Rear Negative Camber Correction 996

[augr]

I have 285/35/19's on the back of my 996 and the camber is so negative it wears the inner side of the tire quickly. I have no more room for adjustment.

Is there a camber correction kit I can slap on this thing (without spending a small fortune) or am I looking at a lifetime of premature tire wear? Thanks!

[Pacific996]

Isn't the rear also alignable?

[David G]

I have 285/30/18 on the back of mine and have not really noticed this. Some would ask if you are using Porsche approved "N" spec tires that are designed for the suspension? I Don't know if I agree with that though.

You are going the opposite way of most people. Generally speaking most kits are designed to add more negative camber. Just take the corners a little harder it will wear the outside more and even things out. Just kidding...

I also have a BMW X5 and this issue comes up a lot on those boards. The general feeling there is you can do it, but you will negatively effect the handling of the car and may even make it unpredictable.

[richard abbott]

I have a 2002 C4s with the same problem. I'm scheduled this Wednesday to replace the tires and get the camber adjusted at my local Porsche dealer. I'll let you know what happens.

[augr]

Thanks guys. I am unfortunately maxed out on the camber adjustment on the rear unless I go aftermarket rods which run for $1K.

I tried the fast cornering thing but my arm is bruised from the wife....I'm also deaf in the right ear from her screaming

Seriously though, I think I'm just too big on my wheels. It looks so nice with the 19's though I may have to just eat it and drop the $1K because I am definitly not going with a smaller wheel. Not sure what it will do to handling...may have to make some calls to see if the effect will be too negative.... or I'll just have to just live with the tire wear.... I could have bought a Prius and avoided all this.... NAH!

[Wayne 962]

When you put the wheels on, did you lower the car down as a result? When you lower to car too low, then you butt up against the limits for 996 rear camber and need to go with something like Tarett's rear camber arms.

-Wayne

[augr]

Yep pretty much Wayne. I'll replace them one of these weekends. For now my Ducati is providing all the fun!


Here she is from the side.




Here she is from the rear

[richard abbott]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had the same issues of excessive wear on the inside on my tires. I had the tires replaced and had a four wheel allighnment done by my local Porsche dealer. The dealer gave me a printout (in color) to show which allignments were in spec and which were out, along with what the allignment should be. The results showed that both rear tires were out of spec on camber and toe. The right rear was the worse for camber, going from a negative 1.8 degrees to a negative 1.2 degree adjustment. Doesn't seem very much, but time will tell. It does drive better and the tire smell I used to have has gone away. I personally don't buy the tire dust on the muffler, especially when one tire has the odor and the other doesn't, but that is just me. Maybe this will help. My car is a 2002 C4S with 27K miles. To my knowledge, there never has been any other adjustment for camber. Good luck.

[dmorgan]

FYI:

My car a 1999 996 has the same issue, I have had it in to Porsche dealers multiple times and alignment looks OK on the machine. The tires show inner wear on the rear similar to the above issue. I think the problem is there is not enough adjustment on the rear camber. The rear camber arms or control links do not allow adjustment on stock 996 applications. After market or Performance upgrades can be added that allow these suspension points to become adjustable, as they should have been in the first place by design, my opinion.

Ref: http://www.******auto.com/ShowItem/253525%20Porsche%20996%20-%20997%20Rear%20Adjustable%20Control%20Arm%20Set.a spx

D

[dmorgan]

Here is a better link to what I was talking about...

http://www.******auto.com/UserData/Images/Large/253525.jpg

D

[Jamikest]

dmorgan: your links didn't load.
Rear camber is absolutely adjustable on a stock 996/997.

A few things to consider:
Any lowering of the vehicle, as the OP has done, changes the suspension geometry drastically! There are PROPER ways to lowering a 911, and simply slamming it isn't the "proper" way (IE: his tire wear). Keep in mind the following is for a stock 996/997:

Tire wear on the inside edge happens due to negative camber. The car is designed to have negative camber. Negative camber increases traction in corners. Highway queens tend to show more wear on the inside edge than cars that are driven.
Depending on driving habits- 8k-12k is normal rear tire life on a 996/997. Some drivers can stretch it with a NON-factory alignment specification to 18k. Some drivers get 2k miles with lots of track use. So- overall tire life can be 2k-18k depending on your driving.

That being said- I have set up GT3s with almost 2 degrees negative camber. After track use, they come out smooth- worn straight across. Street 996/997 should have about -1.3 degrees of camber. The way the car is driven plays a huge part in how the tire wears. If you aren't driving the car hard, you predominantly ride on the inside edge. That is by the design of the car. Why? because the car is meant to be driven!

[ida]

dear sir,

I have pretty much the same problem on my 996, what appeared finally to be the solution ?

regards, Ivan

[ida]

Dear all,

hereby pictures of my 996 lowered with 19" alloys, same problem inner side wears terribly.
What is the solution ?

[IMG]d:\ida\Desktop\996[/IMG]