Mazda 6 Forums banner

Front Camber adjustment using Camber Bolts

31K views 47 replies 19 participants last post by  Cdn17Sport6MT 
#1 ·
Anybody used these before?

http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/...odel=Mazda6&autoYear=2014&autoModClar=Touring

It's way cheaper and will be easier to adjust than camber plates. Also they will maintain the current roll center of the car, while camber plates move it. Also no impact to NVH. Seems like a lot of plusses. The only minus is it will reduce clearance from the tire to the strut, which could be an issue if you want to run wide tires/wheels with lots of negative offset.

I figure if the tire rack is selling them they must be somewhat reputable.
 
#3 ·
I'd say they're definitely worth testing out for $26. I just installed Tanabe springs and don't want to add anymore negative camber until these settle out, but definitely something I'd be willing to try if this 1" drop doesn't give me enough. Did someone post the stock alignment ranges for this car?
 
#4 ·
The more you drop the fronts the less negative camber you get with struts. Think about the geometry, the top of the strut is fixed but the wheel moves in as the control arm pivots up on an arc.

That's why struts suck for performance. The harder you go into a corner and the more the suspension compresses the more positive the camber gets which rolls over the tire. Rear wheels with multilink setups do the opposite, they gain negative camber as they compress since the wheels move through a more simple arc, which for our car, the center of the arc is very close to the middle of the car so camber doesn't change that dramatically.

There are so many reasons why "regular" cars understeer it's not even funny.
 
#5 ·
I completely forgot about the macpherson strut flip flopping the suspension geometry under heavy compression.




If the model below is accurate, it looks like skyactiv suspension has the LCA pretty far from horizontal so that you are gaining negative camber during regular compression. There is a very small range of wheel travel where negative camber is gained, but once the LCA goes past horizontal, its all positive camber from there. I'll try to remember to peek under the car tonight and see what angle mine is at with the slight drop.




And I also came across this, if you want to break out the dremel tool
 
#6 ·
I do sure like the idea of an alignment shop being able to adjust and readjust the camber on the fronts. With any aftermarket camber plates you can't adjust them once the struts are installed unless you cut out the top of the strut tower.
 
#7 ·
For the price it's almost a no brainer to buy
 
#8 ·
I snapped a picture last night of my LCA's after adding Tanabe springs. The front has only dropped about .5" so far (after 200 miles of mixed driving), but it's already looking like I'll need to make some changes.


They're pretty much horizontal, so I'm at the maximum negative camber for this suspension while static, but will tip towards positive under load. I'd rather not just add more static camber that will still flip positive in a turn, so I'm looking for something like this to get it back to stock geometry without going back to stock springs.

And to get back on topic, I read some more about the camber adjustment bolts (also referred to as "crash bolts" for aligning a car with frame damage) and they should be fine for street use. The only drawback I've found is that they can only handle ~60ft-lbs of torque instead of the ~170ft-lbs on the stock hardware.
 
#10 ·
Just ordered a set from amazon.
 
#11 ·
So these roll center adjusters are basically spacers for the LCA? I've heard of geometry corrections on older american cars, but this is pretty cool. @furiousbob, wanna get your Megan guys to consider making something like this for our cars? :smile2:

Also, for those interested here's what the camber bolts look like. It's got what looks like a cam lobe so you can turn the bolt to push the knuckle out or pull it in.







 
  • Like
Reactions: mrdouble99
#12 ·
Oh I've asked about those already.. I also asked about steering rack spacers to correct steering geometry. I get a lot of bumpsteer and tram-lining because of my ride height.

But no.. nothing yet.. I keep bugging em, though. So far it's just a prototype for exhaust. I'm trying to pique interest in control arms for adjustable camber but that might be a long ways out as well. Even though the popularity of our cars IS growing, there's just not high enough of a demand.

I do, however, need test cars. Check this thread for a list of Mazdas they need. You get free parts! It's a win-win!
 
#13 ·
Just an FYI on these, the range of adjustment is not very big. I lowered my car on the H&R springs (1.2" up front) and when I installed the bolts, I set them to maximum negative camber for lolz. Turns out maximum negative setting was just enough to perfectly match the OEM specification. For those who have lowered without installing any camber adjustments up front, what was the result of that?

If my understanding of the geometry is correct, some of these roll center adjusters would give you more negative static camber to work with. Since the LCA would no longer be "pulling" on the bottom of the strut which results in the positive camber.
 
