2004 V70 NA - Wheel Alignment question

[dejongmc]

I just did a wheel alignment for my car and the guys told me that they cannot adjust the Camber on these vehicles, only the Toe.
On the measurement report the Camber measurements show in the red, but the technician said the camber is still good.

Is it true that the Camber cannot be adjusted on these vehicles?
My front tires wear most on the inside, and that looks like to Camber issue to me.

[billr99]

No. In the front, there is enough slop in the stock mounting bolts to get close to a degree of adjustment. Basically you snug up one of the bolts, make the adjustment, snug up the second, re-check, and tighten every thing up. If that doesn't it, then you can use camber bolts which have a machined adjustment cam as part of the design. Using one of these will definitely get you at least 1.5 degree of adjustment and you can use two to get close to 3 degrees. These are made by Ingall Engineering (http://www.ingallseng.com/) and are sold by NAPA, IPD, Eibach, H&K, etc. I got mine off eBay for less than $20 for a pair. Your guy there is just being lazy.

In the back, the stock bits will not allow a camber correction but eccentric bolts are available (IPD used to sell them not sure now). I have no experience with those so I can't comment beyond their existence.

Cheers,

Bill

[dejongmc]

Are these the bolts that mount the strut to the wheel, so to speak?

[precopster]

To clarify the top bolt connecting the strut assembly to steering knuckle has around 5mm of movement and the lower one is pretty much fixed. This is what provides the camber adjustment as the strut pivots into a different position.

Vida shows a vernier guage measuring the distance from strut to knuckle and the expectation to reproduce this measurement when re-assembling (that's assuming it was correct in the first place)

If a garage tells me there's no adjustment in the P2 series camber I either ask them to look through their resource material or depending on their attitude, find another alignment place.

[dejongmc]

Okay, thanks.

Is there a way I can get to that Vida information?

[oragex]

You can easily check the camber on the car by yourself. Jack the front up, remove front wheels, and check for spacing between the lower shock frame near each of the two big bolt heads, and the knuckle body. Take a reference, measure it then compare with the other wheel. It's really easy to check, just did mine. The spacing near each bolt head must be the same as on the other wheel. One side of mine was a bit different, got the two big shock bolts loose (they are not that tight, I used a 2ft bar and a 3/8 wrench) pushed on the shock to get the needed spacing correct, tightened back. It's really visual and easy to do, no special measurement tools needed.

As a note, both the upper and the lower bolts have a play, with the upper one having the most. So both bolts (at their head side) must have the right spacing (when compared with the other wheel), and both can be adjusted, and both must be loosened for an adjustment.

[dejongmc]

Thanks, so I was on the right track.

Do you happen to know what the default 'setting' for both wheels should be?
I mean, if you loosen both bolts, do you push the steering knuckle inwards, or outwards?

Right now my front tires wear the most on the inside, so my guess is outwards.

[oragex]

I'm not sure, but on mine the shock is pushed at max towards the engine, both upper and lower bolts.
I think it's more important to have both shocks on the same setting.

As for your tire wear, someone could confirm, but that sounds more like too much toe out.

[adki110]

Can you post the alignment numbers they gave you?

[oragex]

Here's pictures I took

In the pictures, the bottom of the shock is pushed at the most inward position at both bolts (towards the engine compartment).

Hope this helps.