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[The Doctor]

Just found these, i suspect its just an eccentric head but its a great price and a usefull feature. Small adjustments back to optimal could be made throughout the wear life of the springs.

http://www.lmfvauxhall.co.uk/store/product.php?productid=16680&cat=1384&page=1

[TheBoy]

only omega has adjustable camber anyway.....

[Olympia5776]

Anybody used these ?

Don

[The Doctor]

I haven't actually tried them, but i do understand the principle well enough to say its a good idea.

Vx normal method is to jack up the car, loosen the strut to knuckle bolts and pull the top of the wheel hard toward you, moderately tighten the bolts and then lower the car, as it gets towards a level position the weight the tyres each carry forces the camber back to 0. When its in the correct position, do up the bolts again.

This part above seems to take out the step of having the car adjust its own camber, and use these adjusters to do the job. Pick a position, lower and look. then jack up and adjust and try again. The bolts appear to give you a repeatable way of ensuring the angle is adjusted smootly, and a way to record, reset and adjust accuratly. Its all relative, not absolute, but i like the idea.

[stevief]

They are used by other makes but have been difficult to get hold of to suit the Omega, I know because I tried to get some when I lowered the car last year.

I think it is testament to LMFs customer service that they have made the effort to get them in from Eibach and the fact that they are half the price of similar products.

Steve

[Olympia5776]

I haven't actually tried them, but i do understand the principle well enough to say its a good idea.

Vx normal method is to jack up the car, loosen the strut to knuckle bolts and pull the top of the wheel hard toward you, moderately tighten the bolts and then lower the car, as it gets towards a level position the weight the tyres each carry forces the camber back to 0. When its in the correct position, do up the bolts again.

 This part above seems to take out the step of having the car adjust its own camber, and use these adjusters to do the job. Pick a position, lower and look. then jack up and adjust and try again. The bolts appear to give you a repeatable way of ensuring the angle is adjusted smootly, and a way to record, reset and adjust accuratly. Its all relative, not absolute, but i like the idea.

I'm intrigued , I've seen so many Omegas ( inc my own ) with obvious negative camber on the front . I've never understood why the Omega seems to be the only car I've seen with such visable camber .
 Are we saying that the camber should be 0 which I presume to be verticle .
What is the camber figure for the car ?
Frost do a very cheap camber gauge at £30 . For a total of £50 it could prolong tyre life by much more than that.
This is not a criticism but a cry for more info  
Don

[The Doctor]

Don't worry, i'm not the defensive type. Are you saying i seem insecure? Why would you say that? Are you from another forum come to humilate me? WWHHATTT have i ever done to you...  

  joking.

I will reinstall TIS soon and get the exact specs, but from memory, any car will be very happy at 0deg, yes, straight up, with a uniform load on the entire tread.
Most specs are given with a tolerance, but ingeneral up to about 1degree negative camber is often the general road spec. It allows for a the camber to drop to dead 0 under a bit of compression, so squasing into a dip when the tyres are really going to suffer they are at 0 for most even wear.  Also makes a difference to handling, as the wheel loads up in a fast corner it compresses the suspension, a slightly negative camber at rest allows for it to come to 0deg(most grip) when its most needed in the corner. Some racers/track day cars etc, have very negative camber to make the most of this, but it will destroy road tyres very quickly on the motorway.

Your first point, i think that as the springs get old, and the bushes go softer, it causes the extra camber that you've witnessed.

[stevief]

The cheapo camber gauges are mainly used to adjust from a known setting such as a race team making minor adjustments to suit track conditions etc. The problem with doing a set up with them is getting the car sitting dead level and straight as even a slight misalignment from straight will change the angle the wheels are at. The other problem is that most are designed to attach magnetically to the brake disk meaning the car has to be off the groound and the wheels removed wheras the camber has to be set with the car on the deck and weighted up to mimic normal conditions.

Basically the bolts make adjustment very easy rather than pushing and pulling at the wheel i.e. a proper engineering solution and the camber gauge is a tool for adjusting from a properly set up suspension to suit conditions but can be costly both in tyres and accident damage if not used correctly.

Hope that helps.

Steve

[The Doctor]

Hold up, a true pro has something for you to read in the FAQ section.
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1199617878

I'm just an imposter.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Yes and the Omega does need some camber.....and it changes with time as the springs get weaker hence the sudden inner edge tyre wear.

[The Doctor]

Yes and the Omega does need some camber.....and it changes with time as the springs get weaker hence the sudden inner edge tyre wear.

The link doesn't make it clear though if you should apply more negative camber to an older car, or less making it closer to vertical.

IIRC a little camber is used to ensure that the steering self centres after a corner.

[Kevin Wood]

Yes and the Omega does need some camber.....and it changes with time as the springs get weaker hence the sudden inner edge tyre wear.

The link doesn't make it clear though if you should apply more negative camber to an older car, or less making it closer to vertical.

IIRC a little camber is used to ensure that the steering self centres after a corner.

That's the real trick! It's already adjustable, it's just finding someone who knows what they are doing. The ideal camber depends on items such as ride height, castor, etc. which can change as the car ages, and also on how it's driven, which is evident from the tyre wear pattern. This is why the limits on most geometry systems are so wide and as much use as a choccy teapot.

Kevin

[TheBoy]

IIRC a little camber is used to ensure that the steering self centres after a corner.

no, not camber. Kin Pin Inclination I believe, but would need to check

[Chewy]

I
Vx normal method is to jack up the car, loosen the strut to knuckle bolts and pull the top of the wheel hard toward you, moderately tighten the bolts and then lower the car, as it gets towards a level position the weight the tyres each carry forces the camber back to 0. When its in the correct position, do up the bolts again.

Does this work? Have just felt my tyres and found that they are starting to feather on the inside edge, this would save me for the time being as there are no 4 wheel alignment places as far as i know in this area

Thanks

Chris

[sassanach]

wish i'd seen these before i spent a saturday afternoon removing my front struts,slotting them and refitting with snail headed bolts.tried setting at negative.25 degrees car cornered like it was on rails but very "seat of pants job"much better at negative 1 degree