Camber again
 

Hi everyone,
My friend just rebuilt his frontend & the Bently says it's supposed to
have *positive* camber (ball joint frontend). This is the first time I've
heard of that (other than on race cars). Is this right? BTW after a test
run at somewhere around 1/3 degree pos. camber he went to "vertical" &
likes it *alot* better. (I think the book said 10 to 30 "minites" pos.
camber which translates to 1/6 to 1/2 degree - right?)
I'm *so* confused.... ;^P
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Giggle Cream - it makes dessert *funny*!

ThaDriver wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> My friend just rebuilt his frontend & the Bently says it's supposed
to
> have *positive* camber (ball joint frontend). This is the first time
I've
> heard of that (other than on race cars). Is this right? BTW after a
test
> run at somewhere around 1/3 degree pos. camber he went to "vertical"
&
> likes it *alot* better. (I think the book said 10 to 30 "minites"
pos.
> camber which translates to 1/6 to 1/2 degree - right?)
> I'm *so* confused.... ;^P
> ~ Paul
> aka "Tha Driver"
>
> Giggle Cream - it makes dessert *funny*!

Positive camber is when the bottoms of the tires are closwer together
than the tops. Yes, this is right....for a STOCK front end. If your
friend has a stiffer roll bar up there, or wider wheels, wider tires,
etc. 0 degrees camber or "vertical" is better for handling. I have
5.5" wide wheels up front wearing 185/65 rubber and a 3/4" roll bar. I
have my camber set at 0 and the car turns in sharper and is more
responsive than with positive camber.

~Anthony

Positive camber is when the bottoms of the tires are closwer together
than the tops. Yes, this is right....for a STOCK front end. If your
friend has a stiffer roll bar up there, or wider wheels, wider tires,
etc. 0 degrees camber or "vertical" is better for handling. I have
5.5" wide wheels up front wearing 185/65 rubber and a 3/4" roll bar. I
have my camber set at 0 and the car turns in sharper and is more
responsive than with positive camber.

~Anthony
********
Thanks for the response. I *do* know what pos. camber is....
Most cars are set at negative camber, 'cause of the way the suspension
moves with body roll. As I said, I've never seen pos. camber as a factory
setting. But the bug *is* different with the parallel trailing arms.
It's a completely stock setup, but he'll probably go to wider tires soon
(I offered to loan him my Porsche wheels w/Dunlops since I can't seem to
sell them - even though I've offered them at *way less* than the cost of
the tires alone!). In either event he's much happier with 0 camber even
with the stock setup.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Giggle Cream - it makes dessert *funny*!

The front beetle suspension changes from positive to negative camber as the
front is loaded and gets lower (eg. during braking).
In a completety stock suspension, you achieve better braking power with the
stock setting, cause the wheels are more vertical when braking this way and
hold better.

If you have lowered the front with adjustabe beams, the front gets stiffer,
so the suspension has less travel, and you could use less positive camber,
close to zero camber. If you also use wider wheels, you have better
braking in front so you can go with even less camber.

If you have a different than stock setup, (wheels or lowering or bars or
shocks) the stock settings are not necessarily optimum anymore and you have
to find the new camber / toe-in settings that give the best ride with many
trial and error attempts. Just don't use a very radical setting, cause you
will wear your tires fast.

Bill,
'67 Bug.

"ThaDriver" > wrote in message
lkaboutautos.com...
> Positive camber is when the bottoms of the tires are closwer together
> than the tops. Yes, this is right....for a STOCK front end. If your
> friend has a stiffer roll bar up there, or wider wheels, wider tires,
> etc. 0 degrees camber or "vertical" is better for handling. I have
> 5.5" wide wheels up front wearing 185/65 rubber and a 3/4" roll bar. I
> have my camber set at 0 and the car turns in sharper and is more
> responsive than with positive camber.
>
> ~Anthony
> ********
> Thanks for the response. I *do* know what pos. camber is....
> Most cars are set at negative camber, 'cause of the way the suspension
> moves with body roll. As I said, I've never seen pos. camber as a factory
> setting. But the bug *is* different with the parallel trailing arms.
> It's a completely stock setup, but he'll probably go to wider tires soon
> (I offered to loan him my Porsche wheels w/Dunlops since I can't seem to
> sell them - even though I've offered them at *way less* than the cost of
> the tires alone!). In either event he's much happier with 0 camber even
> with the stock setup.
> ~ Paul
> aka "Tha Driver"
>
> Giggle Cream - it makes dessert *funny*!
>