Hey fellas, For anyone who has lowered there 3rd gen, you would notice that your rear wheels now have a camber similar to a flogged out vt commodore.

here is how to fix it:

first the results

before: NOTE this wheel also has a 17mm hub spacer (i know it illegal), so see how far the top of the tyre is in the gaurd? add 17mm to that. obvioously the after pic has the hub spacer removed. it is no longer needed
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm292/bellto/170920101021.jpg


after: note the rear wheels still have between 1 and 1.5 degrees negative camber, they look straighter than they are when compared to before when it had over 2.5 degrees negative camber
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm292/bellto/170920101043.jpg

IMPORTANT: Changing the camber on the rear wheels can affect the allingment of the car. I recommend taking it to a tyre place to have the wheels re-alligned after this is done
TOOLS: 14mm socket, long extension, 17mm socket, ratchet drive, breaker bar, 17mm ring spanner, jack.
PARTS: 8 x M10 x 1.25 . 50mm high tensile bolts, 100 flat hardened washers.
TIME: 25 mins maximum per wheel. minimum skill required

for Super low springs: 8-10 washers per bolt
for low springs: 6-8 washers per bolt
for sport low springs 2-4 washers per bolt (not really necessary
HOW TO:

first thing i did was to jack up the car, remove one of the 4 bolts that hold the upper control arm in place and then let the jack down.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm292/bellto/170920101025.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm292/bellto/170920101024.jpg

after which i drove to super cheap auto, found the right size HIGH TENSILE bolts (listed above).

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm292/bellto/170920101030.jpg

i bought 4 packs of 2 (8 bolts) for $19

then i went to bunnings and got 100 1/2 inch hardened washers for $12

why thw 100 washers???

Following that, i came home and jacked up the rear right hand side of the car again, removed the wheel, and began to remover the main pivot bolt (17mm) using a breaker bar and a ring spanner. it pulls through the rubber bush and has a spring washer on the NUT side.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm292/bellto/170920101036.jpg

after that was done, i removed the 4 bolts that hold the upper control arm to the body,

this let the hole arm come off. i then put the new bolts through the holes, with a new washer on the outside and 10 new washers between the body and the arm to space it out a bit. (shown untightened)

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm292/bellto/170920101038.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm292/bellto/170920101041.jpg

before i re tightened these, i put the main pivot bolt back in and re tightened the bolt (if you tighten the bolts that hold the control arm to the body there is not enough play to slip the bush back into place)

after this i tightened all bolts, put the wheel back on and repeated the same on the other side

NOTE: I used 10 washers because it made about 1.5 - 2 degrees less camber. if you dont have super lows i would not use 10.

more helpfull pics:

FINISHED PRODUCT

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm292/bellto/170920101042.jpg

NOTE UNTIGHTENED BOLT you can see where it will clamp the washers between the body and the control arm bracket
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm292/bellto/170920101039.jpg

why thw 100 washers???

i cant belive you just posted here...... it said up the top in big red letters to wait a sec. lol
its explained in the guide

Mate what you have done is dodgy, that WILL FLEX while cornering. but hey it worked!!

sorry bro. wheres it gonna flex?

this is how suspension places do it, so......

i will explain if you have gotten the wrong idea:
the bolts do not have any force in the shear direction (up and down) the only pressure on these is in and out (tensile) hence the high tensile bolts. there is flexible bushes where the new bolts go so there is very little or not up and down pressure. so again there is no pressure up and down so there can be no 'flex' because the only movement there components affect is the camber, in and out, so when you corner, the weight of the car will be pulling and pushing on the bolts, these bolts are rated at over 2 tonnes each, so there is no flexing going on here

looks like a fair bit of work was done, nice job :)

Nice job, I need to do this also, but don't need it as straight as yours, probably half that. Plus that gap is a bit worrying, maybe something to fill that gap perhaps.

That looks very similar to how the rear camber kit I purchased (http://www.ingallseng.com/35860-adjustable-rear-control-arm-mounting-kit.html) works (diagram here (http://www.ingallseng.com/Instructions/35850-35860.pdf)). Except I paid $80 for mine :P Nice job.

That looks very similar to how the rear camber kit I purchased (http://www.ingallseng.com/35860-adjustable-rear-control-arm-mounting-kit.html) works (diagram here (http://www.ingallseng.com/Instructions/35850-35860.pdf)). Except I paid $80 for mine :P Nice job.

cheers mate.

and grelise, like in the above posts, the gap doesnt matter because of said reason, and Still have 1-1.5 degrees negative, due to the fact that i run 2 negative on the front. if i dont have 1.5 on the back it would oversteer everywhere.

also everyone, i just went for a drive, if you are used to driving with huge camber on the back, you need to work your way up to fast corners after doing this, i just got back from accidentley going sideways down the highway at 100kmh. NOT COOL. not trying to brag about it, just a firm warning. your car WILL be alot sharper in the corners and will have a tendancy to 4 wheel drift, or oversteer, especially if you, like myself, have camber on the front. The difference this made is downright huge. before it was just under steer, now its perfect.

once again, not a brag or anything, really just a word of warning, you really get to see the full effect of lowering the car after doing this.

That looks very similar to how the rear camber kit I purchased (http://www.ingallseng.com/35860-adjustable-rear-control-arm-mounting-kit.html) works (diagram here (http://www.ingallseng.com/Instructions/35850-35860.pdf)). Except I paid $80 for mine :P Nice job.

