How to Adjust the Camber on Vehicles

Doing basic car maintenance Vehicles home can save you a bundle, whether you just need an oil change or you're fine tuning your car's alignment. Tuning the camber on a Vehicles however, can be fairly tricky. Vehicles do not have the ability Vehicles camber adjustment built in from the factory, so an aftermarket camber-adjustment kit must be purchased and installed first. Even then, getting the precision necessary in a home garage can be tricky.

Under The Hood:

• How to Adjust the Camber on a Nissan D21
• How to Adjust the Camber on a Honda Civic
• How to Adjust the Camber on a Chevrolet Truck

 How to Adjust the Camber on a Nissan D21

Raise the hood. Lift the front end of the truck by placing the jack under the front cross member until there is sufficient clearance under the front tires to place the alignment pads under the wheels. Lower the truck onto the alignment pads, remove the jack and pull the locking pins on the alignment pads.

Insert the thin edge of the hub cap tool or lug iron between the hub cap and wheel and twist, if the wheel has a hub cap. Repeat this process around the edge of the wheel until the hubcap can be removed. Place the camber gauge on the hub and read the camber angle. If the reading is too far positive, move the upper control arm inward. If it is too far negative, move the control arm outward.

Loosen the two bolts securing the upper control arm to the frame. To move the control arm outward (add positive camber), insert an equal number of shims on both bolts between the frame and control arm. To move the control arm inward (add negative camber), remove an equal number of and thickness of shims from both bolts. These bolts can most easily be accessed from the engine compartment.

Tighten the bolts. Check the camber reading and adjust as necessary until the reading falls within specifications for your year truck. Torque the control arm bolts to between 80 and 100 foot-pounds.

Remove the gauge, reinstall the hubcap and repeat Steps Two through Four for the other side.

 How to Adjust the Camber on a Honda Civic

A Level Surface

Park your car on your intended work surface. Mark where all four tires are and remove your car. Place a linoleum tile at each location.

Park your car back on top of the tiles and use the alignment tool to measure the height of each individual tire. Back the car out and add tiles to raise the wheels that need it. Each tile is roughly 1/8 inch. Repeat this process until the tires are all level with each other.

Back the car out one last time and spread table salt between all of the tiles. This will allow the tiles to slip and slide as you make adjustments.

Adjusting Camber

Have a professional shop install your aftermarket camber-adjustment kit. This saves you the hassle of having to undo suspension components but also ensures that the kit is on correctly.

Park your car on your now-leveled garage surface. Bounce the suspension a couple of times to settle it.

Place the alignment tool against each tire and make adjustments by turning the bolts on the camber kit. Make these adjustments slowly and in small increments, rotating from tire to tire after each small adjustment.

 How to Adjust the Camber on a Chevrolet Truck

Place your protective goggles on your face, and put your truck on the rack for purposes of alignment. Adhere to the rack's instructions to figure out the size of your proper alignment measurements.

Verify that your truck already has a camber bolt. To do this, look at your strut bolts. For instance, your camber bolt of the aftermarket variety contains a washer with a tiny handle, while your factory model contains an offset eccentric bolt head.

Use your impact gun to cause your non-camber bolt to become less loose. If you have an aftermarket camber, make it less tight with the use of two wrenches. Have your assistant help ease out the bolts once they become more loose.

Adjust your tire to obtain a measurement as near as possible to the figure you desire. Then, secure your strut bolt with both wrenches.