[stem1]

Has anyone had experience in playing with the width of the front wheel spacers to correct the camber of a 3" Calmini lift? The vehicle has an ARB bullbar, 9Klb winch, dual batteries and is sitting with about 8mm Pos camber measured at the top of the tyres.
Thanks.

[atari4x4]

camber bolts

[tanshi]

I have a pair brand new which i found on the weekend,
will post if your interested

[Gwagensteve]

Wheel spacers are a bit if a backwards way of fixing camber- they are adding leverage which lowers the spring rate- lowering the car and therefore bringing the camber into spec. I don't think it's a great way to fix the problem.

I'd go camber bolts.

Steve.

[stem1]

Yes it is backwards, but I have lift to burn and am in need of track width. I'm thinking I'll use the camber bolts to enable a wider spacer. What is the consensus on the ratio of mm camber per inch of spacer? Roughly how many mm of camber adjustment do the camber bolts provide measured at the top of the wheel? I'm looking for a starting point for the spacers. I'm aware of the scrub radius changes and wheel bearing loads, but for an occasional camping vehicle and not a DD, are there any other factors to consider?
Thanks

[atari4x4]

what size tyres & what are the specs on the rims?

[stem1]

235/85r16, alloy rim with a swirl kind of hole pattern, was told they are a stock vitara wheel.

[Gwagensteve]

Put the spacers on and then see how much correction You need. It's not that hard and fast- the weight of the car and its use will mean the amount of correction required is different for everyone.

Better solution might be to use GV or XL-7 rims- shouldn't need spacers then.

Steve.

[droverdave]

So if a 235/85/R16 is about 805mm high (according to http://www.1010tires.com/Tools/Tire-Siz ... /235-85R16)

8mm meausred at the top of the wheel is about 0.5 degrees of camber. (bit of the ol' trigonometry)

Is that such an issue?

Alot of road cars run a bit of negative camber to help with cornering. Same thing might not apply to 4wds. Camber bolts are an easy fix though.

[Gwagensteve]

Negative camber is ok. Positive camber is nasty.

Steve.

[droverdave]

Right didnt read the 'Pos' bit there. yer get rid of that positive camber.

So does that mean that the 4wd gets positive camber on bump travel? Thats interesting :S

[stem1]

I just tried to post a jpeg from my phone (file too big) then a Giff(invalid file type), what file type works for photos?

[atari4x4]

resize the jpeg or host it with photobucket or similar

[Gwagensteve]

Yes, vitaras go positive camber under droop. After all, they are only a single wishbone setup. Most cars with McPherson strut front ends to positive camber under droop too.

Steve.

[stem1]

Here are the wheels and the current mudguard protrusion. What are the wheels from?

[Gwagensteve]

They look like a US market stock wheel. Interesting. In any case, if you add spacers, you're going to have more issues with guard clearance IMHO. I'd suggest the tyre protrusion looks ideal to me.

Steve.

[christover1]

Nice wheels. Look to be 10P ish.
I have Sierra 7" 9P rims on mine, seem to stick out about same.
My camber adjusting bolts are just set to max, feels right for my 75mm ish lift.
Mine were more sticking out originally, but I dropped them inwards and drives much nicer, on and off road