Rear camber quandary on my spring lifted OB

[outback_97]

Hey guys, back in '06 I put in Scorpion springs and KYB GR-2's to give my '97 a little bit of lift. The driver's side rear had always had some positive camber since I owned the car. I'm not sure why, maybe the previous owner had slid into something, or it was just a little off. Anyway, I used two Ingalls Fastcam bolts on the driver's side rear, and one on the passenger rear to correct the extra positive camber I encountered when the springs were put in.

 

Here's my dilemma. A while back, the passenger rear camber bolt snapped. It was a pain to get out, but I got it out and put the stock OEM bolt back in. Well just this week, the top one on the driver's side broke. Coincidentally I noticed it on the way to my mechanic for some other work, so I had him put a stock OEM bolt in the top position. The bottom bolt is still an Ingalls but it's rusty and based on past history, maybe it will break at some point too. I can't tell if it's really providing any adjustment or if it has slipped and is therefore no better than just a stock bolt, but weaker.

 

I now have quite a bit of positive camber in the drivers side rear. Here's what I think I should do:

 

Take out the old Ingalls bolt in the bottom hole drivers side rear, move the OEM bolt to this position, then put a new Ingalls (or other) camber adjusting bolt in the top position. This will hopefully correct the camber problem and considering the adjusting bolts lasted 4-5 years, should be good for a while.

 

Any thoughts on this? I'd love to just put two OEM bolts in and call it good but that gives me a lot of positive camber and I'm not aware of another way to correct it other than these types of bolts.

[lmdew]

Yes, the bottom OEM bolt should take the load and then the top camber bolt is just doing the adjustment.

 

You could also file out the top strut bolt hole some to allow them to move in, but there is no accurate adjustment.

 

File, check file some more.

[outback_97]

Thanks! I hadn't thought of filing the holes in the struts. But first I'll try OEM bolt in bottom camber bolt in top and see what that gets me. Actually, I may have a shop do it since the current camber bolt (in bottom) looks like it really won't want to leave easily.

[Fairtax4me]

Get some new camber bolts and re-align it. Seems kinda crappy that those would completely rust out in ~4 years. I think I'd try a different source for the new bolts.

[outback_97]

I have a new, never used Ingalls bolt set already since I bought an extra set way back when. It does make sense to try another brand, but most things I've read suggest there's one or two companies making these things, and they're getting rebranded. So I'm not sure it really would be different :-\

 

I just remembered another issue I ran into when I installed these originally. The camber bolts are longer than the OEM rear bolts. I had to buzz off almost an inch of the threaded part in order to fit one in the lower location, otherwise the CV boot interferes with it.

 

Found a good reference thread here that I hadn't seen before, I could have used this in '06 when I was first dealing with it.

[Fairtax4me]

Hopefully you get it straightened out. Those cam bolts are always a PITA whenever I've used them. If rust is an issue in your area, you might want to try coating them with copper grease or anti-seize compound to help keep them from corroding.

[edrach]

Great reference thread from Outback_97. Thank you.

Someone should add it to the USRM if it's not already there.

 

Just to repeat a vital point from the above mentioned reference:

 

Where Can Camber Bolts Be Used?

On our cars, camber bolts can be used in 3 places:

 

1)The lower clevis hole in the front knuckles

2)The upper clevis hole in the rear knuckles

3)The lower clevis hole in the rear knuckles

 

Of these, the lower hole in front and the upper hole in the rear are the preferred, and most common, locations. AFTERMARKET CAMBER BOLTS SHOULD NEVER BE USED IN THE FRONT UPPER POSITION! Doing so will almost certainly result in slippage or outright failure of the camber bolt. This will almost certainly result in loss of control of the vehicle.

 

Can the Upper Front Bolt Be Replaced?

The upper front bolt is already a camber bolt. However, it is a special camber bolt specifically for Subaru. If you lose or break this bolt, you should ALWAYS replace it with an OEM part, not an aftermarket part. AFTERMARKET CAMBER BOLTS SHOULD NEVER BE USED IN THE FRONT UPPER POSITION!

[subaru360]

You could also pick up a used set of 02-07 wrx sedan lateral links. They are longer and will give you some negative camber to even out what you lost from the lift.