| -- End Ad Box ---> | | | | body roll. |
| Camber is probably the most useful and popular | | | | The only drawback to negative camber is |
| alignment adjustment that can be made to a | | | | increased wear on the inside of each tire. Since |
| street car. The other alignment adjustments are | | | | the top of the wheel is leaned in, the car is riding |
| toe and caster, which I have covered in | | | | on the inside of the tire while it is on |
| accompanying articles. Camber is the angle of the | | | | straightaways. In a corner, suspension travel and |
| wheel from the vertical as viewed from the front | | | | lateral forces on the tire’s rubber |
| or the back of the car. Negative camber means | | | | compound combine to straighten the tire relative |
| that the top of the wheel is leaned in towards the | | | | to the ground. Therefore, the car rides evenly on |
| car, and positive camber means that the top of | | | | the tire in turns, which improves cornering ability. |
| the wheel is leaned out away from the car. | | | | However, extra time spent driving on the inside |
| Maximum cornering force is achieved when the | | | | of the tire causes that part of the tire to heat up |
| camber of the outside wheels relative to the | | | | and wear. This effect is small if you avoid adding |
| ground is about -0.5 degrees. A slight negative | | | | too much negative camber. |
| camber in a turn maximizes the tire contact patch | | | | On most street cars (which use a MacPherson |
| due to the way the tire deforms under lateral | | | | Strut front suspension), camber is not easily |
| load. Hence, it is good to have some negative | | | | adjustable. However, if you choose to purchase |
| camber to increase cornering force. | | | | aftermarket camber plates, you can set camber |
| Another reason why it is helpful to align your | | | | to improve handling. More negative camber tends |
| suspension with a slight negative camber is that | | | | to increase tire grip in corners. Therefore, if your |
| camber will change with suspension travel and | | | | car experiences understeer, you can decrease |
| body roll. Most suspension systems are designed | | | | front camber (make it more negative) to improve |
| so that camber increases with more suspension | | | | front grip or increase rear camber (make it more |
| travel. However, camber relative to the car's | | | | positive) to decrease rear grip. Remember not to |
| chassis is not the same thing as camber relative | | | | add too much negative or positive camber since it |
| to the ground. It is camber relative to the ground | | | | will decrease the life of your tires and may cause |
| that affects handling. Therefore, even though | | | | a blowout. Even pure race cars rarely use more |
| camber relative to the chassis is made to | | | | than about 3 degrees of camber. As with any |
| increase, camber relative to the ground may | | | | adjustments, make camber changes in small |
| actually decrease on the outside wheels if there is | | | | increments, and make sure to test the setup so |
| substantial body roll. To counter this tendency, it is | | | | that you can see the results from each specific |
| important to use negative camber and to control | | | | change. |