After market rear camber arm adjustment

[V35Newbie]

I got adjustable after market rear camber arm to replace the stock one's because got sick of having to buy new rear tyres every few months. Can anyone please let me know what the best adjustment length would be. I don't have the old ones anymore to get measurements. I'm guessing the stock measurement minus a few mm would do it.

Please any help on replacing them would be fantastic I've watched the YouTube clips but no-one talks about how long to set the camber arm to.

[Duncan]

You just need a wheel alignment after, so just set them to the same as current and drive to the shop.

As there are 2 upper links it may also be worth adding adjustable upper front links at the same time; these reduce bump steer when you move the camber (note that setting those correctly takes a lot longer as you have to recheck the camber at each length of the toe arm, through a range of movement, so you could just ignore that unless the handling becomes unpredictable)

[V35Newbie]

I know I have to get a wheel alignment but until then I just need to bring the rear tyres in a bit they're wearing to the belt on the inside and brand new on the outside edge. I did shorten the arms a bit but got it wrong now after a few klms the Slip and VDC lights come on. I'd just like to get it to a point where I can drive for another week or two before getting an alignment. I've had to pay a lot of other stuff recently so doing it myself is my only option 

[Duncan]

Then, shorten them by 1cm, drop the car back down and have a visual look (or even better, use a spirit level across the wheel to see if you have less camber than before. You still want something like 1.5 for road use.

Alternatively, if you have adjustable rear ride height (I assume you do if you have extreme camber wear), raise the suspension back to standard height until you can get it all aligned properly.

Finally, keep in mind that wear on the inside of the tyre can be for incorrect toe, not just camber

[GTSBoy]

Wheel alignment immediately. Not "when I get around to it".

And further to what Duncan said - you cannot just put camber arms on and shorten them. You will introduce bump steer far in excess of what the car had with stock arms. You need adjustable tension arms and they need to be shortened also. The simplest approach is to shorten them the same % as the stock ones. This will not be correct or optimal, but it will be better than any other guess.

The correct way to set the lengths of both arms is to use a properly built/set up bump steer gauge and trial and error the adjustments until you hit the camber you need and want and have minimum bump steer in the range of motion that the wheel is expected to travel.

And what Duncan said about toe is also very true. And you cannot change the camber arm without also affecting toe. So when you have adjustable arms on the back of a Skyline, the car either needs to go to a talented wheel aligner (not your local tyre shop dropout), or you need to be able to do this stuff yourself at home. Guess which approach I have taken? I have built my own gear for camber, toe and bump steer measurement and I do all this on the flattest bit of concrete I have, with some shims under the tyres on one side to level the car.

[Jarsky]

6 hours ago, Duncan said:

You just need a wheel alignment after, so just set them to the same as current and drive to the shop.

This. A 3d wheel alignment is like $120...just take it to the shop. Since theres probably multiple adjustments that need to be made after changing something. Mine has front/rear lower arms, traction rods, tension rods, camber arms, toe arms, front upper arms, hicas kit, sway bars and coilovers. I measure from the edge of the bolt holes on the originals and set the same length on all the adjustable stuff to dial it as close as I could to OEM. Took it straight for alignment; it didnt feel right at all...after alignment, it feels perfect. Similarly i've just changed the springs on another car; and I still needed multiple adjustments to bring it back in spec.

Edited Wednesday at 07:52 AM by Jarsky

[sonicii]

How much have you lowered?  I had 350Z springs in the rear and was able to pull the camber into factory spec with the factory arms on the rear, obviously the front ran negative camber as it isn't adjustable, but rotating the wheels regularly evened out the wear.