Thanks Red! 1 or 2 washers should sort mine out then! :happy:

10 washers wtf? I used 4 on each bolt on mine and ended up with .5 negative camber. You must have had some epic camber beforehand.

You are spot on with the cornering though, takes a bit of getting used to.

damn man, epic guide! thanks for writing all of that up!!

10 washers wtf? I used 4 on each bolt on mine and ended up with .5 negative camber. You must have had some epic camber beforehand.

You are spot on with the cornering though, takes a bit of getting used to.

How much -camber did you have beforehand? You running lows? .....thanks!

10 washers wtf? I used 4 on each bolt on mine and ended up with .5 negative camber. You must have had some epic camber beforehand.

You are spot on with the cornering though, takes a bit of getting used to.

yeah, i have super lows with a fair bit of stereo gear and a steel spare in the boot.

to give toi an example, i could get my finger under the outside of the wheel with no trouble. i run 235 tyres, and the outer 2 inches didnt touch the road, literally. also, the washers, being hardened, are wuite thin.....

and no worries about riting up the how to,

i am still working on the diff one, and the nex will be the 100/200k service, including timeing belt and water pump. might take me a while though fellas.

cheers

ok, now measure the thickness of the washers used and replace them with a steel plate. The bracket is meant to go flush up to a solid surface, not just the area of a double stack of washers. They will distort under load. Any engineer who sees what you have done will throw a purple fit.

take a look at the pictures mate, you are wrong. the contact area that the washers make is bigger than the area the plate used to touch, you can see where the sound dedening has warn off from where it used to touch in the very last picture. the dark patch around the worn off part is where there was no contact, but there was no light coloured dirt either.. this is coming from a 3/4 engineer (not to blow my own whistle or anything)
and for the 3rd time, it doesnt make a difference because there is no up and down pressur on these bolts, jeez
may surprise you to know, i do actually know alot about this car.

ok, its your car, your safety. lol

Care to run it past a qualified automotive engineer?

ok, its your car, your safety. lol

ok. did you look at the pics of red valds premade "engineered" kit? its exactly the same, but i made this for sfa. your post should be, "ohhh, i see where you coming from, that does make sense now, since youve proven it with photo's n shit" lol

Ahhh Tom. I see where you're coming from. That does make sense now, since you've proven it with photos and shit.

Just out of curiosity what are the thickness of the washes/shims?

Just out of curiosity what are the thickness of the washes/shims?

Yeah. Would be interested to know this as well.

Anyone had the need to adjust rear camber when running king lows? If so, what size spacer was used. Cheers.

Anyone had the need to adjust rear camber when running king lows?
I was running -2° camber on the rear with King Lows before my camber kit was installed :eek2: Not recommendable.

Obviously your mileage may vary. If you've had a wheel alignment before, what does the print-out show your camber as?

I was running -2° camber on the rear with King Lows before my camber kit was installed :eek2: Not recommendable.

Obviously your mileage may vary. If you've had a wheel alignment before, what does the print-out show your camber as?

Thanks for the reply Red. I am just about to install king lows from standard height springs, so was going to adjust camber while my struts were out for the changeover. Just trying to save some time and effort, but was not sure if the camber adjustment was required or not.

:bump:

Has anyone got any feedback if the OP's method works without damaging anything?

Is the kit from the US that RedValdez posted up safe?

Recently lowered the car and I've noticed the changed camber of the wheel. Will wear down my nice tyres in no time, at this rate.

Yes it works fine. I have the proper kit in one Magna, and have made my own the same way as done here and have had no problems after over 5 years of use.

The proper kits are over priced and the only difference is the washers are thicker.

Is the kit from the US that RedValdez posted up safe?
I had it on my car from time of posting until I sold it last year, and it worked a treat.

Thanks for the feedback on that lads!

Might go ahead then and follow the OP's instructions to fix the rear camber on my car DIY style. Might see if I can some thicker washers too.

Murph03 - have you pushed your car hard at all with this setup?

Thanks for the feedback on that lads!

Might go ahead then and follow the OP's instructions to fix the rear camber on my car DIY style. Might see if I can some thicker washers too.

Murph03 - have you pushed your car hard at all with this setup?

I did my wife's car diy style, I have taken it on a couple of hills runs with the club and she drives it flat out. I brought the cambers up approx 1.2 degrees (I'm a wheel aligner) and haven't had any problems.

I've been behind Murph when he pushes his car hard...scary stuff...but well controlled.

I've been behind Murph when he pushes his car hard...scary stuff...but well controlled.

That's how not to do it. It wouldn't have happened if I didn't tap the brake at the wrong time.

I haven't yet done this change but I had a 4 wheel alignment done on the car and the tyre shop said my camber was perfect and should not cause un-even wear.
Only problem I had was that my toe-in at the back was quite badly out. They adjusted it as much as possible (still had a slight bit of freeplay but almost perfect).

I specifically asked about reducing the negative camber and the check showed on the computer that I have no negative camber.

Interesting.

Thoughts?

When you stand behind the car do the rear wheels sit straight up and down, or do they lean in?

Just as a data point, if I recall the specs correctly the base suspension (ie cars with 15" factory wheels) has a specified rear camber of -30' (-0.5 degrees) and the Sports/VRX/Verada suspensions (ie cars with 16" & 17" factory wheels) have a specified rear camber of -50' (-0.83 degrees) - all at factory ride heights.