do the ECO's have static camber? i'm being told i might to get the adjustable camber kit to stop going thru my tires. (it's not the alignment either, i've it done and still eats thru)
"Driving Excitement"
Well, all 3rd gen cavaliers have "static" camber. If you are using H&R's on your factory struts, you can have the struts slotted to adjust camber. How are your tires wearing out? Outside edge, inside edge, etc... I'm on H&R's and I only got about -0.6 deg on each side, so there was no need to adjust the camber. A little negative camber is a good thing.
Unless you have like 5 degrees negative camber, its not considered a wear angle. Did the shop you took it to give you a printout of what the actual measurements were? Or did they just tell you that you need to adjust the camber?
All GM cars that I'm aware of have Static Camber. I've only ever seen dynamic camber on very expensive luxury cars and prototype cars. Anybody seen otherwise?? (We're not going to count the itty-bitty amount you get from suspension travel either.)
Camber is part of Alignment. So if you're alignment if good, then your camber is good. If a shop tells you otherwise, leave and never go back.
I agree with both Zach and James though, a small amount of negative camber can be good (-2* or less). But if you're alignment is good then you should have 0 camber.
No Stock j-body ever
needs a camber kit. If a shop tells you that you need one, leave and never go back.
How are you unevenly wearing your tires? Insides, Outsides, where? What time frame?
If it's even wear, chances are you're a horrible driver (hard on tires; slow down!) OR you have ultra cheap tires (Tread Wear Rating < 350; it's written on the tire).
C.T.S wrote:If it's even wear, chances are you're a horrible driver (hard on tires; slow down!) OR you have ultra cheap tires (Tread Wear Rating < 350; it's written on the tire).
Just because you are hard on tires, doesn't necessairly mean you are a bad driver
My Falken Ziex 512's are 360, and they are an excellent tire, so treadwear isn't necessailry a good indicator. It is my experience that those cheap tires with high treadwears suck.
Zach wrote:C.T.S wrote:If it's even wear, chances are you're a horrible driver (hard on tires; slow down!) OR you have ultra cheap tires (Tread Wear Rating < 350; it's written on the tire).
Just because you are hard on tires, doesn't necessairly mean you are a bad driver My Falken Ziex 512's are 360, and they are an excellent tire, so treadwear isn't necessailry a good indicator. It is my experience that those cheap tires with high treadwears suck.
Ok.. So hard on tires doesn't necessarily mean bad driver.. But you knew what I meant.
The treadwear rating tells you about how long a tire should last. Multiply by about 100 to get the number of miles. If you have performace tires however, the game changes. AA traction and 360 tread wear will last a very long time if gently driven (much more than 36Kmi). But cheap 360 C B rating tires would be lucky to see 36Kmi, even if you did drive it gently. These are some extreme examples, but you get the idea. Other technologies will also play into tire life.
But we really need to know if it's even/uneven, if you have camber, and things like that.
ok, to answer the questions: i've has these tires for a year and they are inside quicker than the outsides (showing steel). and i don't think they are TOO cheap of a tire, Ventus K104's. and yeah i'll get on the gas enough too make em spin every once and a while, but not an everyday thing. btw: i have some new Sumitumo HTR II's in my living room right now that r getting mounted tomorrow. and to be clear, i DON'T "need" the camber kit?
"Driving Excitement"
No, you don't need a camber kit. Even if you had it lowered (not drastic, but the Pro-Kit or similar) you could get away without one since there is plenty of adjustability in the J suspension. The tires you have are pretty good. You probably have a toe problem. Take it back to the shop that did your alignment and tell them to fix it, or at least print out the settings where its at now, and let us know what they are.
What kind of struts are you using?
thanx guys. my suspension set-up at the moment is stock everything except for the H&R springs. HOWEVER, around tax season, i'll have a shiny new set of Tokico D-Spec shox! i'm really looking forward to it!
"Driving Excitement"
Your broken factory struts could be the issue.
i do several alignments a day.
the easy way to adjust camber is with a specialty products camber kit 81250,81260 etc depending on bolt size. it is very common on all cars
most wont need a camber kit. and camber can be adjusted to stock specs with the reg bolts.
Yeah you don't need a camber kit. Might be easier in some situations, but still not necessary.
Sounds like your toe it off. Like Zach said, take it back to the place that you got the alignment from and they should fix it.
Your struts are probably blown, but I
doubt that's the problem.
Also, Those are 280 AA A tires. That's a short tread life. I wouldn't expect more than about 20Kmi of spirited driving out of them. And the reviews I've read (which I always take with a large grain of salt) all say something like "not the worst performance tires, but close".
I guess if you want to bring up the whole tire deal, Hankook's are one brand that I would generally shy away from. Very few things come from Korea that are worth a darn.
Sumitomo's aren't that great either. If you are bargain shopping for performance tires, stick with Kumho's,Falken's, Toyo's, BFG, etc...
My tire reccomendation
those tires aren't good? i've herd nothing but good things about Ventus and Sumitumo. i mean no one thinks they're like Goodyear Eagle F1's or anything, but for the money, i had a good experince with Ventus (execpt for my alignment/toe problem) and people said Sumitumo' were pretty decent for them so i figured i'd give em a try.
"Driving Excitement"
If we want to argue about tires we should take it into the Tire forum.... But I agree with Zach (except I like Bridgestone tires personally).
well i got an alignment today, and it turns out that my toe WAS way off. the camber was off too, everything has been corrected and i notice the difference. maybe i'll have a longer tire life this time...
"Driving Excitement"
It would be kind of nice if we could keep track of who was right when a problem like this comes up.. Keep Score..
Chalk one up to James, first one to suggest the toe might be off.
Did you take it back to the original shop that did it? Did they say anything was loose?
you're right, kudos to James. but no i didn't take it back to the shop who did it last, they said they couldn't do it b/c of my wheels (which i had on last time, but whatever.) so i went to the new shop and they were good, didn't mention anything being loose. i did get a print out.
"Driving Excitement"
