Camber plates? Make sure you really need them first.

Bmachine

Bmachine

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I was told that the camber plates were "a good thing to install on this car". So I ordered a set from LaJolla and put them on when I installed my front Bilsteins. They certainly make the car look cool and aggressive. But it always seemed like the car now had a LOT of camber in the front. A couple of days ago I felt my front end alignment was off so I had it redone. The technician there goes "Should we replace your front tires also?" Uhhh, what? They only have 2 or 3,000 miles on them...! "The inside is severely worn with all that camber you have." Sure enough, over a very short period of time, the exaggerated camber had made the tires wear out very unevenly. So I yanked those plates right out! They are now going on a friend's track car where they will be far more justified.

So before you blindly install them, make sure there is a very good reason for it. Hint: Worrying about the tire hitting the fender is NOT a good reason to put camber plates!!! That's just fixing one problem by creating another.

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I guess I'm a dummy but I always thought they were to correct severe neg camber from lowering.

If they're designed to give you MORE negative camber... Ya. Waste of money.
 
I wouldn't be able to drive on my -40mm H&R springs without the plates, since the 16" wheel/tire would certainly grab/hit the fender at some point.
So in my case, replacing two tires / 5000km is cheaper than fixing damaged fenders.
:)
 
When you installed the plates did you check the toe?

If not I’d tell you that wear is due to toe in and not the negative camber. On a strut suspension if you move anything you also effect the toe.

1 to 1.5 degrees negative should be fine for a street car and show even wear across over the life of the tire.
 
HB Chris said:
I have Carl’s plates but still get 25-30K miles or 6/7 years. YMMV but I agree coupes are not square.
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YMMV is indeed the key here. All kinds of different experiences with the same cars. Goes to show that no two coupes were the same coming out of the factory and with 45 years worth of abuse and unknown modifications, each one is going to react very differently.
 
Gransin said:
I wouldn't be able to drive on my -40mm H&R springs without the plates, since the 16" wheel/tire would certainly grab/hit the fender at some point.
So in my case, replacing two tires / 5000km is cheaper than fixing damaged fenders.
:)
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Sounds like you're in the "I made sure I need them first" category!
 
I have some thoughts for you and yes I saw your car yesterday at the club in Alameda.

Camber plates help deal with excess camber created by lowering springs, interference issues created by plus size wheels and sport shocks.
I have never seen tires worn out at the front end from camber plates. At the rear tires excess camber can wear tires because of driving force. My own impression was your tires were likely worn from excess toe-in.
Hope you got home safely!
 
sfdon said:
Camber plates help deal with excess camber created by lowering springs, interference issues created by plus size wheels and sport shocks.
I have never seen tires worn out at the front end from camber plates. At the rear tires excess camber can wear tires because of driving force. My own impression was your tires were likely worn from excess toe-in.
Hope you got home safely!
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Very interesting. You learn every day...
 
"I have never seen tires worn out at the front end from camber plates."

How 'bout them pretty boys that go tiptoe-ing around with only the inside edges of their tires on the ground? That has got to wear tires out quick.
 
Bmachine said:
I was told that the camber plates were "a good thing to install on this car". So I ordered a set from LaJolla and put them on when I installed my front Bilsteins. They certainly make the car look cool and aggressive. But it always seemed like the car now had a LOT of camber in the front. A couple of days ago I felt my front end alignment was off so I had it redone. The technician there goes "Should we replace your front tires also?" Uhhh, what? They only have 2 or 3,000 miles on them...! "The inside is severely worn with all that camber you have." Sure enough, over a very short period of time, the exaggerated camber had made the tires wear out very unevenly. So I yanked those plates right out! They are now going on a friend's track car where they will be far more justified.

So before you blindly install them, make sure there is a very good reason for it. Hint: Worrying about the tire hitting the fender is NOT a good reason to put camber plates!!! That's just fixing one problem by creating another.

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Hello, what this camber plate dos, please explain in plain English I don't know mechanic language I understood that plat destroy your tire but I don't know how could it do that it is just a tiny plate
 
i guess I'm at a loss.

I thought the whole point of these camber plates is to give you POSITIVE camber to compensate for lowered front suspension.

Why would you have both lowered front suspension AND camber plates that gives you even MORE negative camber?
 
teahead said:
i guess I'm at a loss.

I thought the whole point of these camber plates is to give you POSITIVE camber to compensate for lowered front suspension.

Why would you have both lowered front suspension AND camber plates that gives you even MORE negative camber?
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Because lowering the front won't result in a whole lot of negative camber.
 
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