Camber: Explained
Thread Starter
Contributing Member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,415
From: Paterson, NJ
Camber: Explained
What is camber?
Camber is the inward or outward tilt of the tire/wheel assembly. This angle is measured from a true vertical line perpendicular to the ground.
A tire/wheel assembly that is tilted outward at the top is considered to have Positive camber.
While a tire/wheel assembly tilted inward at the top, displays Negative camber.
For a zero setting, the tire/wheel assembly is in the exact vertical position or perpendicular to the ground.
Camber can be adjusted by using Adjustable Pillowball mounts.
You can spend a large amount of money on tires, wheels, shocks and springs, and sit back and wonder why "lesser" cars continuously outpace you on the track/street. Chances are, they are just set up better, and part of this setup is getting the camber right.Negative camber is necessary for good cornering performance. The main question is how much.
When turning a corner the body rolls and the outside tire is forced to tip outward in relation to the road. This causes the tire to ride on it's outside edge and lose grip rather than being flat on the road.
To maintain the best grip we would like the tire tread to remain flat on the road. To compensate for body roll camber change auto manufacturers design in some negative camber. Again the question is how much is the right amount.
To improve cornering performance and reduce body roll camber change most tuners increase roll stiffness via stiffer springs, sway bars and lowering the body (lower center of gravity).
Increasing negative camber is one of the most effective and inexpensive ways to improve handling but is often overlooked on street cars. Negative camber in the 2 degree range will have little effect on tire wear but can have a dramatic affect on reducing understeer. Insufficient negative camber is the reason many driver school students destroy the outside edges of their front tires. For perspective, the front suspension of race cars are usually set up with 3 to 4 degrees (or more) of negative camber. However, this much negative camber would quickly wear out the tires of a street driven car that spends most of it's time going straight.
Hope this helps you guys out
(some info was taken from diff sites online)
Heres some examples of negative camber:
Camber is the inward or outward tilt of the tire/wheel assembly. This angle is measured from a true vertical line perpendicular to the ground.
A tire/wheel assembly that is tilted outward at the top is considered to have Positive camber.
While a tire/wheel assembly tilted inward at the top, displays Negative camber.
For a zero setting, the tire/wheel assembly is in the exact vertical position or perpendicular to the ground.
Camber can be adjusted by using Adjustable Pillowball mounts.
You can spend a large amount of money on tires, wheels, shocks and springs, and sit back and wonder why "lesser" cars continuously outpace you on the track/street. Chances are, they are just set up better, and part of this setup is getting the camber right.Negative camber is necessary for good cornering performance. The main question is how much.
When turning a corner the body rolls and the outside tire is forced to tip outward in relation to the road. This causes the tire to ride on it's outside edge and lose grip rather than being flat on the road.
To maintain the best grip we would like the tire tread to remain flat on the road. To compensate for body roll camber change auto manufacturers design in some negative camber. Again the question is how much is the right amount.
To improve cornering performance and reduce body roll camber change most tuners increase roll stiffness via stiffer springs, sway bars and lowering the body (lower center of gravity).
Increasing negative camber is one of the most effective and inexpensive ways to improve handling but is often overlooked on street cars. Negative camber in the 2 degree range will have little effect on tire wear but can have a dramatic affect on reducing understeer. Insufficient negative camber is the reason many driver school students destroy the outside edges of their front tires. For perspective, the front suspension of race cars are usually set up with 3 to 4 degrees (or more) of negative camber. However, this much negative camber would quickly wear out the tires of a street driven car that spends most of it's time going straight.
Hope this helps you guys out
(some info was taken from diff sites online)
Heres some examples of negative camber:
Last edited by Slidin240; May 8, 2005 at 04:12 PM.
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 45
Sticky Please. 
Since we're on the topic- Do you have to get aftermarket pillowmounts to adjust the camber up front? An alignment shop told me I need to buy a 'Camber Kit' to fix my alignment up front (car was in a light accident before) and said it should be $120 for both sides up front, is that true or are they full of BS?
Since we're on the topic- Do you have to get aftermarket pillowmounts to adjust the camber up front? An alignment shop told me I need to buy a 'Camber Kit' to fix my alignment up front (car was in a light accident before) and said it should be $120 for both sides up front, is that true or are they full of BS?
Last edited by Gnnr; May 11, 2005 at 04:51 AM.
Thread Starter
Contributing Member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,415
From: Paterson, NJ
yeh adjustable pillowball mounts are the ones you can use. You have to make sure its adjustable and not just pillowball mounts.
Some coilover systems have adjustable pillowball mounts already with it:
N1 coilovers
Megan Racing
and many more
Some coilover systems have adjustable pillowball mounts already with it:
N1 coilovers
Megan Racing
and many more
Contributing Member
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 2,515
From: West Covina/ Irvine
Originally posted by LandHo_S13
no there just dumb.
Its way easier with pillow ball mounts.
no there just dumb.
Its way easier with pillow ball mounts.
Contributing Member
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 2,550
From: Slidell, LA
i agree.. and another thing... when i saw that black 240 i thought to myself "hey that looks like an oldsmobile cutlass i saw on the highway today" ... but it had broken suspension... HOLY NEGATIVE CAMBER BATMAN!!! geez... thats a bit excessive dont ya think...?
