I am having a lot of work done on my suspension and want to throw as many mods in as my budget allows. I want to get the TSW springs which would take me over budget, but people recommend getting rear control arms which I wouldn't be able to afford until later.

If I Install TSW springs without installing rear control arms, how bad is the tire wear?

Is it like 20% more tire wear which wouldn't be that noticeable if I installed rear control arms a couple months down the line? or will I eat through my tires by the time I get the rear control arms?

 

The biggest impact will be to handling, not wear. As long as you keep your pressures right, wear isn't hugely negatively impacted by extra camber in the rear. That said, adding that much extra camber will make the back end less easy to rotate around corners in spirited driving.

I DO recommend having alignment checked after the suspension work - because if you end up with too much toe somewhere, that will EAT tires.

Lots of the ultra-slammed guys run massive amounts of rear negative camber to tuck the wheels.

 

No need for rear control arms with TSW's.

I drove for 30 000km with no issues, and the amount of added rear camber from such a small drop was minimal.

I am now all the way down on BC coilovers tucking tire by about 2 fingers with stock rear control arms. Much more camber and I still have no issues with abnormal camber wear in the rear after 10 000km.

Toe is what eats your tires, not camber.

 

I agree and disagree, I am on m7 springs, and I can tell you after about 10k the camber wear on the tires is crazy. I can take pics next time i get the wheel off if you like. But I guess you should be ok with those tsw springs! Have fun!

 

I would get your toe / alignment checked, I have 3.5* with coilovers of rear camber and 10 000km on Yokohama S-Drive tires close to zero camber wear in the rear, but my toe is set at 0.

 

Incorrect toe settings would make a tire wear a pattern that is commonly referred to as "feathering" my tires are definitely worn from camber(one side of the tire worn down).

 

I recently installed TSW springs and took it to an alignment shop to check the rear camber. I had some TSW lower control arms waiting to be installed but I wanted to find out if I needed them first. Because I had an appointment the following day they put it on the rack and gave me a quick reading. With the stock lower control arms one side was 1.5 deg and the other was 1.75 deg. That's not so bad if you autocross but I don't and I didn't want to be buying new tires anytime soon so I installed the TSW's. When I took it in for the alignment I had them set the camber at 1.25deg. I figure that should be a good compromise.

 

I have had TSW springs for nearly three years now and have never needed the rear control arms.

 

Well, you have something up.

All of my cars have had in excess of 3-4* of camber and show no exaggerated wear due to the camber, just normal tire wear in the contact patch area.

 

exactly, normal in the contact patch, or so you think. smaller surface area = more friction = more wear.

 

1" less contact area = tires wearing out in 10 000 miles?

Although I agree the smaller area might contribute to a minimal increase in wear due to increased load on the contact area I highly doubt it is that large of an effect.

I have put maybe 100 000 miles on cars with 3-4* of camber over the years and have always had tires lasting a normal amount of time in relation to their rubber durometer and my driving style.

Until someone provides some factual testing data with a solid control I am going to keep to the mindset that this is a myth from people lowering without an alignment and blaming their tire wear on the visible camber change when it is really a toe related issue associated with lowering.

time to send this to mythbusters...