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D.I.Y. - Rear camber washer trick!

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Old 24-Jan-2005, 01:53 AM
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D.I.Y. - Rear camber washer trick!

Well, I got this free with my Omnipower front camber kit... so this is how you install it

jack up car
remove wheel
... take a smoke break

then you'll be looking at this



Take your 14 mm and a couple of extensions and bust those bad boys loose.

Take 2 washers per bolt and slide them between the body and the upper rear control arm. Install longer bolts as provided in the kit. Torque them to 29 lb-ft







replace the wheel, and torque the wheel to ~80 lb-ft.

Repeat for the other side.

You are done. No more bunk camber.

Oh wait... one more step. Go to the front on ONE side... raise the car up as high as you safely can. Now check the rear opposite side, the wheel should have tucked into the wheelwell. By flexing the susp, you should make sure your newly corrected camber doesn't cause an issue with your wheelwell. Mine was ALLLLLRIIIIIGGGHT !!! OUUUGGH YEAHHH!!
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Old 24-Jan-2005, 07:02 AM
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re: D.I.Y. - Rear camber washer trick!

Excellent tips, i'v done this in the past and works great

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Old 24-Jan-2005, 08:31 AM
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one thing I'd like to point out is by adding washers to the upper control arm like that you can only move the camber to a more positive value.
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Old 24-Jan-2005, 08:50 AM
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i see you using a lot of extensions with your torque wrench. how did you compensate for torque loss to ensure the bolts are torqued to 29 lb-ft, and not less as would be caused by the combination of torque loss due to the extensions and your torque wrench set to 29?
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Old 24-Jan-2005, 09:19 AM
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Didn't you always advise against this B?
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Old 24-Jan-2005, 09:39 AM
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Originally posted by ERTW
i see you using a lot of extensions with your torque wrench. how did you compensate for torque loss to ensure the bolts are torqued to 29 lb-ft, and not less as would be caused by the combination of torque loss due to the extensions and your torque wrench set to 29?
I didn't j/k there are 2 extensions and a 1/2 to 3/8 reducer. That JUST gets the torque wrench outside the wheelwell. All I do is hold the head as square to the bolt as possible (to make sure the torque being applied is applied at the correct drive angle) and I click the torque wrench several times. Besides... loose bolts make noise, so I'm sure I'd notice them.

GoldBadge, it's ghetto but it's effective. I'm more worried about home made kits that might use improper hardware where the bolts may not be up to the task, or worse still reusing the stock length bolts. If done right, this should be just fine for SMALL adjustments.
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Old 24-Jan-2005, 09:48 AM
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I think its kosher as well. Was your camber that bad before? I think mine is -3 degrees, i'll have to check my alignment report. I need to figure out how may washers I need to add. You said 2 did the tick for you so maybe I'll start there.

Do you think this affects the caster, etc...meaning an alignment might be due after messing with your camber either front or rear (or both in your case)
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Old 24-Jan-2005, 10:02 AM
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it won't affect other alignment settings by much (very very very little) as long as those two are the only bolts you remove on each side. I think the washer trick has a limited range of fixing the camber.... I think about 1.5 to 2 degrees is all you can get out of it. My kit came with 3 washers per bolt, so 12 altogether, but they were some THICK washers. I forget how bad my camber was, but when I rolled the car into storage, I noticed there was NO dirt on the outside of the tire, so I figured it was bad enough to take care of it.
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Old 24-Jan-2005, 11:24 AM
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Just make sure the bolts and washers are 10.8 grade quality, same as OEM spec which can withstand 1,800psi of force.

I heard Omni rear camber kit is like 20 bucks alone. I hope they use 10.8 grade material.
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Old 24-Jan-2005, 11:47 AM
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Yeah, it's $20 on its own, but I paid like $160 USD for the front upper control arms and it came with the rear washers too.
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Old 24-Jan-2005, 11:57 AM
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Yup, that's their promotional package.
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Old 24-Jan-2005, 12:35 PM
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Originally posted by bbarbulo
Yeah, it's $20 on its own, but I paid like $160 USD for the front upper control arms and it came with the rear washers too.
Damn...that's a good deal for Bonaifed 4 corner camber correction...what did it come to once you go hit with border taxes and exchagnge, etc...? (if you don't mind me asking)
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Old 24-Jan-2005, 12:38 PM
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I dunno, I got it early in the summer. I don't really keep track of total costs, but figure USD price x 1.8 usually gets you a rough estimate in CDN price shipped and delivered. UPS usually charges $40 for brokerage, so make sure you keep that in mind if you gonna do the calc the other way (USD price + USD shipping) x exchange rate + $40 brokerage. Actually, I think Brett at Parkway Honda has a really nice camber kit. I was looking at it, I think it's an Ingalls. Also, I think SiR_y0 sells Omnipower now??
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Old 25-Jan-2005, 10:11 PM
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once you do the "camber trick" should you get an alignment done?
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Old 23-Feb-2005, 12:50 AM
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Originally posted by civicnation
once you do the "camber trick" should you get an alignment done?
this shoudl be done as part of an alignment...

also ANYTIME you touch/modfiy suspension components you have to align yoru vehicle...
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Old 23-Feb-2005, 12:52 AM
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Good write up
But id hope they would come free, cause 2 washers dont really cost that much.
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Old 06-Mar-2005, 07:59 PM
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Would I be able to do the washer trick with a 2"-2.25" drop?
 
Old 07-Mar-2005, 08:56 AM
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Yes. You can do it with no drop if you want. I read that each washer will push the camber back out roughly 1 degree...I think mine is around -3 so i'll probably add 2 per bolt which will leave around -1, which is still within OEM Specs for my car if i'm correct.
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Old 07-Mar-2005, 09:28 AM
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so how do u know how bad yuour camber is? and know the correct amount of washers to add?
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Old 07-Mar-2005, 10:57 AM
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I had an alignment done when i first lowered my car. The report tells you what the camber was before and after the alignment.
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