Camber after lift?

As most of you know, I managed to complete a 2" block lift with much fighting and many stupid questions. Now, it seems that my tires have a little more camber than before...it isn't a lot, but it is noticable. My blocks were cut correctly with 15 degrees of offset. Is this normal?

Is there a way to cure this or will it fix itself once I throw some larger/wider tires on? I don't want to just eat the outside edge off of all the rubber I put on my coupe. :-\

which way is your camber......

mine is also a little cambered but i think i have solved the issue, its a one of a kind problem lol

which way is your camber......

 

mine is also a little cambered but i think i have solved the issue, its a one of a kind problem lol

Out at the top.

if the blocks were done right, it will look like

\ /

at first, but if you roll the car back and forth some, it will settle nicely. All the lifted rigs seem to have this and take some time to settle down at first.

anytime you jack the car up and then down, it will again look like \ / but will settle and will not have a problem. It will get to | | but you need to let it settle, roll to relieve the pressures.

People have put these blocks in the wrong way before, and it results in wicked bad camber. It's just a mistake that new people make sometimes.

You need to make certain that the installation of your blocks has moved the top mounting point of the strut DIRECTLY INBOARD towards the motor/center of car. If you have moved the top of the struts in any other direction than DIRECTLY INBOARD; you are adjusting things that you really don't want to adjust.

So, if the top of the strut is in, but angled towards the rear of the car; you have a problem. If it is anything other than straight inboard..... you have some sort of problem. It is possible to install 2 of the blocks correctly, and the 3rd wrong. Don't ask me how, but, I've seen it done. The result wasn't good.

If everything is correct, and you still have a slight ammount of camber; that's just how it is. Rolling the car will make it settle a bunch, and your smaller tires may make it look really bad.

Pics would help too.

People have put these blocks in the wrong way before, and it results in wicked bad camber. It's just a mistake that new people make sometimes.

 

You need to make certain that the installation of your blocks has moved the top mounting point of the strut DIRECTLY INBOARD towards the motor/center of car. If you have moved the top of the struts in any other direction than DIRECTLY INBOARD; you are adjusting things that you really don't want to adjust.

 

So, if the top of the strut is in, but angled towards the rear of the car; you have a problem. If it is anything other than straight inboard..... you have some sort of problem. It is possible to install 2 of the blocks correctly, and the 3rd wrong. Don't ask me how, but, I've seen it done. The result wasn't good.

 

If everything is correct, and you still have a slight ammount of camber; that's just how it is. Rolling the car will make it settle a bunch, and your smaller tires may make it look really bad.

 

Pics would help too.

RedCap, I had this same issue too...at first I had my blocks in wrong...I put them correct and now I have a slight camber...that's just how it's gonna roll...(PS my stut tops aren't flat, so thats why I have a slight camber now, new sturts to come soon)

Just do as 3 eyed said...check the stuts and see if they are angled anyway other that directly inboard.

After jumping up and down on the bumper a few times, it seems to have settled a bit. I also adjusted the blocks (hammer and drift, then re-tighten) so they point as much to center as possible.

Looks better, but I won't be able to drive it until tonight.

Passenger side.

Driver's side

 

 

 

 

Killer boots man!

 

Killer boots man!

I knew someone would comment on them.

Early subarus ( atleast EA81-EA82) had Positive camber (I.E. \ /, top of tire stick) to start with, the early 80's can have as much as 3 degrees factory specifications and if i remember right the 85 up (EA82) was as much as 2-2.5 degrees +. i haven't done my 86 wagon in awhile though. its just with bigger tires is looks way worse then it would with 13" tires and wheels. keep your tires rotated and this will help with the edge wear. my 86 wagon has about 2 degrees + ( \ / ) in the front and about 1.5-1.75 - ( / \ ) in the rear. i just watch my tire wear and rotate as needed. this helps offset my wear, evens it out front to rear. also i just elonged my strut tower mounting hole in towards the motor when put my spacers in, this is an old auto cross/road racer trick to increase - camber for cornering.

best thing to do is get your alignment checked and see if it is within factory specs.

we should sticky one of these threads (it might be in the FAQ...but apparently that's not good enough).

yea. normal. they have a bunch of camber stock. there just isn't room in the strut tower to compensate for the extra control arm angle (pulls the bottom of the knuckle in). even if your lift blocks are installed correctly, your camber will get a bit worse than before.

and it's going to look even worse when you get bigger tires on it.

