Hey everyone!

I am sorry if this has been asked before. I tried to search the forums but wasn't able to find this question.

I just recently purchased an '05 R52 and just took it in for a new set of tires and an alignment. But, the shop that I took it to wasn't able to get the front right camber any better than -1.2 degrees. It says that the specification is between -0.92 and -0.08 degrees.

Is this a common issue or was the shop that I went to missing something?

 

I wouldn't say it's common, but I'm fairly certain that I've seen cases reported here where the alignment shop said they couldn't get camber into the spec range. Some here are quick to advise taking it to another alignment shop, but there could also be a suspension component bent or badly worn on your car. If another shop has the same problem, suspicions shift more toward something being wrong with the car.

One apparently popular suspect for throwing out camber is "mushrooming" of the upper strut mount where the strut bolts come through the chassis under the bonnet (hood, to some). You can search "mushrooming" here to see what you can find. Basically, hitting a pothole or other large bump at speed can bend the mounting surface upward. When that part is pushed upward rather than being completely flat, you may also be able to notice that the bolts through the securing nuts are no longer all pointing straight up and parallel to each other. If the mushrooming is bad enough to take your camber out of its spec range, it's probably noticeable by visual inspection. The usual fix involves a hammer and a block of wood. Aftermarket suppliers sell plates to reinforce that area.

Another consideration is that camber and toe settings are not independent of one another; as one changes, so does the other. Maybe the alignment guy sacrificed camber spec to get a good toe setting.

To many, -1.2 degrees is not terribly bad. In fact, some would be pleased to be able to get that much without camber plates, assuming they could get that much on both sides.

 

Has the car been lowered? Mine has and thats about where I am at. If it has then you need adjustable plates to get it to anything different.

 

Good point. I forgot about lowering effects on camber. That should increase negative camber at each corner though.

 

Lowering only has a minimal effect on the front camber. Lowering does greatly change the rear camber.
What is the camber measurement for the left front?
If the front left and right are much different, I would also suspect strut tower mushrooming.
If the front left and right have similar camber, maybe someone has added fixed camber plates to increase the negative camber for better handling.
As already stated, -1.2 camber is a good thing (for handling) as long as both sides have a similar camber measurement.

 

Was the check done with somebody in the car? You might find that if you are in it and then the camber is measured both sides might be closer, which is a good thing. Kind of depends on how you load the car how you would want the settings to be.