Rear Camber Adjustment

[cvhs18472]

I have replaced the left rear tie rod and tried to have the alignment done. They can't seem to get the camber right on either side. The last alignment the right side could not be gotten to specs--close but not right on. This time both are out. I was told that to get the toe correct the camber had to be adjusted. There is a wobble in the car after 70. I had just put on my winter tires and had them balanced and they were balanced and they spun true. Could the vibration be steming from the incorrect camber and is there any adjustment kits which would allow the correct camber to be gotten? Thanks in advance for your time and consideration. 98 Boxster w/tip Ed

[fastboydave]

I've just been going through similar issue's. I take it you have standard suspension? If so this should not be a problem to set up. Incorrect camber should not give you wobble, that is a balancing issue or something that vibrates at that speed. The issue with mine was that one of the rear wheels could not take off the camber and was a whole degree out of spec. It turned out i had to have new camber adjustment bolts and fittings that allows the camber to be adjusted correctly. After this they were able to set exactly to spec and my requirements. I suggest this is you first port of call??

[cvhs18472]

I've just been going through similar issue's. I take it you have standard suspension? If so this should not be a problem to set up. Incorrect camber should not give you wobble, that is a balancing issue or something that vibrates at that speed. The issue with mine was that one of the rear wheels could not take off the camber and was a whole degree out of spec. It turned out i had to have new camber adjustment bolts and fittings that allows the camber to be adjusted correctly. After this they were able to set exactly to spec and my requirements. I suggest this is you first port of call??

Thanks for the info. These new camber bolts and fittings, did the alignment place have them or is it a Porsche item?

[fastboydave]

Its a bit of a long story really..........

I initially had the allignment done at an independant tyre/wheel/exhaust place, that my OPC use. All exactly the same equipment as the OPC and they know the specs too etc etc, but at a 1/3 of the price! However, when they loosened my camber adjuster on the right rear wheel it fell into a position and would not adjust back. They had to leave it in a massive negative camber state (2 degs 44 mins!) for me to drive home.

After discussions with this place i negotiated a full refund. Unfortunately, they do not do 'work' on Porsches and therefore as my car came out worse than it went in and would now probably cost a fortune at the OPC to get it put right they agreed so there were no bad feelings.....

I contact my OPC and explained the situation, but they said they had to put it on their allignment setup to see what was the matter and take it from there (fair enough). This was done and in the end i had to have a couple of new camber adjusters and bolts (each side) at £4.5 and £13 each respectively (from memory). Luckily, my OPC owed me a favour and did the allignment, fitted the adjusters and bolts free of charge as a good will gesture! The parts are a Porsche item and you have to have the load off the wheels to replace them. At one stage there were 5 guys under my car, so i think they arent too easy either?? Then they reset the suspension by taking it for a spin and put all the stuff back on to set up the tracking again! Took around 3.5 hours in all!

Hope this helps.

[Bristol]

With a stock suspension I don't see why they couldn't dial in the right camber. If it was lowered (like my car is), then I could see a problem with too much negative camber. They are correct that toe and camber are related on the Boxster and adjusting one can affect the other. Toe is more critical for stability, so the alignment shops will set the rear toe and then just get the camber as good as they can. Evidently this can be hard to do. I just had my alignment done after installing lowering springs and had to take it back a second time to get it better. In total they spent about 3 hours on my car just trying to get it to a decent setting!

I would suggest that if there is a warranty on the work and you're not satisfied, then I would take it back and have them work on it a bit more. If that still doesn't work, then you may want to consider taking it to a Porsche specialist, race shop, or dealer - basically someone who knows how to work on P cars.

As for adjustment kits, yes you can buy a new top for your struts that will allow more camber adjustment. I forget what they call it, but it's like a camber plate for the front. They're pretty pricey though and should not be required if you have a stock suspension. Plus the labor to install would be high.

As for the vibration - I concur that even though you had the balance done it's still probably a balance issue. If a rim is bent the shop will just do the best they can and say it's balanced, when it's still not perfect. Something like that would then show up as a wobble above 70 mph.

[willcapp]

I've had the same problem for a year. I though it was bent rims or out of round tires. I took my car to a wheel specialist that can also do high-speed balancing in Atlanta (Butler tires).

They found every tire and wheel to be perfectly balanced. So, I drove back to Tampa and still had a vibration above 70mph.

Note: It starts to go away when I reach 100mph. But maybe it's due to my attention elsewhere...Cops. :rolleyes:

Anyway, I had my tires replaced, AGAIN, last month and still have this vibration. I can feel it in the seat, steering wheel...everywhere. The wind deflector vibrates. My Sirius Radio mounted to the floor vibrates. It feels like the whole car.

I just do not know what else to have checked and I'm tired of spending money with no resolution.

Any thoughts, comments or advice?

Thanks,

Will

Edited November 22, 2007 by willcapp

[efahl]

Will,

How many miles on the chassis? Have you ever changed any suspension bushings or control arms? (I'm imagining a worn bushing or loose ball joint or something in one of the track arms...)

Eric

[willcapp]

that is something to look at. I haven't changed bushings nor control arms.

I have put on 129K miles with constant driving to and from Atlanta. Now that I think about it more I do hear a squeaking type of noise from my right rear shock when I go over speed bumps and the like.