In the process of using any car, regardless of the model, all the advantages of the chassis are lost and fade away over time. The reason is not only time, but also incorrectly performed unprofessional repairs to the chassis. If during the repair process changes were made to the suspension, threaded connections were touched, this leads to a violation of the wheel alignment angles. The car driver will feel these even minor changes immediately. The car will pull to the left or right, turning into a turn will become more difficult, traction and overall handling will deteriorate. Now many people do negative camber. Let's see how this can affect driving quality.
general information
Before moving directly to the advantages and disadvantages, you must first understand what these angles are and what they can be.
So, camber is the location of the car’s wheels at an angle to the road. Wheel alignment affects the level of controllability, safety and how quickly the tires become unusable. Now there are a lot of car models, and each has its own optimal toe and camber angle. There are three types. These are zero angle, positive and negative camber.
A car wheel will have zero camber if it is perpendicular to the road surface. If the top of the wheel is directed towards the inside of the body, then the camber is considered negative. If the top of the wheel faces away from the body, then it is positive camber.
While driving a car, the wheel alignment angles are under constant tension. Over time, even correctly and professionally set parameters can change in one direction or the other.
If the angles are optimal, the car will be more maneuverable and stable. You need to watch this closely. Even if the camber is two degrees less or more than optimal, it can seriously affect the handling, stability and life of the tires.
Selection of camber plates
Camber plates for negative camber have code 3104.0100.00 in the general range of spare parts for cars. They should be selected knowing the characteristics. Those plates that make the wheels tilt too strongly are not needed in urban operating conditions. They can only cause harm - wheel bearings wear out faster. The main characteristics of the camber plates are presented in the following table
| Characteristics | Indicators |
| Camber plate name | SS20 |
| Camber angle | - 1 degree |
| Application on models | VAZ-21099, VAZ-2108, VAZ-2114, VAZ-2115 |
| Approximate cost | From 400 rub. |
We hope that our article will help you make the right choice.
From Masterweb
In the process of using any car, regardless of the model, all the advantages of the chassis are lost and fade away over time. The reason is not only time, but also incorrectly performed unprofessional repairs to the chassis. If during the repair process changes were made to the suspension, threaded connections were touched, this leads to a violation of the wheel alignment angles. The car driver will feel these even minor changes immediately. The car will pull to the left or right, turning into a turn will become more difficult, traction and overall handling will deteriorate. Now many people do negative camber. Let's see how this can affect driving quality.
Minus camber
It would seem, why deviate from the manufacturer’s recommendations and install negative camber if the handling will change, and not necessarily for the better? In fact, handling improves slightly - it becomes possible to easily enter a turn even at high speed. In addition, skidding and rollover can be avoided. Most often, drivers of sports cars resort to this modification. For civilian driving, such tuning is useless - in the city the speeds are different.
Drift
This wheel alignment angle is especially relevant for drifting. The car grips the road better. For drift enthusiasts, the camber should be between -0.5 and -5.5 degrees.
Also, negative camber can be considered optimal for participants in circuit racing. In this case, the negative camber angle of the front axle should be greater than that of the rear axle. This ensures better traction, sharper and more responsive steering.
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Disadvantages of negative camber:
- The reduced contact area of the wheel leads to deterioration of traction properties on a flat road.
- Rapid wear of tires, especially with camber of -2 degrees or more.
- The car becomes more sensitive to the ruts on the road, the car begins to drive to the sides.
- Directional stability decreases, especially noticeable at speeds above 80 km/h.
The greater the camber angle, the more pronounced the imperfections are. Average camber angle values for sports cars are -0.5. - 5.5 degrees. For fans of tuning civilian cars, these values are narrowed to -1..-2.5 degrees. According to the manufacturers, modifying the VAZ by installing camber plates for negative camber of -1 degree will give a good effect and will not affect tire wear in any way. Let us remind you that Lada Granta and Kalina 2 have minus camber of the rear wheels from the factory (-1 degree). What do you think, is it necessary to have negative camber for everyday driving?
By the way, do you know the pros and cons of low-profile tires?
What is the best negative camber for everyday driving?
Fashion trends
It's not just for sports that wheels fall apart. In cities you can see lowered cars with very full wheels. This style is called Stance. It involves wide wheels and a very low stance.
The rims may not even fit in the wheel arch. That's why such a collapse is needed. It must be said that, unlike sports, here such an approach does not have any practical value. It's just a tribute to fashion.
Flaws
We looked at what negative camber produces. Now we need to talk about the shortcomings. If you have no sporting ambitions, then it is better to refuse such tuning.
One of the serious disadvantages is increased wear on the inside of the tire. If you need to quickly accelerate or brake, then the efficiency of both acceleration and braking will be reduced - the contact area of the wheel with the road has decreased. And finally, when driving on bad roads, the car may move to the side.
The most unpleasant thing is tire wear. This will happen if the negative camber is more than 1 degree. The higher this angle is, the faster the tires will wear out. Racers can afford to change tires even after just a few laps. The average driver often cannot afford this.
How to make the camber negative?
Before you start making adjustments, you should know whether such a camber is suitable for the car and whether the lateral and vertical stability of the car will be acceptable. Of course, if necessary, these figures can be increased.
To increase the level of stability, a stabilizer is installed in the front suspension. To increase vertical stability, change the springs to stiffer ones. To reduce the risk of skidding during high-speed turns, the rear suspension is lowered. Then the car will be pressed against the outside of the wheel and will not skid.
To adjust the negative camber of the front wheels, you need to purchase special camber adjustment plates. When buying a plate, you should start from the required angle. The plates are different.
Axle angle (caster)
There are longitudinal angles of inclination of the rotation axis. They are adjustable. They can change the value under the influence of the weight of the cargo in the trunk of the vehicle. The tolerance for the left and right sides cannot exceed 0°15′-0°40′.
There are also transverse angles of inclination of the rotation axis. They are unregulated.
Usually, when they talk about the angle of an axle at a tire shop, they mean the longitudinal angle of the steering axis. It is located between the plane perpendicular to the surface of the road surface and the planes of symmetry of the wheel. Caster shows the deviation of the wheel position relative to the shock absorber strut.
Where to do this tuning?
The best and easiest way is to visit the wheel alignment stand. This is a software and hardware complex that already knows all the necessary angles for most cars. Using sensors that will be installed on the wheels, the system will determine the current angles, and based on this information it will be possible to set the required negative angles. In most services, specialists are ready to do any type of alignment.
A negative parameter does not always mean intense tire wear. For example, AvtoVAZ engineers even recommend making the Lada Granta have a rear camber of -2 degrees. Engineers claim that tire wear will be normal. At the same time, this will give a good effect in terms of controllability. For civilian cars, camber down to -2.5 degrees will only be an advantage - the driver will not go broke on tires.
Toe angle
The toe angle is the angle between the middle plane of the wheel and the plane that is parallel to the longitudinal plane of symmetry of the vehicle, provided that the wheels are aligned for straight motion.
Average values of toe angles:
- for front-wheel drive: 0±10′.
- for rear-wheel drive: +15'±10'.
The sum of the angles for the left and right wheels forms a complete toe-in.
If the toe of the left and right wheels are equal, it is half toe.
The toe-in deviation tolerance for each wheel at car repair shops is ±5′.
