list different bolts for different angles....

salimshah

If you could keep us posted/educated on this issue ...
I still feel that we are talking different ranges of length to make sure with/out shims there is enough threads to hold and extension at the far end does not protrude too much. Less-er diameter does not make sense (to me imho) as a bump or jar of the wheel will always throw it off.

Thanks

Salim

mckellyb

I've verified there are camber bolts available for the RX300. I have sets for both the front and rear in the mail. Set me back $32, with shipping, from rock-auto.com .

I'll take a picture of 'em when they get here, as they're not easy to describe. The are eccentric, and by turning them, the strut's angle in relation to the road can be adjusted.

mckellyb

Got them today. One issue, however. On Rock-auto.com, they are listed as a 'kit', which to me means you'd have one bolt for each side, as I can't imagine needing to change the camber on only one wheel of an axle...they're changed in pairs, unless it's a bona-fide racing machine.

So instead of $32, it may be closer to $60, as you need four bolts, not two. I should be off 'hold' by the time I finish typing. Yep, just found out, they are sold 'by the corner', so you need one per wheel. Keep this in mind when ordering.

Here's what they look like:

thomas1

hey great picture and as we suspected. Bummer on the price. I wonder if they are available like locally cheaper. they have to be fairly universal, Mcpherson struts are on like everything now.

salimshah

When you take off the "standard/regular" bolts can you please post their picture too.. Also if you can confirm that the off-set lobe is a perfect circle which matches the bore of the strut hole ... things would make more sense to me.

Salim

mckellyb

Sure, I'll post updates, as honestly, even though I've put these in another car, which worked freakin' magic with its hosed front-end geometry, I can't remember exactly how it works. I know how it should work, but I can't make sense of it without my hands on it.

I know the eccentric part of the bolt goes inside the strut's mount, this way, depending on how you turn the bolt, the bottom of the strut gets pushed in or out. I'm having problems remembering how it stays centered in the bolt hole. I think part of it has to do with the 'washer' you see in the pic, as it has biting 'teeth' on its face, they are plenty sharp, too, and there is a locking tab of sorts, which may take up the play.

These are made by Moog, so yeah, they'd be commonly available, but it may be difficult to find a local source. I went to a 'hard core' 4x4 place here in Vegas, thinking, "hey, they'll know about suspension tweaks..." and they didn't have clue one about these.

Beware about trying to make ones which aren't made for the RX fit, as the ones for our cars are different front & rear, and they're likely going to have exacting dimensions, like how eccentric the lobe is, 'cause we get 1* (degree) of tweaking, whereas on the other vehicle I did, I got two degrees.

After thinking about it, from rock-auto.com, they're $13 each, and probably about $10 shipping if you did it in one shipment instead of my lame-brained two shipments. I figure it'll offset funky tire wear by $60 over the next set of shoes.... Well, if I were to go with high-dollar, Italian-leather oxfords, that is. I'm thinking casual loafers next time around...Kumho KH16's, so more than anything, I'll get both even tire wear and it'll look normal. I can't help thinking the negative camber puts stress where it shouldn't be, too.

salimshah

Things would add up for me, if the lobe is still a perfect circle, but the center of the bolt is offset. This would allow snug fitting lobe through the strut. Now if the lobe is like a cam you have to count on biting washers to hold the angle for you .

Salim