Rear wheel camber

[johntom]

Hi
The rear n/s wheel on my 1986 350i (trailing arm) has a positive camber? (Top of wheel further out) compared to the driver's side, which appears vertical or no camber. Any ideas what could cause this, can only find posts relating to negative camber and failing bushes ?
The car has these aftermarket tie bars fitted. they are adjustable but appear to have the same amount of thread visible both sides, any one else got them?

Edited by johntom on Monday 1st April 22:58

[mrzigazaga]

Mmm...Not too sure about positive camber..If it was severely negative then i would say trailing arm pins/mounts..Positive camber?...Has the geo been done and if so was it done correctly?..Incorrect fitment of shims..

[Number 7]

I'm not really up on the trailing arm set-up, but tyre wear patterns will give some indication of camber and toe. Has it always been like this or has it just developed this trait? IIRC the camber on the 400 / 450 series should be about 1 - 1.5 degrees neg. Adjusted by means of the shims behind the driveshaft flange. Are the flanges secure to the diff?

[mrzigazaga]

johntom said:

The car has these aftermarket tie bars fitted. they are adjustable but appear to have the same amount of thread visible both sides, any one else got them?

Could be something to do with them..Just because they have equal thread doesnt always make it right.They might not need equal thread?..I think tower view racing did these type of upgrades but im not entirely sure how they tie in with the rest of the rear suspension adjustment.....Ziga

[johntom]

Hi
Yes the car was like it when I bought it last year. It had been laid up for about 5 years, I just refreshed the brakes etc and had it Mot'd, which it passed. There was no play in the wheels/bearings etc. I will try and take a picture of the camber tomorrow and i am sure there is a company name on the tie bars.

[Dave Meredith]

Camber is controlled by shims between the axle and the half shaft

You've either got too many, which would seem pretty unusual, or you've got
some play in the suspension somewhere. There's only one other adjustment
and that is shims between the trailing arm and the chassis which controls
toe-in.

[johntom]

Hi
here's a picture of the near side

[adam quantrill]

If the bottom link has been bent (for example by a tyre fitter jacking the car up wrong...) then it will effectively be shortened (or at least the distance between the bolt holes will be less), which will cant the wheel in at the bottom.

[Wedg1e]

adam quantrill said:

If the bottom link has been bent (for example by a tyre fitter jacking the car up wrong...) then it will effectively be shortened (or at least the distance between the bolt holes will be less), which will cant the wheel in at the bottom.

Yes, I sometimes think they are

[jeff m2]

Perhaps the camber was set up correctly by adding a shim or two then the PO changed a UJ .

[Rockettvr]

Originally the tie bar would be a fixed length and camber would be set using shims on the driveshaft to alter the geometry. Now that the tie bars are adjustable the camber can be altered by shortening/ lengthening the tie bars. My guess would be that a previous owner installed the adjustable tie bars and never set them up correctly. Maybe a few careful measurements of your adjustable tie bars against std fixed length ones might prove enlightening.

[Danny Hoffman]

Is it me or is the car sitting a bit high at the rear?

Have you got adjustable shocks that let you adjust the ride height?

[johntom]

Hi
I will have a closer look over the weekend at the points you have all mentioned. The o/s/r distance between the top of the tyre and wheel arch is about 15mm greater than the o/s/r ?

I wonder whether the camber is the same both sides with the rear off the ground, which suggest a shock absorber difference or problem ?

How long should the tie bars be?

[Danny Hoffman]

As you have aftermarket tie bars I'm not sure that anyone will be able to tell you how long they should. It might be worth disconnecting them before taking any measurements to confirm they aren't causing the problem

Also measure from the chassis, not the body - these are hand crafted and my bodywork is far from symmetrical

[LLantrisant]

even the thread is a bit old, it would be interesting to have a result. did you fix the set-up by using those modified tierods or did you convert back to standard ones?

due to the angle of the (original) tierod, would an adjustable one not also effect the toe?