For example, if the front wheels are at -0.5° … However with the aggressive negative camber, a reserved driver's lower cornering speeds would cause the inside edges of the tires to wear faster than the outside edges. The tire wear characteristics of camber, however, are much much smaller, and need not be worried about all that much. Many of our customers get to -1.00 or less degree of camber after lowering by adjusting the struts without camber bolts or caster camber plates. …negative camber for race use. Before we look into what negative Camber is, we must first look at what Camber is. For reasonable amounts of static negative, the extra camber might even be a good thing, as you can expect better maximum-roll cornering force. Usually, all four wheels will feature some negative camber, and a vehicle will tend to pull to the side that has the most positive camber. This could lead to outside-edge tire tread wear in the front and inside-edge tread wear in the rear. Like toe, your ideal camber depends on your vehicle and how you drive it, as well as road conditions. The optimal camber setting will depend upon your vehicle type, your driving style and the conditions the vehicle is being driven in. Typically, most passenger vehicles tend not to exceed 1-1.5 degrees as they leave the factory. When to Adjust Camber Camber problems usually show up as handling or tire wear problems. Camber (or camber angle) is the angle of the tire from zero degrees (meaning straight up and down) when viewed from the front of the vehicle. Having a lesser degree of camber helps with tire wear and is the primary cause for camber correction.… The specification engineers give us, allow for this. The camber split between a neg .5 on the right and positive .1 on the left will give a bit of pull, but that should barely account for crown on most roads. When your steering feels too loose or too tight, it makes driving difficult. Most vehicles should have some camber to compensate for turns. If the bottom of the tire is further out than the top of the tire, this is known as Negative Camber Angle. - you won't notice a difference. A negative camber creates less stability in straight-line driving. ‘ Positive camber is for stability, while negative camber is common in high performance vehicles that require better cornering. If you have zero toe and correct pressure then that will slow the wear. When a wheel is set up to have some camber angle, the interaction between the tire and road surface causes the wheel to tend to want to roll in a curve, as if it were part of a conical surface (camber thrust). Zero camber means that the tires are straight, perpendicular to the road and parallel to each other. A camber angle more than this is not recommended for a normal street car used for commuting. Conversely, when wheels tilt in towards the center of the vehicle at the top, the camber is negative. With negative camber, the top of the tires points inwards. camber will also give you massive understeer in poor weather conditions as the tire will never get enough bite to roll to the outside shoulder. Heel and toe wear. Excessive positive or negative camber is the usual cause for this wear pattern. O degrees plus or minus a half degree is perfect. If the concern is strictly maximizing tire life, then yes, camber is worth correcting. Get your car aligned correctly, camber doesn't effect tire wear as bad as people think. Not everyone is looking for large amounts of negative camber for race use. One of the ways I try to control tire wear in the rear even with negative camber is to reduce scrub by running as little rear toe as possible. Interaction with camber. Some chassis are harder on tires than others, but attending high performance driving events (HPDE) or autocross events without negative camber dialed in will quickly result in premature tire wear. If the wear occurs only on the inner edge of the tire, this is most often brought about by negative camber and toe settings. 4. What was the castor? According to Scott, the Cambertire provides increased lateral grip, improved braking, better steering feel, more even wear, better ride quality and higher fuel efficiency. Typically, most passenger vehicles tend not to exceed 1-1.5 degrees as they leave the factory. If your tire is level with the ground, it will have a Camber of zero. Too much positive camber causes premature tire wear on the outside of the tire while too much negative camber causes wear on the inside of the tire. Wear and Tear: A very slight negative camber can increase the life of your tires however a greater degree of tilt can end up having the exact opposite effect. Generally speaking, you can use the specs below to get yourself in the ballpark of … The trade-off for your increased traction is that the tires wear out much faster because the … Usually, all four wheels will feature some negative camber, and a vehicle will tend to pull to the side that has the most positive camber. The load is placed on the inside the tire tread with a negative camber. Too much positive camber results in tire wear on the outside of the tire. Because camber directly affects tire wear, incorrect camber causes premature tire wear. Quick fact: While some positive or negative camber is good, too much of either is bad. Figure 2. This tendency to turn increases the rolling resistance as well as increasing tire wear. You would feel it more on an interstate where the crown is flatter. On square tires you add negative camber so that when your tire is under load and the suspension compresses the width of the tire is contacting the road surface. Although