Wheel alignment problems
 

My journey continues. My wheel alignment specialist could not get the front end cambers to adjust for my 86 Porsche. He loosened the bolts but still had no luck. Here are the numbers: Front:left. Camber actual minus 0.7 Before minus 0.9
Camber right actual minus 1.1, before minus 1.4
Cross camber front actual 0.4 before 0.4
Has anyone experienced this problem ? Need help!

Is your car lowered?

Very common. It can be because the car is very low, there is a bent strut, or the tar crap around the upper mount is preventing the upper mount to move as far as it should.

Almost forgot, worn or loose parts such as the strut inserts, wheel bearings, ball joints, or upper mounts, can cause this.

I, and others, have enlarged the bolt holes for the upper mounts and removed the tar, to gain more adjustment.

I had the same problem after I first got my car. Took it to a "specialist" and he could not get the camber where it should be. I asked him if my struts were OK and he said yes. A couple of weeks later, after my new front tires were cupping, I noticed one of my front strut inserts was so loose as to be knocking back and forth.

YMMV

Karl,car has never been lowered. The specialist didn’t remove any tar crap or try to loosen the rust with a torch. I don’t do any of my own work but did read that sometimes a torch is used to loosen the camber. I haven’t taken it yet to a Porsche specialist. The nearest one for me is in Greensboro North Carolina. I’m afraid to drive it 1 and one half hours with new front tires.

In my experience, camber won't typically effect tire life significantly. Toe is what will cause rapid wear of your tires. if Toe is correct, I wouldn't have any reservation to drive 1-1/2 hours if it were mine.

Here are my camber toe numbers: rear left, camber actual minus 0.9 before minus 1.0
Toe actual 0.15, before 0.12
Rear right: camber actual minus 2.2 before -2.2, tie actual 0.05 before 0.10

My SC is significantly lower than stock and running 1.3 degrees of negative camber. The wear after 20k miles is even across the tire and they're not feathered or cupped. As long as there's nothing else out of spec and no worn components, you should see great tire life.

Shooo32, I might end up taking your advice. I purchased the car in 2005 and replaced the front tires in 2009. My rear tires are fine and it took 10 years for the fronts to wear out.

Meaning you are the original owner?

No I’m not the original owner. I wish I was.

Which means that it's been lowered. That's the first thing everyone does as soon as they get their hands on them!

Also, excessive negative camber is always the result of lowering and no car from the factory comes that way. An astute alignment technician should have measured the ride height (they should have the factory specs) before even attempting to align before wasting his time or yours.


Cheers,

Joe

Joe, Maybe you or someone else on this forum can tell me what the original ride height is. My car is around 1.5 inches distance from the tire to body on the front and back. Also, I want to thank all those who have responded. Your knowledge is greatly appreciated!!

One more detail. The technician did lift the front end after is was up on the wheel alignment machine. He still was unable to adjust the cambers.

We still haven't heard the history of this car. Loose or worn parts can cause this issue. Just going to a "specialist" for an alignment leaves a lot of unanswered questions.

Gordon, The car will be seeing a mechanic on Tuesday. I will have him check out my dtruts and any loose or worn out parts. Specifically; wheel bearings,strut inserts, and ball joints.

That's because the tech is not familiar with 911s and there are no camber adjustments underneath. To be perfectly honest, the only effective way to deal with camber issues is by raising the suspension back to normal factory height which nobody is willing to do since appearance is much more important than function.

To be clear... the second wheel alignment specialist did know where the camber adjustments were located. He loosened the bolts but couldn’t budge the middle doowickee. I guess he tried a Hail Mary by placing pressure on the springs.

Thanks to Bill Verburg:

If your tech can't figure out how to do these measurements, you will need to take it to someone who does.

Cheers,

Joe

Just a reminder, you have a German car who's specs are in millimeters. Might be to your advantage to familiarize yourself with the ways they do things to avoid confusion.

Cheers,

Joe

FWIW, most will measure the distance from the wheel well, at the top, to the ground. Many will call 25.5" fr and 25" rear as "euro" height. This is not an accurate method, but it may give you a ball park as to how high your car sits.

BTW, I personally, could never make any sense out of the factory method. (flame suit on)