Alignment issues please advise.

[FirstGen]

I have a 1977 911S turbo look. I have a set of 18x8.5 up front and 18x10.5 on the rear. Car is lowered about 1-1.5 inches. Car is street driven only no track time however I like to have a little fun.

My problem is that I cannot get any less than -2 degrees camber in the rear and -1.5ish degrees of camber in the front. What can I do to remedy this problem? All bushings are in good shape. The adjusters are just maxed out?

My book specs call for about -0.5 up front and -1.0 in the rear of camber. Is this correct?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Taylor

[FirstGen]

does anyone have any ideas?

[911 tweaks]

cant say for certain, but, your wheels are awefully large. What is the wheel & tire history on this car. Did you just put these on? do they fit or they rubbing...especially on turns? You seem to be beyond the max dia and width...

[Zeke]

I guess if this is a street only car and used occasionally for "a little fun," your alignment aspirations seem in order. However, most would like that -2 in the rear. Usually there is a 2-3 degree range that the rears can be adjusted to with some fidgeting. So, it seems you are saying that yours will go from -2 to around -4, which is unheard of. I'll wait to see comments on that.

Meanwhile, on the front, you have more options. If the car is not to see the track, you can elongate the holes to attain your spec. You should not have to do this and why you'd have to do this to get to -.5 is still going to be the question. Lowering the car that much does have a profound effect on the camber, but you take the word profound to new dimensions.

I guess I don't need to ask, but do you need to run that low? Is the rest of the suspension sorted to run that low? Are you bottoming out on your shocks? Look at the angle of the a-arms as the car sits normally. Are they parallel to the ground or slightly angled down towards the outside? If they are tipped to where the out board end is higher than the inboard, you are too low to run with struts.

People who know much more than I have pointed this out. I'm just being a parrot for your benefit. Maybe someone like Steve Weiner or Steve Alarcon will chime in. Or Dave B. There are many more, too, just can't think of all.

Searching and reading suspension threads yields a lot of info as well. Might not be exactly what you're asking and I've not seen this exact problem here before. Good luck with it.

[FirstGen]

I do appreciate both replys. I think the wheels make the car. I love them and have no intention of changing them.
I don't think the car is too low and sits very normal in my opinion. The lower arm is pretty much level.

I guess it could be unheard of to have -3.5+ degrees but that is what the hunter alignment racks read. I am mostly concerned with wearing out the insides of a 700 dollar set of rear tires. I will try enlongating the holes up front as I don't see any other option there. What options do I have for the rear?

If I raise the rear of the car will that increase or decrease camber? I would think it decrease negative camber, meaning go more positive?

Please note that I have since this picture raised the rear a full inch.

Thanks again.

[Zeke]

Raising will result in less negative camber. And, I agree on the inside tire wear. No sense in running a bunch of negative camber primarily on the street. It could be the person using the Hunter is not understanding what it takes to align the rear trailing arms. It's a bit of "I do this and then that happens" kind of work. You can't just set the rear toe and then set the camber and not look back. Each affects the other, so you end up going back and forth between the two, getting closer with each set of adjustments.

In order to dial in the rear, I had to have the rear tires off, have a laser jig on the hub which was resting on a block with the car's full weight on it and have a small jack handy to put some lift on the spring plate in order to get the 2 bolts on the arm where I wanted them. (follow that? )The eccentric adjuster bolts are not that easy to maneuver with load on the suspension. I think I also did it once with the torsion bars out and the car set at the exact ride height, but on blocks with the tires/wheels on. I did all of this, not to align the car myself, but just get the car "close" so I could take it in. The car drove so well, I never did take it in. I'm sure the alignment boys have this figured out. But, they also have a rack to work under the car. Still, it usually takes someone who has done more than a few 911's.

The front is the same, but easier to do. One camber adjustment and one toe (assuming it was close to start with) and that usually gets it in my experience. I've only built 3 of these front ends, so I'm by far not the expert.

[stlrj]

My spec book calls for +0.5 degrees front and 0 degress rear for a '77.
The only way you could get those numbers is by raising it up to factory spec. and with big rubber it would be a good idea to get it to 0 all around to take full advantage of the big foot print.

[Al S]

I had the same issue installing some fat rubber on my SC, and couldn't get more than 1.5 deg camber, so I slotted the hole in the spring plate with a dremel, then inserted some thick steel shims (3mm total).

Measure the width of the slot before opening it up, and maintain the slot width with the shims added.

[FirstGen]

Thanks for all the help everyone!