As you can see from the pic below I am having a issue with camber. I am looking to solve this issue but need some help with this. I have a 2009 Cobalt SS with Sportline springs 225/40/18 tires, I also have Eibach Pro-Alignment Camber kit. Dealer said this is the best they could do and the only thing that could fix this would be for them to elongate the strut bolt holes (this sounds like a bad idea).

 

elongating the strut bolt holes is a perfectly fine way to deal with camber and has been recommended by many on here. But if you have any mechanical know how I would just elongate them yourself instead of paying a dealership, pretty sure Maven has a thread about doing this somewhere

 

Is this at the top of the strut in the engine bay or are you talking about the 2 lower mounting bolts?

 

The 2 bolts that hold the knuckle to the strut thats the point you can manipulate the camber

 

I can't seem to find a how-to, can you tell me what the best way to elongate the bolts?

 

its not elongating the bolts but the bolt holes

 

Ya I got that lol, whats the best way to do it?

 

drill dremel etc

 

Sounds fun, do just do it to the top bolt hole or bottom or both?

 

Something doesn't seem right, it shouldn't be out that bad from lowering it. Did you get both of the same bolts in the kit? I know they come in different "sizes". The -1.3 is nothing to worry about but the -2 is a bit much. You ever hit anything? Cause they should have been able to get that in without enlarging holes.

 

After a second look, if they really put the camber bolts in and they only went from -2.3 to -2.0 then they didn't even try. Hell most people put camber bolts in to add more negitive camber not to take it out...

 

Well I put the camber bolts in myself and set them to 0, but I am going to the the wheels off and see if they moved them at all. I did tell them I had camber bolts so i dont see why they would not use them.

 

Cause the tech is being lazy and wants to charge you more because of the after market springs is my guess. Using camber bolts is 50 times easier then elongating holes. Besides an alignment on these cars isn't hard to begin with.

 

Or he has no idea how to correctly adjust the camber bolts or even what camber bolts are (I'm not slamming all dealer techs).

Might look into a different shop to get an alignment from, there has to be more shops around that are capable.

 

Well I am going to check the bolts later today, so we will see if they used them. If they didnt I will be taking it back so they can do it again (should be free). I have never hit anything that would damage the car and cause this issue.

 

The eccentric bolts should be in the top. Also, make sure the bolt goes from back to front, so the locking tab fits in. You should be able to get both sides to match, unless something is bent. -1.3 is just fine, so just fix the side that is -2.0. It takes a little finesse to use them. Also, make damn sure they are torqued to 85 ftlbs, otherwise they will slip when crashing over bumps.

Personally, I run -2.1 all the time, but I'm a track guy.

 

I would like to be under 1 or right on 1, don't do track days so I don't need much camber. I just hope I can fix this issue without drilling out the holes. Do you use there camber bolts for your car?

 

I forget which brand I have, but they are all basically the same. Like I said though, there is no reason why they shouldn't be able to match them side to side, within .1*. If you want it closer to -1.0, then go for it. -1.3 might be all that you get. Depends on the drop on the springs.

 

Wang, how much inner edge wear do you get? I'm currently at -1.4 and was thinking of going a little more but I drive mostly highway and don't wanna have to buy tires all the time.

 

Wouldnt toe would be a bigger concern for wear like that?

 

Yeah but camber can cause issues, maybe I should have asked how evenly your tires wear

 

Is it easy with camber bolts to have a setting that you can adjust yourself for street vs track or does it require an alignment machine each time?

 

You could but, technically when you change your camber it also changes toe. You set the car up and set toe with strings I guess.....

 

Not possible to have 2 settings for track/street. As your camber goes more negative, you go toe in. Wrong direction for track work. The other thing is that it's tough to get the camber bolts in the right place. I've done it a few times on a friend's alignment rack, and it's almost impossible to reproduce, even marking it with paint.

Regarding inner tire wear. My stock tires lasted something like 24k miles, but I didn't run them at -2. I think I ran them mostly around -1.5. I'm on Conti DW right now. Too early to tell regarding tire wear. I find that my track tires wear the inside because I spin the inside wheel, not because I have too much camber. It's a common problem for track cars at the driven axles.

 

Thanks wang.