Camber on rear tyre

[tridentt150v]

I wore my rear passenger side tyre out on my '98 Gts2.5t in 5,000km. The other tyres are all less than half worn. The car has a lock diff, so both rear tyres should wear the same.

The reason for this wear is the car has been set up for drifting. I took it to a wheel alignment place and they reckon that there is a bush inside the rear hub that may have to be replaced. They reckon the car probably has an offset bush in it and it should be returned to std for road use.

Anyone had this experience???? Are they talking sense or crap???? I'd appreciate comments.

PS You can actually see the camber on the wheel with the naked eye.

PPS SK, I need to get this alignment prob fixed, and can't see myself getting to Sydney for a while, so I'm using a local business that reckon they have seen and repaired/modded this problem out. My suspension mods will still go ahead, but I have to be a bit more patient and schedule it and the power fc etc to early next year.

[Sydneykid]

Skylines have adjustable camber on the rear, standard. The range of adjustment is quite small though. Usually not enough to remove enough negative camber after you lower them. So Whiteline have adjustable (eccentric) polyurethane bushes, one set is usually enough, they go on the inner joint of the upper arm. Sometimes you need 2 sets, they go on the outer joint where the upper arm joins the upright.

The rule is to take as much negative out with the standard adjuster and see how much more is needed. If it is more than 1.5 degrees, then you need 2 sets of polyurethane bushes.

Hope that helps.

[ferni]

5000ks and all your other tyres are half worn? are they soft compound semi-slicks or something?

[tridentt150v]

Less than half worn ferni, less, less.............

And thanks SK, this gives me real facts to talk over with them.

[Duncan]

tridentt150v did you get the exact camber number that they had? and the toe in or out?

[tridentt150v]

No, haven't had them look at it yet, only talked it over. I was in my work truck when I sussed them out.

[Busky2k]

You'll definitely need some alignment figures to work on. And I wouldnt waste my time with camber offset bushes. Just go the arms for a lil more money and you can install em yourself.

$249 for new ones @

http://www.garage-13.com/suspension.html

[someonestolecc]

they reckon that there is a bush inside the rear hub that may have to be replaced.

They must be good to know that by looking at your other car!

(good entrepreneurs)

[Sydneykid]

You'll definitely need some alignment figures to work on. And I wouldnt waste my time with camber offset bushes. Just go the arms for a lil more money and you can install em yourself.  

$249 for new ones @

http://www.garage-13.com/suspension.html

The arms have non greasable spherical bushes. On Australian roads with the bumps and dirt, they don't last very long and the knocking will drive you crazy.

[someonestolecc]

Since mine just arrived today are there any strategies I for me to employ for getting the most possible wear out of them? Like greasing them up and then putting a huge glob of vasoline over it?

(that's as ingenius as i get with mechanic stuff)

[Sydneykid]

Since mine just arrived today are there any strategies I for me to employ for getting the most possible wear out of them? Like greasing them up and then putting a huge glob of vasoline over it?

(that's as ingenius as i get with mechanic stuff)

Ask the supplier for a set of seals, some manufacturers have them. The look like litte cups that fit over the spherical bearings and keep the dirt out and the grease in. They obviously have a hole in them for the bolt to go though and you need a pair for each bearing, one each side. They can be plastic or alloy.

The sphericals may have threaded holes in the side for grease nipples, so you can apply grease with a grease gun at pressure from the inside out. This squeezes any dirt to the outside which you can then wipe off. Ask if they have grease nipples as an option.

With both dust covers and internal greasing you might get 10,000k's out of them before the sphericals need replacing. Separately purchased, the sphericals will cost more than the arms, most people just buy new arms when they start knocking. The Japanese manufacturers sometimes use unique sphericals, so you have no choice but to buy complete arms.

Hope that helps:cheers:

[someonestolecc]

Thanks S-kid.

I didn't realise the lifespan was so short. I get the feeling they won't have them so I might have to try to think of my own strategies on this one

[tridentt150v]

OK, how long do the polyurethane bushes last [as opposed to the arms=10,000km with care], and is cost comparible???

[Sydneykid]

OK, how long do the polyurethane bushes last [as opposed to the arms=10,000km with care], and is cost comparible???

A Skyline example, I have a set that has done over 40,000 ks in an R32 GTR. A non Skyline example has done over 100,000 k's on the poly bushes in the front inner uppers of a double wishbone design. It was the old Foulcan tow car we had before the Stagea arrived. The bushes themselves are quite cheap, the labour cost little more. But after you have changed the sphericals several times, I don't think that matters much.

[tridentt150v]

Ok here's my results, finally got an alignment.

They recommend a top and bottom bush set for the rear, and just the one set for the front.

They normally deal with Super Pro, but I asked them to get Whiteline [only heard good things about them, haven't heard of Super pro at all{they are probably good to}. They said no problems, Whiteline was OK.

[Busky2k]

Sorry but that image is extremely hard to read!! Anyways what I can make from it is that youve got some serious rear camber on the right (-3deg!). Go the bushes for sure. Otherwise everything else looks ok!

[tridentt150v]

Yeah, best I could do [with the image], had to sharpen it and remove noise as it was.

If you save it, you can zoom in and it's a bit better. The printout is a grey print on white.

The bush kit should do the trick, and according to SK it is the most preferable option. I don't think anybody have aligned the car in a long time.

[Poakey]

Gotta agree that bushes are the best option for a road car.

Have to disagree with SK on the spherical bearing deal though. I've got non greasable sphericals on both my castor rods and my rear upper links on an S14. Both have now done over 40,000km with near zero problems. I had to remove the rear arms at one point and apply bearing lock to the spacers either side of the spherical bearing balls to stop the spacers rotating relative to the chassis mounts but otherwise haven't had any trouble with them. The only reason I don't recommend them for mainly street driven cars is the increase in NVH they cause due to the loss of compliance. For hard driven street/track cars they are perfect.

[Drifterdan]

If you were to get adjustable camber arms, do you need to get adjustable toe/traction arms like I was told? My cars an r32 but it would be the same for an r34 wouldn't it?

Very sorry to have hyjacked, but it may be relivant if you do need to change these.

[Sydneykid]

If you were to get adjustable camber arms, do you need to get adjustable toe/traction arms like I was told?  My cars an r32 but it would be the same for an r34 wouldn't it?

Very sorry to have hyjacked, but it may be relivant if you do need to change these.

I have no idea what a "traction arm" is, but R32/33/34's all have adjustable toe standard.