If my memeory serves me correct even 2in blocks have to be offset on the hole to be cambered specific. Or you could just buy a Bill Omlim Monster Lift (beast I drive) They are the burliest and best craftmenship I can think of and you won't have to worry about camber issues. When I went and got my aligment done after all the mods and new tires my camber was spot on.

I'm all for supporting the quality lift makers on this board, but, I'm gonna have to say that from the looks of those pics he's got it handled. Those blocks are every bit as beefy as he needs, and they are installed correctly.

Redcap, wait until you drive it. It will settle out even more, and as far as it "looking worse" once you get big tires on it; the opposite is probably true. While the outer line of a bigger tire will give more perspective on camber, the fact that the tire actually fills up the wheel well will make it less noticeable.

I'm all for supporting the quality lift makers on this board, but, I'm gonna have to say that from the looks of those pics he's got it handled. Those blocks are every bit as beefy as he needs, and they are installed correctly.

 

Redcap, wait until you drive it. It will settle out even more, and as far as it "looking worse" once you get big tires on it; the opposite is probably true. While the outer line of a bigger tire will give more perspective on camber, the fact that the tire actually fills up the wheel well will make it less noticeable.

That is after I've driven the crap out of it. In fact, the day I finished it I drove it 30-35 miles and beat on it a bit in a field.

It still has a little toe-in, but if you think it's okay, I'll go with that!

Thanks again for putting up with me, guys!

the toe won't change. so if that's off now, it was off before and it won't settle out. if it's off....fix it. it's easily adjustable.

larger tires definitely amplify the camber. since the tire is taller, but at the same angle, the top and bottom will be more noticeably not directly above one another.

the toe won't change. so if that's off now, it was off before and it won't settle out. if it's off....fix it. it's easily adjustable.

thats not necessarily true. the only way that would work is if you got the cross member in exactly the same place and the toe was correct before you started. that front cross member can be moved around some which will also effect caster and camber to some extent. the holes in the cross member and the holes in the subframe are not exactly sized to be in the same place all the time, there is some slop to them. you move them around to change caster angles specificly. unless the blocks on the struts, the cross member and the strut rods are exact and put exactly in the same spot they can change your alignment. its best to have it check after its been lifted especially if your concrened with tire wear.

i've lifted many of rigs and not just subarus and an alignment has always needed to be done even on brand new rigs.

but then again thats my 1.5 cents worth and its up to the individual to deside if they want to have their alignment checked after modifing their suspension/vehicles geometry. if i'm going to spend the money on tires considering what good offroad tires cost now days i would want them to last as long as possible especially if i'm driving on the street with it and its not just for offroading. that would also include rotating them periodically.

as i've stated in my earlier post om differences from front to rear.

the blocks dont look right, they appear to be angled towards the rear of the car and not towards the engine if you look straight down on the strut is shouldnt be centered in the tower hole, it should be noticably offset to the center of the vehicle

the blocks dont look right, they appear to be angled towards the rear of the car and not towards the engine if you look straight down on the strut is shouldnt be centered in the tower hole, it should be noticably offset to the center of the vehicle

Appearances, especially in photos, can be deceiving. I assure you, the offset points the strut in toward the engine and not toward the rear of car.

I'll have the alignment checked as soon as I can. Funds have become pretty tight for the moment, looks like I'll be running a set of 205/60/R15 snow tires to death for the winter.

You guys rock. I got my Soob back on the road over this weekend and the camber seems to have settled out almost to normal. There is still a little bit of tip-out at the very top of the tire, but not much more than a couple of Subarus I saw at Walmart yesterday.

Thanks again for putting up with my noob-ish tendencies.