Front End Positive Camber Issues

[crotchrocket]

walking back to my VX after parking it last night the camber on the front end looks terrible.

I know the knackered ball joints wont help but i did the ball joint flip which i though corrected the camber after a lift? Or was i wrong?

[tom4bren]

I assume that you need an alignment after the ball joint flip.

IIRC, the flip just provides more alignment adjustment after a lift.

[crotchrocket]

From what i can see there aren't any camber adjustments, just steering (toe etc)

[tom4bren]

Sorry, I didn't do the ball joint flip so I can't help. Hopefully Ldub will chime in since he did his.

[crotchrocket]

lol, no worries dude, anyone else noticed it on their VX ???

[etlsport]

i just aligned my vx a couple weeks ago.. only really messed with the toe, but the camber/caster seemed fine.. ill double check the sheet we printed and let you know on friday

[crotchrocket]

Thanks!! I may just put the ball joints back to their normal position when i get the new ones through. maybe i just lifted too much?? im on 14 turns at the moment??

[Triathlete]

The lift and ball joint flip should not be a problem. I have been lifted and flipped for over 5 years without problems. Dub and a few others are lifted even higher (to clear 33's) and have had no problems as far as I know. I am thinking the problem is probably in your replacement ball joints. Either faulty or ill fitting. In the long run might be better to pay a bit more and go oem.

[crotchrocket]

Thanks for your help guys, im just waiting for the second hand OEM ball joints tio arrive, they were £25 instead of £300 and should do until i can get some new ones!!

[Triathlete]

I figure when all that s#&$ starts crapping out it will just speed up my SAS!:bwgy:

[pbkid]

CR- it could be due to heavy 4-wheeling ;)

thats kinda what happens when you wheel a nearly stock vehicle as hard as you do...

[alterastro]

If the top is out after the lift then you need the camber adjusting, preferably by a company that can do it with the right equipment, but you can do it yourself quite easily.... there are two bolts that hold the upper whishbone to the chassis. if you losen them, there are shims between the chassis and fixing point. You will need to add some more to adjust the camber. Have a look at page 252 of the downloadable manual and you'll see what I mean. Both my VX and my paj need this doing, but there are not enough hours in the day!

Cheers

Nick

[crotchrocket]

Thanks Nick, so in theory i loosen the bolts, take out a shim and replicate it with some thicker steel??

[alterastro]

Yep, or just add to the existing ones. They are basically just shaped bits of metal. You can make your own by drilling holes into a strip of metal, but you'll have to remove the bolts, one at a time, rather than just losening them.

Nick :yeso:

[etlsport]

here are my alignment sheets.. took almost 10 hours to get it just right on the last one, it doesnt show up on the final sheet, but the camber/caster in the front was the same as it was in the november alignment, we just had to add a few shims, check it, remove a few shims, re check it.. rinse and repeat..

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/medium/alignments.jpg (http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=16532)

[tom4bren]

Glad you gotr done. Let us know if it cures the tire cupping problem.

[etlsport]

not sure if you got your problems solved or not, but just for reference here is a photo of some of the shims pulled from my VX.. the larger one is a camber shim, the smaller ones were for the caster.. the coin is a quarter

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/medium/SNC00165.jpg (http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=16587)

[deermagnet]

I wonder what happened with crotchrocket and his camber issue? This is a shade tree mechanic method if ya wanna check your alignment yourself.

http://www.drivehq.com/file/df.aspx/publish/mgpa/vx/vx6/camber.gif
http://www.drivehq.com/file/df.aspx/publish/mgpa/vx/vx6/toe.gif

http://www.drivehq.com/file/df.aspx/publish/mgpa/vx/vx6/vxalign.gif

Mark

[Ldub]

Just got Suzy off the rack yesterday, & what a difference...:dance:

Going from alignment shop to alignment shop, asking questions until you find an alignment guy that isn't afraid to "go boldly" where others dare not tread, is a PITA, but well worth it when you finally find "the one".

I finally found him at a local purveyor of tires that sold major brands, but was NOT a company run store.
Wed morning, after I talked with the kid who did the work, I had a good feeling about him, as we were on the same page with every question I had.
I told him ahead of time, if you come across any worn front end parts, the alignment stops there, & I take it home & replace whats worn, then bring it back another day...his answer was the right one..."no problem".
Anyway, I made the appointment, brought her in, & told him to get the camber as close to 0 as possible, with everything else to spec.
With test drives included, he spent the better part of two hours on it, he even had to remove the belly pan to get enough room to get the shims in there.

Result?...Perfection...Steering wheel perfectly centered, drives straight down the road with no pull, & no longer wears the outside of the tires...:_wrench:...:thumbup:

You know I'll be a return customer...:yesgray:

And next payday, I'm sending a thank you card, with a little extra sumpin for the kid...:thumbup:

[etlsport]

Just got Suzy off the rack yesterday, & what a difference...:dance:

Going from alignment shop to alignment shop, asking questions until you find an alignment guy that isn't afraid to "go boldly" where others dare not tread, is a PITA, but well worth it when you finally find "the one".

I finally found him at a local purveyor of tires that sold major brands, but was NOT a company run store.
Wed morning, after I talked with the kid who did the work, I had a good feeling about him, as we were on the same page with every question I had.
I told him ahead of time, if you come across any worn front end parts, the alignment stops there, & I take it home & replace whats worn, then bring it back another day...his answer was the right one..."no problem".
Anyway, I made the appointment, brought her in, & told him to get the camber as close to 0 as possible, with everything else to spec.
With test drives included, he spent the better part of two hours on it, he even had to remove the belly pan to get enough room to get the shims in there.

Result?...Perfection...Steering wheel perfectly centered, drives straight down the road with no pull, & no longer wears the outside of the tires...:_wrench:...:thumbup:

You know I'll be a return customer...:yesgray:

And next payday, I'm sending a thank you card, with a little extra sumpin for the kid...:thumbup:

Excellent! love hearing these types of stories. I'm a lucky one with a shop full of good guys who dont mind spending lots of time getting everything perfect.

[Mile High VX]

And next payday, I'm sending a thank you card, with a little extra sumpin for the kid...:thumbup:


Man, that's class!

Glad all went well and she's betta' than newness...:yesgray::yeso:

[Ldub]

Man, that's class!


:mbrasd:...I dunno about all that...:mbrasd:

I've found life just works better for me if I pay it forward, & pay it back...:yesgray:

Whatever you put out there, always flows back...multiplied...:yes:

It's one of MANY reasons that I think site support is so important...:smilewink
(Ya know I've gotta get a plug in where I can)

[Mile High VX]

Life works that way for sure.

Kinda like where it says the whatever a man sows then that's what he will harvest. And it will be returned to him in good measure, pressed down, and running over. For when the harvest comes man will always reap more than he sowed.

Sorry, just had to get that in...:yesy::yeso::yesb::yesgray:

[crotchrocket]

erm... the short story is i will be attempting to do this this weekend as i've shredded more tyres! Thanks for all the info above!

[crotchrocket]

making these shims now :D

[Ldub]

making these shims now :D

FWIW...the alignment Lad shimmed it until he was out of usable bolt, any more & he would have run out of threads.
And that still didn't bring it back to zero deg. camber which I was hoping for.

Hope it's going well...:_wrench:

[crotchrocket]

DONE! 2 3mm shims now in place!

Tried 2 shims on one side and it gave me negative camber (looked like a drift car :D )