As I am securing the 4th set of tires for my lifted wagon in less than 1 year, i am thinking what could be causing the camber issue I have. I have discussed it with the board already, and no one can come up with any ideas. Then it occurred to me that it might have something to do with the fact that i made the lift kit myself, and i know its not perfect.

 

SO i am thinking to myself "what if i had a professionally made lift?"

 

If scott in bellingham sees this, what is the price of your 2" lift for just the front spacers? Would it be possible for me to borrow a set to see if it works out? Or I could easily make the trip up to bellingham and try it out. If it did i would be more than happy to buy the spacers.

 

To every one else who has made their own lift kit that i haven't talked to, what results have you had?

if you drop your engine crossmember 1-2" the issue may go away , also have you checked your toe in?

if i drop the crossmember i might as well take the lift off.

 

How do you check toe in?

How did you make your homemade lift? Did mine 1.5 inches and its no worse than before... If you lift via the top of the strut then the key is to build the lift so that the top of the strut is angled further inward than its stock location...

i did a 2" lift out of steel tube and i cut it at a 15 degree angle, which was SUPPOSED to correct the camber.

but no dice

I don't understand how you have been the only one not able to figure this out. You should be able to look at any of the 6+ wagons out there in your area with this SAME EXACT setup, and surmise that:

 

A: Your setup is different/wrong

 

B: Your car is somehow different

 

C: Your crap is bent

 

In any event, buying anything isn't going to solve anything on that list of problems. You need to get under it, and figure out what the problem is. Comparison to other readily available vehicles is a excellent way of troubleshooting.

Post some pics of how off your camber is and please post some pics of your lift and the blocks... I think I was able to go beyond 15 degrees something like 20 or so with just 1.5 inches, though I honestly don't recall exactly... But please post some pics...

 

Oh and are the front springs stock?

Edited July 21, 200916 yr by MysteriousXTC

i did a 2" lift out of steel tube and i cut it at a 15 degree angle, which was SUPPOSED to correct the camber.

but no dice

 

well, that will effectively move the strut top straight down. but by leaving the engine crossmember, your control arms are angled down more, which pulls the bottom of the knuckle in. in order to correct that, your strut blocks need more than 15 degree compensation.

 

 

or, lengthen your control arms a bit (1/2" or so?)

I still don't understand this. Something is wrong....period. I have made several 2" kits for several of my cars . I make them with NO camber correction and they do not wear tires. I mean yes, they do wear the outside a little faster than normal but I have driven thousands and thousands of miles and still have the same tires. Something has to be wrong somewhere!

 

oh, and I made mine with a sawz all and a hand drill, so they definitely weren't professional

Edited July 21, 200916 yr by bratman18

i had a problem with camber on my MY86 wagon eveon with the SJR kit, but i added the factory 1.5inch spacers from a outback and no more problems and now my CV's don't rub on the front X-member.

 

if you drop the front subframe its not gonna hurt nothin. i rather learn what wholes i can make it through or learn to drive on top of the ruts then replace tires every few months. just makes more sense to me...

Read up on toe in, toe in on turns, caster, camber, king-pin inclination and wheel offset and then adjust your alignment after carefull analysis and by trial and error till the settings are all in balance and your tyres don't wear! Simple.

lowering the cross member isn't a bad idea, it will allow you to put bigger tires under the wheel well , and you will have the cross member at the same height you started with.... pics of the setup would help a lot if you can

lowering the cross member isn't a bad idea, it will allow you to put bigger tires under the wheel well , and you will have the cross member at the same height you started with.... pics of the setup would help a lot if you can

 

 

I don't see how lowering the cross member allows for bigger tires? I think he likes having the extra clearance under the cross member hence his dilemma...

I also dont see how your rig can be chewing through tires any faster than Jeff's rigs, seeing as how you guys are using the same setup... Unless you have something bent or installed backwards/upside down... Have you had Jeff look at it?

-Bill

he cant figure it out either

i was out looking at it and it occurred to me that the top of the strut had to face a specific direction. Is that the case?

I also dont see how your rig can be chewing through tires any faster than Jeff's rigs, seeing as how you guys are using the same setup... Unless you have something bent or installed backwards/upside down... Have you had Jeff look at it?

-Bill

 

Bill its a mystery, John even cut another set of blocks with the 15* angle and it still has the same problem. I think that there is just something up with that car, I'm not bad mouthing it but I just can't figure out why it keeps doing it unless we just took a whole nother front end off like an 87 or 88 wagon and try that????????? I just dont know?????

 

 

Jeff

i did a 2" lift out of steel tube and i cut it at a 15 degree angle, which was SUPPOSED to correct the camber.

but no dice

 

Did you install them backwards? pushing the tops of the strut out instaed of tucking it in?

i was out looking at it and it occurred to me that the top of the strut had to face a specific direction. Is that the case?

 

Yes, see my post above

whats your toe in set at?

Did you install them backwards? pushing the tops of the strut out instaed of tucking it in?

 

the blocks are facing the correct way. i was referring to the top of the strut itself

whats your toe in set at?

 

i never adjusted it so it should be at the stock setting

Again are the springs stock? Do you have pictures of the tire camber stock versus tire camber now?

the springs are stock '85 adjustable struts that are all the way down

 

 

 

and there was no camber at all when it was stock

Edited July 22, 200916 yr by Markus56

the springs are stock '85 adjustable struts that are all the way down

 

wish I could come take a look, alas all you guys are too far away...