HI Guys,
those of you that have played with your camber adjustment, obviously moving it outward as far as possible gives you the greatest negative camber, but what happens when you move forward in rotation or rearward in rotation. Can you help me understand what is going on with the wheel.

I have bent top arms, BJ, extra eccentric camber adjusters and looks like 4-5* neg camber at the widest adjustment.

Thanks

PS if anyone has set their own wheel alignment at home that would be helpful info.

Cheers

I didn't answer Your question

When You move the adjuster so the mark is at the rear

the ball joint moves about 10mm more to the FRONT....

Lee

once You get the camber fixed up...

to adjust the front wheels...

put a white mark in the center [approx of the tyres] at the bottom
move the wheel until the tyre mark is at the front of the car

and measure with a tape measure...
or preferably with a piece of metal or wood with a measurement on it..

or a screw in either end.... ??

turn the wheels so they can be measured at the marks with the wheels facing rearwards as far as You can go...
then do the same at the front... Now- You need to undo the tie rod ends and turn them to adjust the toe in..
this is the tricky bit...


front
l ---------------------------- l marks on tyres

l -----------------------------l

rear

check measurement on the front then the rear

the front has a toe in of a few mms..

I cannot find the measurement... have it written somewhere?

I measured the tie rods off another car...
the short one is 92mm
and the long one is 801mm

whether this is correct I don't know...
after driving My beetle 6 years without a wheel alignment I think I will have it done professionally when I fit My front end..

LEE


Hope this helps...
I did it by eyesight once... ended up with 2 inches 50mm of toe in... lol

from centre of tie rod to the other

Sorry lee but not what i am looking for

just changing the topic a lil. but i got my top arms bent 6mm and can only get about 2.9 deg camber even with the extra eccentric adjuster....cant figure out why its maxing out as i should be able to get more then that....

Moving the ball-joint 'in or out', will alter the camber.

Moving the ball-joint 'backwards or forwards', will alter the caster.

Signed,

Eccentric Camber Nut

Thats what im looking for Happy daze, cheers.
So moving the hole forward will move the castor to the rear, and moving the hole rarward will move the castor forward, right.

If i am getting my front end aligned what is better forward or rearwad rotation...... i am lowered and have 2 castor shims per side, (does it really just depend on what settings i am looking for)

(i'm sure the alignment guy wont have much idea about beetles, he didnt last car)
Thanks

+ caster
-camber

you have + caster so the front wheel sits forward like on a motor bike push bike etc,
If - the wheels sit back like on a shopping trolly and the car handles like a shopping trolley

- camber like a v8 race car , but to much will wear the inside of the trye.

Sorry Greg, but the adjuster does not change caster, camber only. The castor is set by the beam angle in the chassis only. The castor as you know, is the kingpin inclination. In a b/j front end, the kingpin is the ball joint pivots, the adjuster only moves during setup, otherwise all steering movement is done in the balljoints so no change to castor when adjusting camber.

Matt, surely the caster angle changes when the ball joint is moved backwards or forwards, just as the camber angle changes when the ball joint is moved in or out?

King-pin inclination and caster angle are entirely different animals.

Quote:

Originally posted by HappyDaze Matt, surely the caster angle changes when the ball joint is moved backwards or forwards, just as the camber angle changes when the ball joint is moved in or out? King-pin inclination and caster angle are entirely different animals.

Sorry guy's, your wrong. The ball joint is the suspension pivot and the steering pivot. The camber eccentric positions the stub relative to the road and is locked there. The castor is the amount of inclination (angle) that the steering pivots on, projected to the road, relative to the center of the contact patch of rubber on the road. More caster is moving the line of steering towards the front of center of the contact patch. More caster means more self centering like a shopping trolley castor wheel. But moving the camber eccentric does not significantly change the castor as the steering still turns around the same balljoint pivots.

Agree with matt, when you turn the concentric you only move the stub axle inrelationship to the ball joints, the center line through the ball joints does not change so the castor angle stays the same, only the camber changes

Just seeing who was awake. OK, I was wrong about the caster change. The ball-joint doesn't move, does it!

And Greg, do you really think it has nothing to do with kingpin inclination? It's alright mate, all's forgiven, afterall, it's that late model stuff, way after your time .

and that is why they are called Camber adjusters...

LEE


Live and learn... lol

Quote:

Originally posted by matberry And Greg, do you really think it has nothing to do with kingpin inclination? It's alright mate, all's forgiven, afterall, it's that late model stuff, way after your time .

Quote:

Originally posted by HappyDaze Quote: Originally posted by matberry And Greg, do you really think it has nothing to do with kingpin inclination? It's alright mate, all's forgiven, afterall, it's that late model stuff, way after your time . Matt, I'm sure you don't need it explained, but for those who are not sure, I'll give it a try:- King pin inclination is the angle between the king pin and vertical, looking from the FRONT of the car. Caster angle is the angle between the king pin and vertical, looking from the SIDE of the car. For non-king pin [ball joints, struts, etc] a line through the centre of the upper and lower pivot points can be substituted.

No Lee, camber is the angle between the WHEEL and vertical [looking from the FRONT of the car. Mostly, camber and king pin inclination are 'tied together', so that when the camber is altered, the KPI is also altered, but caster remains unchanged. Hope that's clear.

Thanks Greg, put way better than I could have. There's that legendary experience of yours shining through again

Hi

My Bentley manual says to set the notch at the front.

If you set say 1 degrees negative camber with the notch at the front and then did the same 1 degrees negative with the notch at the back you would end up with the ball joint hole being in a different position, this would affect caster or king pin inclination.

Steve

I fell for the same trap, Steve. The camber is the only thing that will be altered by turning the eccentrics.......except, perhaps a small change in the wheelbase?

This is a very interesting thread, in that it has stirred up a few brain cells. Not sure if it has been any help to Aussie Dubbin though.

Hi

I don't think I got my reasoning across.

Forget about camber for the moment, say the adjuster is fitted first with the notch at the back and then with the notch at the back, the positioning of the hole for the ball joint will be towards the back with the notch at the front and visa versa with notch at the back, this will affect caster.

If the adjuster is set at full camber, what ever that is it will have no effect on caster, caster will only be affected at at smaller camber settings.

Steve

I agree in principal there is a small change in castor if the notch is set rearwards, as the contact patch will move slightly on the ground and as we know the theoretical kingpin doesn't move, therefore there is a change in castor, BUT, the notch is used essentially to be able to set the pair alike, and the geometry is designed around this setting being fwd's. I think you'd find the amount of change is not nearly as much as what we get when shims are used, therefore, set the camber with the notch fwd, then set toe and finally castor with shims, I generally like at least one set of shims .

All this talk about eccentric camber adjusters has got me wanting to install the set I just bought.

What is the best/easiest way to remove the camber adjuster from the ball joint??

A few versions of puller will get it off. in order of preference, a ball joint breaker or pitman arm puller or a 2 or pref 3 leg may work or even easy to make a custom tool with some tube, steel a bolt and a welder.