Unequal rear camber

[SlimJim16v]

A camber bolt is not the best way to do it, but it is the easiest. I had to use one on the front of my Vitara to even it up. Here's a link to one on ebay, they come in different sizes to suit your car -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-80-90-1986-1991-Eib...

[PaulKemp]

As far as I am aware that won't work on the rear of a Focus

[HustleRussell]

Don't bother fixing it IMO.

HustleRussell said:

I'd live with it if I were you, It just means your O/S/R tyre might last 40k miles instead of 50k

[KM666]

Dont panic, it could be something as simple as the hydraulic lift at the garage isnt perfect and so one side rear is ever so slightly higher than the other. You would be able to see 3 degrees of negative camber with the naked eye, it wouldnt be far off 'scene' looking and obviously out of alignment.

My Dad just got his done and got a similar result at the back, There is no way on a level surface that his car is running 2.9 degrees of negative camber at the back.

It would look like this,

(picture that angle on the back of your car, if you cant see it the print out is wrong)

Edited by KM666 on Saturday 1st December 23:10

[944Nick]

3 degrees of negative camber when you are aiming for a figure of around 0 degrees is an enormous amount to be out, and a difference across the axle of 3 degrees is massively more than is acceptable.

The car needs to be sorted before it's driven anywhere at more than very gentle speeds. One option might be Center Gravity (Google them).

And I would run like the wind from any suspension tuning company that claims that this setup is in any sense acceptable.

Nick

[Cloggie]

I suspect that the Hunter rig needs calibrating. But I also suspect that some of the rubber bushings in the rear suspension have gone soft and allow too much movement. This will allow some spurious measurements.

If you do want to reduce rear camber, SuperPro manufacture off-set camber bushes for the rear suspension of the Focus. Part number SPF2326K.

[Hungrymc]

I had a car which exhibited some strange tyre wear.It was checked over and over on a popular laser alignment set up.... Even rolling the car back off the four poster and then back into position gave wildly different readings (on rear axle toe in - not camber). To be honest, the main agents couldn't find the problem either but it has left me with very little confidence in these machines.

[budgie smuggler]

Cheers everyone it thankfully doesn't look like that pic KM666.

Cloggie, stupid question but could that also cause knocking at low speed and strange behaviour at high speed?

Reason I ask is that I had it in the local franchised Ford dealer, and they insisted they checked the geo and all the bushings and everything was in good condition (and they put it through the MOT with no advisories) but I have those symptoms.

The strange high speed behaviour is that occassionally when you hit a big bump, it feels like a gust of wind is blowing sideways on the car. Hard to describe and only occassional. Sort of sideways turning motion, only slight but enough to notice.

Need to find a decent indey to have a look. Anyone recommend one for essex (Chelmsford)?
Are there any simple checks I can do if I jack it up? Is it just a case of grabbing the suspension components and seeing if any have play?

[one eyed mick]

There must be some thing worn in there but pos not enough to be obvious also the wind gust symptom may be damper related

[Cloggie]

budgie smuggler said:

Cheers everyone it thankfully doesn't look like that pic KM666.

Cloggie, stupid question but could that also cause knocking at low speed and strange behaviour at high speed?

Reason I ask is that I had it in the local franchised Ford dealer, and they insisted they checked the geo and all the bushings and everything was in good condition (and they put it through the MOT with no advisories) but I have those symptoms.

The strange high speed behaviour is that occassionally when you hit a big bump, it feels like a gust of wind is blowing sideways on the car. Hard to describe and only occassional. Sort of sideways turning motion, only slight but enough to notice.

Need to find a decent indey to have a look. Anyone recommend one for essex (Chelmsford)?
Are there any simple checks I can do if I jack it up? Is it just a case of grabbing the suspension components and seeing if any have play?

Knocking would normally indicate wear. But a bent suspension component creating bump steer can display behaviour that could be described in a similar fashion.
I would get the car checked by an alignment specialist. Not just somebody with a fancy machine, but a person with real understanding of chassis dynamics. Unfortunately I don't know anyone in your area but I am sure others will.

[Matt Seabrook]

Having seen head fitting issues with the alignment equipment before I would say that that is the issue here. If you really had 3 deg neg camber I would be a little suprised if the toe could be got back in to spec. Not imposible but highly unlikely. Take it somewhere else and get it checked. A lot of places dont charge just to check.