July 26, 201510 yr Hi all, have a lifted 99 outback wagon (4" lift) and I took it into firestone for the lifetime alignment. They were able to get it within spec for all four toes and the driver side camber, but passenger side camber was just out of spec and they recommended camber bolts. In an effort to save me some coin the tech suggested I buy/install my own camber bolts and bring it back in and utilize the lifetime alignment, otherwise I'd be spending over 200$ in parts/labor. I've heard it's dangerous to use aftermarket camber bolts if installed incorrectly. Would someone be so kind as to recommend me some camber bolts that I can order and offer any tips/advice on installing them SAFELY? Much appreciated.
July 26, 201510 yr Author Is there a specific size for these things or are they typically a pretty universal part?
July 26, 201510 yr Front or rear? I've used the 12mm bolt from the bottom mount point, a spare on the top strut mount. It allows you to put the top in about a 1/8". It has worked great on several lifted OBS.
July 26, 201510 yr The smaller bolt will take care of the rear. The fronts, you may have to get the adjustable top strut mounts.
July 26, 201510 yr The Firestone I have my lifetime allignment with won't try to adjust camber even though my 96 OBW's front struts came with factory camber bolts. They only adjusted toe. 1 week later, I read the FSM and turned the camber bolt myself (on the right front). Brought the car back to Firestone again for anohter allignment job. The print-out said camber (and others) were in spec after my own adjustment.
July 30, 201510 yr Author That's weird that they wouldn't touch your camber bolt on your car. Anyways, I got scared of camber bolts. The moog camber bolts on the second reply of this thread are likely referring to replacement for OEM in the stock slotted hole location, that's not what I'm after. I have those bolts in my struts, but I need ADDITIONAL negative camber to bring my passenger side front and rear into spec. From what I've researched this necessitates aftermarket camber bolts that go into the bottom hole of the strut/knuckle bolt locations, but require very critical and precise installation or I'll risk them failing and losing control of the vehicle under load. Info taken from this thread: http://www.iwsti.com/forums/gd-suspension-handling-and-stiffening/133341-camber-bolt-faq-tutorial.html At this point I'm running slight positive camber on my passenger side wheels only which really bothers me, and I'm not sure if I should just order some aftermarket camber bolts and give it a shot. It sounds like such a fragile procedure. +I still don't know which ones to order lol
July 30, 201510 yr I used the Moog bolts in the bottom holes of the front struts. Breakage of a camber bolt is due to over or under-torquing the bolt on installation. Moog specifies 100ftlbs for the type of bolt I used. Factory bolt spec is 135.
July 30, 201510 yr breaking camber bolts? that's hard to believe, sounds like hyped up apocalyptic talk from guys that don't do much more than change their own oil. lol Edited July 30, 201510 yr by grossgary
July 30, 201510 yr I'm currently running a set of Ingalls camber bolts on the lower front position on my WRX. 2.5* camber, aligned by Firestone lifetime deal. Just follow the instructions that come with the bolts and you will be fine. I would look at your suspension before going any further and try to determine if anything is bent or buckeled and figure out why the alignment isn't even side to side.
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