Changed my oil today and took a look at my front tires. I noticed the insides are now worn bald so it’s time for new front tires. I then took my car in for an alignment check and everything is still within factory spec.

Pics of the passenger side taken from front of car:




Some background: I got my Eibach springs when they first came out and drove without camber arms because they were not available yet. I then got the Eibach camber arms as soon as they were available.

Turns out the damage was already done by the time the camber arms were put in. Through normal wear, the inside obviously became bald faster than the outside. Lesson learned … 1) Either get camber arms when you lower your car, or 2) Do not get camber arms and deal with side to side tire rotation to even out tire wear.

 

Thanks for the tip, Terry. You're referring to getting the front camber kit, right?

How long between side-to-side rotations, would you figure, without the kit? Every rotation schedule? I already rotate F-R every 7.5k.

 

Good info Terry.
I'm a little surprised at how narrow the wear pattern is on the inside.
How long did you run w/o camber correction.
Also, what was the actual toe setting post-drop?

 

wait I thought they don't sell the camber adjustment for the front wheels?

Also I thought you can't rotate the Front and Rear tires? They're different sizes correct? You meant rotate the front side to side so passenger side goes onto drivers side and vice versa correct?

Oh and Terry your tire wear doesn't seem that bad compared to mine:



lol you'd be happy to know I changed my tires 2 days ago, it's made a world of a difference

 

Toe spec is 0 - 0.08 degrees
camber spec is -1.1 - 0.4 degrees

WITHOUT camber arms:
Toe: L=0.04, R=0.02
camber: L=-1.7, R=-2.2

WITH camber arms:
Toe: L=0.07, R=0.05
Camber: L=-0.5, R=-1

Springs went on at 2266 miles. Camber arms went on at 22, 523 miles ... BUT I ran with stock wheels and tire for a while (6-7 months?) and didn't note mileage when my 20" wheels and tire went on.

 

So is there a camber kit for the front?

 

^ YES by SPC. Don't have the part #

 

Yeah, but you're looking at around $450 plus increased alignment fees down the road because the adjustment is more time intensive when using front camber arms.

 

I'm not sure about the price, but the alignment itself is no more expensive at Firestone. For sure they cover it with their lifetime alignment which is why I get mine checked every oil change. As a matter of fact, depending on what my new tires will be, I may be switching to having it checked once a month. 20" tire are not cheap

FWIW, once my caster and camber were set, they have never changed.

@Defratos ... yours actually look much more even than mine. I still have a lot of tread everywhere else except the inside. Someone without a camber kit can still get some decent use out of mine.

 

Terry,

I am sort of at a loss on this one. I thought the idea of having a camber kit would make the wear be even? Your tires look like a notch is taken out on the inside! This is with the camber kit? I am just astonished how thin that wear is. It's a moot point for me, since I'm still at stock height, but I have considered coilovers and tire wear is my big concern. (besides the price of good coilovers)

 

Let me clarify ... What I meant to say is that I would recommend the front camber kit if your car can not be brought back into factory alignment specs. Do it as soon as possible or don't bother and try doing side to side rotation to get max life out of the tire (depending on tire design of course).

In my case, I added the kit much later AFTER lowering which really didn't help because the damage (uneven tread wear) was already done before I got the camber kit in.