  • Like
Reactions: blisstik
#14 ·
Yeah, I wouldn't cast a verdict on their range of travel until you or somebody else sets them all the way the other way to see what that range would be. (Are you 100% sure they were installed and adjusted correctly?). It wouldn't be that hard to ask the alignment guy to do just that, since it is a basic part of the alignment on most cars to adjust eccentric bolts.

When they say it should give 1.75 degrees extra that sounds like a lot. I'm sure you are adding some positive camber as you drop but not 1.75 degrees worth.
 
#15 · (Edited)
For me max negative camber was only 1*. Another solution would be a 2nd set replacing the lower strut bolts. I am lowered on Tanabe springs. I had the same camber bolts which claimed 1.75* on my FRS and it did give me the full 1.75* of negative camber. The FRS was lowered on H&R springs.
 
#16 · (Edited)
For me max negative camber was only 1*. Another solution would be a 2nd set replacing the lower strut bolts.
I know these bolts are pretty high strength and most of the load is supposed to be taken out with friction, but using camber bolts at both locations makes me a little nervous. If one of those bolts broke hitting a hard pothole or something the wheel would fold up and send your car off the road faster than you can blink.

If you are feeling rich, the safer solution would be to get camber plates, or using the camber bolts and mildly slotting the strut holes common to the camber bolt for extra adjustment range.
 
#19 ·
Results are in!

DO NOT spend your money on these camber bolts! When it says adjust-ability of +/- 1.75 degrees it means from a position of no camber at all, 0 degrees if you will. So if you're like me and you're already lowered installing these bolts will not add extra negative camber past maximum OEM specs. However, if you are lowered and for some reason you wish to add positive camber then this would work.

The idea for me was to remove the collars on my front coils for better fitment and to run a little more negative camber. Hoping this was a solution I installed them after I removed the collars, and reinstalled the coils. When I tried to adjust the bolt for more negative camber it was already maxed out. Reinstalled the wheels and hoped for the best, there was slightly more negative camber but I'm sure its as a result of the missing collars and spinning the shock down as opposed to the addition of camber bolts.
 
#20 ·
The camber on our cars goes positive when you lower them. Without the camber bolts you would likely have positive camber on the front. Its a good thing you got them. Did you use them in the top holes? that is where they should be if I remember right.
 
#24 ·
I finally put on my tanabes yesterday along with the camber bolts. Opened them up all the the way.

Went and got the alignment done today.

Fronts are at negative 1 and rears are at negative .5 right after the install of the springs and the camber bolts without him touching anything. So he left it there. Toe is in 1/8
 
#29 ·
Just one for both front sides. The bolts are not for the rear. If you wanted to eliminate some of th negative camber in the rear you need the adjustable rear camber arms.
 
#31 ·
I just contacted SPC performance technical line about their camber bolts. They said there is no safety issue associated with using two sets of camber bolts (both top and bottom bolts, both sides), just that the second set for the bottom will not offer nearly as much additional change in camber as the upper set, maybe only half.

These bolts are so cheap in the grand scheme of things, I'd pay for another set to get the camber that much closer to the desired value for a street performance setup (1-1.5 deg negative camber).
 
#33 ·
I recently dropped my car with Megan Racing Coilovers on new rims, and aligned the car. I ended up needing camber bolts and arms, but it seems that the camber bolts didn't do enough. I wanted to go slightly negative with my camber for performance reasons, but I don't really know what these numbers mean. This is what the shop did with the parts I installed. Could someone translate? Please and thanks.


Left Front / Right Front
Camber / -2.0 / -2.2

Toe / 0.02 / 0.03

Left Rear / Right Rear
Camber / -1.8 / -1.8

Toe / 0.08 / 0.10​
 
#35 ·
Dang you hit -2* using only camber bolts up front? That's pretty good.


Another resurrection but this topic is very interesting to me now that I have my air ride in. My long term plan is custom arms to reach double digit negative camber all around.


Any further input on what a super low coilover or bagged setup brought you alignment wise is helpful.
 
#34 ·
Thanks for all the info on here guys.

I'm planning on lowering my car most likely will go tanabe springs cause I dont want my car slammed, been there done that. Will most likely get new struts/shocks KONI yellows or LSD? I think is the other version.

Anyway I don't want any negative camber from stock, so if I read all of this correctly I can jus add these camber bolts to get some negative camber to make up for the positive camber lowering will produce?

Thanks in advance


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top