OK I tried a search for this but found no answers. I love the way rear nagative camber looks on aftermarket wheels, and I'm curious roughly whats the max degrees of negative camber most Z's can do without eating up rear tires?

 

-1.75 to -2 camber settings I think is stock.

I run -2.50 but I drive mostly at track events. It's fairly aggressive and yes the tires get beat up on the inside treads, both front an rear. If you stick with stock you'll get some negative camber which looks good and sacrifices less tire wear.

 

from the service manual

Camber
Degree minute (Decimal degree)
Minimum - 2° 05′ (- 2.08°)
Nominal - 1° 35′ (- 1.58°)
Maximum - 1° 05′ (- 1.08°)
Total toe-in Distance (A - B)
Minimum
0.2 mm (0.008 in) [17 inch tire]
1.1 mm (0.043 in) [18 inch tire]
Nominal
1.0 mm (0.039 in) [17 inch tire]
1.9 mm (0.075 in) [18 inch tire]
Maximum
1.8 mm (0.071 in) [17 inch tire]
2.7 mm (0.106 in) [18 inch tire]

the 2 most critical things are making sure rear toe is in spec - that can wreck a set of even new tires in no time. The second thing is making sure rear camber/toe are even side to side. Doing so will ensure good tire life (relative to the tire you are using of course) and predictable handling no matter what direction the car is travelling

 

So If I make sure my toe aligned correctly and the camber/toe is equal on both sides does that mean I can get away with alittle more camber than the manual suggest? Or should I just go with the max degrees the manual states?

 

for sure you can run more negative that the service manual suggests - you won't start compromising tire life till you are in the 2.5 to 3 degree range out back. Just use the above as a guide. Of course it all comes down to what you are using the car for. A car on street tires is not going to see any benefit performance wise by running more than ~ 2 degrees camber front or rear. Not only does it reduce straight line traction, but it can make the car twitchy during switchbacks, and also tramline badly on many roads (where it follows the grooves in the road as opposed to tracking straight). Just remember that camber and toe change with one another - change one, the other changes automatically.

If tracking the car, the absolute best thing you can do is buy a tire pyrometer, and let the tire tell you what pressure/camber it wants to be at. Each tire has a sweet spot for these things and it is determined by many different factors

 

I am currently at 0 toe. Is that bad?

 

I run 0 toe on my own car ^

 

Thanks Z1, the info helped me a ton! I think I'll try a tad more than -2 degree on the rear and see how it works out. As long as I can get some nice visible negative camber out back when I get my wheels I'll be happy.

Until now I didn't know the exact word for what I've been experiencing but I get some pretty nasty tramline now on some messed up roads sometimes. It's always when there is is uneven humps and grooves in the road and I only notice it when I'm braking. When I'm braking it's like the car is trying to follow those grooves. Since it happens to me when I'm braking does that mean I already have too much negative camber in the front already?

 

does that also happen on good roads? is it only under hard stops?

 

Nah it never happened on good roads just on really bad roads that have like uneven grooves in them under somewhat hard braking.

 

you're going to get that no matter what your suspension set up is. typically higher performance tires will exaggerate it.


tire rack has a good article about tramlining
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=47

 

Thanks, I'm gonna read up on it right now.