Monday, January 22, 2007

Camber Bolts

Camber Bolts went on without much trouble. A few tips for any DIY'ers out there:

  • Use a bright colored paint marker to clearly mark the head of the bolt. Once you get it in there, no telling where the lobe is.
  • The lobe on the bolt is forged, and therefore has a rough surface. Turning the lobe inside of the knuckle is easy, getting it into the knuckle, not so easy. Use the nut to pull the lobe through once you are sure you have it started in the knuckle hole.
  • The socket sizes for the nut and bolt are different than the stock nut and bolt. The camber bolt is a 15mm and the camber nut is 18mm. Be prepared.
  • For maximum camber, point the lobe perpendicular to the line between the two spindle pinch bolts.
  • The provided directions, though correct, are misleading. Install the bolt with the small tab lined up with the lobe, but ultimately the big handle needs to be pointed in the direction you want the knuckle to go, and perpendicular to the line between the two spindle pinch bolts.
  • Before tightening the bolts, load the suspension to take out any slop in the bolt holes. I did this by putting a piece of wood on my jack and carefully lifting the suspension by pressing up on the brake rotor. BE CAREFUL! Don't put the entire weight of the car, or lift the car off the jack stands. Why? The front hubs will turn and the car will either roll off , or eject your jack into your leg. You only want to lift enough to compress the spring about an inch.

And... I found a screw in the shoulder of one of my tires. Funny how even the best plans can fall apart as a result of the smallest circumstances. So rather than driving my car to the alignment shop, it remains on the jackstands.

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