1980 GTV front camber adjustment

[slybone116]

Hi all, can anyone out there elaborate on the Haynes manual which states; 'Camber: adjust by varying thickness of shims located between the lower suspension arm pivot and the body member'
Is there a thickness of shims that equates to specific angles? I have heard mention of a 'camber kit' is this true? Should I check the ride height dimensions before I play with camber (the outside of both fronts are scrubbing)
thanks

[Mat Francis]

Dunno how everyone else went about it, but we just made up shims from metal plate and put them in, took a measurement and did the same thing until we were happy. for this exercise happy was (neg) 1.5 degrees. firstly, its the road car, so any more was probably taking it too far, and secondly because this is the most you can get in there without getting longer bolts (there is not enough thread left for it to be safe).


Also make sure you have the tool to measure how much camber you have put on, because we found although we used the same number of shims on each side, there was a quarter of degree difference.

[dehne]

where are you located
it cost me $50 to get neg 5 put on it thats bendigo
pay some one to do it its easier

[pep105]

Hey there sly

When I lowered my GTV back in the 90s I think it was 18 - 20 notches, I took it to a place in North Melbourne called Trutrack, they used holden shims to get the desired neg camber and then did the alignment. Never had an issue with tyre wear and for the first time ever the car was aligned properly.

Not sure where you are but give them a call on 9326-5392 and maybe they can advise or do the job if your in Melbourne

[jimnielsen]

Its easy to adjust the neg camber on 116 type cars - just put in more spacers (shims). The original equipment bolts are only long enough for approx 3.5 degrees neg.

jim~

[MarkGall]

Hi Guy's,

There's a bit of conflicting info here. Jim you said that the original bolts are long enough for -3.5 degrees, but Mat said his bolts are only long enough for -1.5 degrees. So what length should the original bolts be?

Cheers

Mark.

[Mat Francis]

I got a crap deal in this case then! From dad's aircraft engineering point of view, (absolute safety first at all times), there was no way more than 1.5 degrees was going to be acceptable on my car with the bolts it has.

Having said that, with -1.5 and about 6 degrees caster, it handles really nicely on the road and is acceptable enough on the track (and so far hasn't caused any wear issues). when i say it handles well enough, i mean it works to the point where the driver is going to be slowing it down before more camber is going to help.

[franck]

hey mat lame's know best!! thank god for that!

[Jekyll and Hyde]

Hi Guy's,

There's a bit of conflicting info here. Jim you said that the original bolts are long enough for -3.5 degrees, but Mat said his bolts are only long enough for -1.5 degrees. So what length should the original bolts be?

Cheers

Mark.

It depends on how the front suspension is set up......  The lower the car is, the more negative camber it gets due to the angle of the control arms, then you can add to it with the shims.  Extended uprights also give you more negative camber, which I suspect Jim also had on his car.  I actually can't get less than about 2.4 degrees of camber on my car, as the control arms would bind against the body (I've cut the standard spacers DOWN to reduce the amount of camber, and can't go any further!).  So in my car, standard bolts are fine for a fairly easy 5 degrees of camber, but before the suspension work I would have only got about 2.5-3 degrees max before needing new bolts (at the same ride height!)