this type of construction has made tires less sensitive to negative camber angles used in many current steering geometry designs, many types of tire wear patterns continue to indicate problems in a vehicle’s steering ­geometry. Camber may need to be adjusted if your usage scenario demands better cornering performance. incorrect toe settings combined with that much neg camber will wear tires extremely fast. Camber Camber is the vertical inclination of the tire. Camber problems usually show up as handling or tire wear problems. It is also possible that there may be issues in your car’s springs, bushings, ball joints , and loads. A camber of zero degrees is best for tire wear. A normal vehicle might use a negative camber angle of 0.5 to 1° to ensure optimal cornering and braking grip with evenly distributed tire wear. aggressively cornering will also slow the wear on the inner edge. Toe 4. Hence excessive negative camber normally first manifests in uneven tire wear, with inside edges wearing much quicker than the rest of the tire. Having a lesser degree of camber helps with tire wear and is the primary cause for camber correction. Wheels that are closer together at the top are considered to have "negative" camber, those closer together at the bottom have "positive" camber.Depending on your car, the manual will probably recommend slight negative camber, as this increases stability. Changes in Tire Wear. Excessive negative camber or positive camber will wear your tires unevenly, and cause excess strain on your suspension components. The big tire wear variable is the amount of toe you have: significant toe-in or toe-out will wear out your tires in a big hurry. With negative camber, the tire tilts in toward the vehicle. Figure 4. People setup negative camber for improved handling but if you had these they would negate that and you wouldn't need to run as much negative camber to use them but then you'd still get un-even tire wear because the majority of the time only a small contact patch would be contacting the ground. Those camber settings should not cause tire wear. This disadvantage is in addition to the premature wear and tear that can happen on some makes and models. Cars with large amounts of negative camber will tend to wear the inside… With positive camber, the top of the tires points outwards of the car. Negative camber increases the tire wear under normal driving conditions, Usually with mostly straight driving. Figure 3. Camber is the vertical angle of the wheels when looking at the car head on. Negative camber leans both tires on the axle towards the center of the vehicle. An aggressive driver may prefer the advantages of a negative camber. Shoulder wear. Positive Camber occurs when the wheels lean away from the vehicle at the top. Camber is the angle of how perpendicular your wheel sits on the ground. What's the downside to negative camber? "One-sided shoulder wear" can be recognized by one shoulder rib of the tread being much more worn than the other side. Excessive negative camber will result in wear on the inside of the tire… With a zero degree camber, we spread the load evenly across the tire tread. If your wheel toes outwards at -5 degrees, that’s negative Camber. But dial in 4 degrees of negative camber, and the tire is tilted slightly towards the car, but resting flat on the ground. There are two types of camber, negative and positive. that much neg. Feathered wear. With positive camber, the tire tilts away from the vehicle. Not enough negative camber will cause understeer and premature outer tire wear. …degrees of negative camber. However, performance drivers do not need to Replace their performance tires as often when doing a lot of cornering since; The negative camber decreases the relative tire wear under these conditions. Or if it has 1 degree positive camber on one side and .5 degrees positive camber on the other, it will pull to the 1 degree side (since 1 is more than .5). A camber problem can be easily corrected, and tire rotation is smart and safe preventative auto maintenance in Fairfax Station, VA that prevents uneven tire wear. 3. Camber is positive when wheels tilt away at the top. However, a difference in camber side to side will not result in tire wear, only extreme amounts of camber, negative or positive, will cause tire wear, but this wear will be relatively slow. Negative camber *will* have some impact on straight line traction and handling balance, but in most cases - street driving, test'n'tune drag racing, etc. Tire camber dramatically affects the safe operation of your vehicle. Normal Chamber wear: .5~2.0 degrees Aggressive camber wear: 2.5+ degrees Toe Wear: You notice how its so bad to the point the tire separates but the side with no wear is still at 70%-ish. However, if you cannot get better than 1.5 degrees of negative camber I would recommend installing a set of adjustable caster camber plates so that you can dial in your caster, camber and toe settings. Is positive camber bad? Modern tire construction has generally trended toward low aspect ratio tire casings with more flexible sidewalls and rigid treads. Too much negative camber will result in unpredictable handling and premature inner tire wear. You must remember that any amount of camber (including drivers who prefer to take a positive angle instead) creates an issue were there will be more inner tire wear. The camber and caster will become positive in the front, and if the vehicle has an independent rear suspension, the camber will become negative and it will be toed out. 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