johntorg

I was checking the camber on the rear of my 84 944cup car and discovered that the LR was at 0 degrees. I also found that the two bolts holding the steel trailing arm to the spring plate (not really sure what to call it) were loose. I am talking about the two bolts that form a triangle with the camber adjusting eccentric.

I adjusted the eccentric and ended up with 4 degrees negative. I re-adjusted it and now have around 3 degrees negative. I can't seem to get any less. To adjust I am removing the wheel, loosening the two bolts and eccentric and moving the eccentric, tightening everything up, reinstalling the wheel, lowering the car and then checking the camber.

The problem I have is that I don't know which direction to turn the eccentric. The eccentric moves the trailing arm up and down, but which way decreases and which way increases camber.

Since the shop manual isn't very clear, there is a distinct possibility that I'm doing this wrong.

Any and all help greatly appreciated

Todsimpson

The way it works on a 911 is as the front of the trailing arm goes UP you gain negative camber. In this case, on the drivers side that means the trailing arm is rotating clockwise relative to the spring plate to get negative. Looking at some 944 diagrams I believe it is the same as the 911.

If you went all the way to 4 degrees negative, you likely spun the adjuster all the way around, or at least 180 degrees. Turn it whichever way brings the front section of the trailing arm down relative to the springplate. I've had this issue many times, if you have monoballs the suspension wants to go to the most negative setting.

I adjust the camber like you do-car up, disassemble, adjust, reassemble and car down. FWIW I did determine that the relationship of camber change while on the lift was the same as the camber change on the ground. If I needed .3 more negative on the ground I would measure the camber change at the rotor with everything loosened, and use that as a reference for my adjustments.

It's pretty cool to turn that eccentric and watch the rotor lean over. :-)

trackjunky

you loosend the nuts too much and the camber eccentric slipped outside of the spring plate. Did the exact same thing.

you can either:

A. use ratchet straps to pull the bottom of the wheel in and get the camber right
B. jack up the car and take weight off the rear wheel, then move the spring plate around by hand to get it and the camber eccentric re-engaged.

I have two brand new camber eccentrics in case you gauled yours.

The eccentrics have a very small shoulder and where they meet up with the spring plate is less something like 1/8" thick. Easy mistake to make.

Next time only loosen the nut like 1/4-1/2 turn and then rotate the eccentric.

johntorg

I marked the end of the ecentric bolt and did move it more than 180 degrees. The eccentric still moves the trailing arm up and down, so I assume its still engaged. I will put a magnetic bubble type camber gauge on the rotor and try to see if I can adjust the camber to 2 degrees. This should be easier now that I know that the front trailing arm should go down to decrease the mount of negtive camber.

Thanks for the help

RedlineMan

Hey;

You only loosen the bolts just enough to move things. It's a fine line between having so much tension you abrade all the eccentric surfaces, and being so loose it flops.

Take it to a shop and get it re-aligned. You're just chasing your tail. One of the reasons you can't get back to reasonable camber is that the toe has gone wacky too. Even if you didn't touch the toe, they are inter-dependant and must be adjusted simultaneously. It is impossible to do well without it being on an alignment rack, and even then it is a PITA!

Dumbest system I have ever seen, and easily the worst part of a 944.

Van

The early 944s have the eccentric built in? The later cars have 3 "clamp" bolts and then you use an "eccentric tool" to adjust both toe and camber.

924RACR

Also realize that the camber adjustment range will be affected by how far the car has been lowered; the lower she goes, the more camber you'll have. I think I struggle to get below about 2.5 deg in the rear of my car, with a ride height of 5.25" at the rocker.

The eccentric built in on the early cars is only for camber - you need tool P221 to control toe as well.

Doing it at home is fine, sounds like you have the needed measurement tools - you just need to get that P221 tool so you can control toe as well. Otherwise you're gonna have poor control of the alignment, and it's gonna take many times what it should to set.

johntorg

I have made a commitment to becoming independent of an alignment shop for my track car. Its too much hassle to load the car up bring to to a shop, off load it, get it aligned by somone who won't take the time to do it right, and reload the car. I also won't have to deal with getting a lowered car on and off the alignment rack. I have ordered the P221 tool which will help me adjust the toe, for which I will use parallel strings. After I do the best alignment I can I will bring it to a shop one last time to check my results. I have been looking at the 928 forum alignment threads, which use a laser level for adjusting toe. That will be my next project.

I have been snugging up the other bolts prior to adjusting the eccentric, but I did over loosen them at first, causing everything to drop.

924RACR

I really like using toe plates for setting toe - real quick and easy. Only downside is no true center measurement, only a measurement of total toe. Then again, I can usually find center once I drive the car...

I agree - alignment shops just aren't gonna give the level of service we want, not for a reasonable price.

johntorg

Do you use toe plates against the tire or the rim? It seems as if you adjust both tie rod ends equally, the wheel should stay centered. Do you use turning plates under the wheels?

924RACR

They don't touch the rim, only the tire. Keep in mind the rear toe adjustment too...

No, I don't use turning plates under the wheels - just roll it out.

M758

Rear camber and toe are linked. Also the lower the car gets the harder it is to get the toe and camber where you want it. Currently run my 944 at about 4" to the rockers and -2.5 is about as little rear camber as I can get. Also one side of the car is outside the adjustment range for toe. So I sometimes use a tie down to pull the rear wheel in get the slight toe in I am looking for. It sounds crude, but still works in the end.


Now if you do all that and it still does not work loosend everythign and move it all around and start over. Sometimes that an get things to come in where you need them.


John,
Yeah it is hokey to have that kind of rear aligment system, but the good news is that we can lower snot out of the cars and get the toe and camber right even if it does take time. Many other cars you just can't get there for anything.

johntorg

Thanks for all the help. I ran a Seatime event on Friday at Roebling Road, after adjusting the camber front and rear. I had -3.5 degrees in front and -2 on the RR -3 on the LR. The car was a lot better than the week before when I discovered the 0 camber on the LR. I didn't have time to mess with the toe. I will go back and adjust the LR camber and setup the toe Front and Rear. How does -3.5 front and -2 rear sound for RA-1s? For R6s?

M758

I run -3.5 front and -2.5 rear. This is for RA-1 and 350lbs front springs and 30 mm t-bars.

Cory M

I saved these pictures a while back, maybe they'll help: