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TR6 TR6 rear camber help

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ichthos

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Hello,

My rear tires were wearing to the inside on both sides at about the same rate. I think I had the classic TR6 rear sag. Since I was getting ready to put on new tires anyway, I decided it would be a good time to replace my rear springs with new standard springs from TRF. I replaced both springs, put on my new tires - just installed on their freshly powdercoated wheels, lowered the car, and.....more problems. The right tire looks like it is almost straight up and down with maybe a negative camber of about 1/8", but the left tire seems to have a positive camber of about 5/8". What did I do wrong? What else do I need to check? I have not been able to drive my car in two months and it is getting depressing. Does anybody have any suggestions on what I should do now? Any help or suggestions would greatly be apprecitated.

Kevin
 
Did you put the trailing arm mounts back on in the same positions they came off?

Your car came from the factory with two different mounts. One with one bump, the other with two on the angled surface. After altering the springs on my car so many years ago, I don't remember the original configuration, but I'm sure somebody out there can check their car for you. That could be the problem.

Another fix is to purchase the adjustable trailing arm mounts. It can be difficult to get the perfect camber configuration with original mounts and after market springs(depending on which ones you purchased). With the upgraded mounts, you can adjust them by hand(and wrench) to the perfect camber.
 
I don't understand. I am looking at my Moss catalog, and I do not know what you mean by trailing arm mounts. All I did to replace the springs was to jack up the trailing arm, release the rear shock absorber link, lower the jack, and unbolt the axle flange bolts. I then put the spring and new spring collars in place, jacked the car back up, reattached the rear shock absorber link and reattached the rear axle flange bolts. From my Bentley manual it looks like the right side is perfect (toe in is listed as 0 to 1/16"), but the left side is way off. I don't know if it makes a difference, but my TR6 is a 69.
 
Sorry, didn't mean to confuse you. After having the entire rear suspension out of my car recently, I was thinking more one the line of that job and just not a spring change.

You can check the mounting brackets that hold the trailing arms to the frame to make certain they are positioned the same. If the brackets aren't consistent from side to side, that will make a difference.

But before you do that, have you moved the car since putting it back down onto the ground? The suspension will settle into postion once the car has moved a few feet. If you haven't moved it, push it around a little in the garage or take it for a short drive. Then see how it looks. If still bad, then check the brackets.
 
Another thing to look at is the condition of the bushings where the trailing arms pivot.
 
I recommend the Richard Good's Goodparts adjustable camber rear trailing arm mounts.

No more having to concern yourself with shims...
 
I thought the shims were for adjusting the "toe", or do these brackets adjust the "toe" as well as the camber??
 
OK, sorry but ever time I do something on this car it is normally a "first" for me - I still have lots of questions. I did take my car for a spin. On the positive side, after rebuilding the steering and putting on new tires and springs, it now rides and steers much smoother than it ever has since I owned the car. On the negative side, there is no change in the tilt of my tires. The left tire still has a positive camber of about 5/8". The right side still has a negative camber of about 1/8 inch. I just made a visual inspections, but the trailing arm bushings look ok. Does it matter how the springs were put in? There is a painted verticle stripe - I have it facing toward the inside. I am not looking forward to it, but would swapping the springs make a difference? Do the shocks have any effect on the camber? Is checking the rear toe something I can even do? Is this something I should have done professionally after I have the front end realligned? I don't see how the Goodparts adjustible trailing arm bracket can adjust the camber. If I get some of the Goodparts brackets, how easy are they to install? Do I still have to put in new trailing arm bushings? Where do I get the Goodparts brackets from, and how much do they cost? It still bothers me that I can see nothing wrong, and yet I still have the camber problem. There has still got to be something I am missing.
 
OK, sorry but ever time I do something on this car it is normally a "first" for me - I still have lots of questions. I did take my car for a spin. On the positive side, after rebuilding the steering and putting on new tires and springs, it now rides and steers much smoother than it ever has since I owned the car. On the negative side, there is no change in the tilt of my tires. The left tire still has a positive camber of about 5/8". The right side still has a negative camber of about 1/8 inch. I just made a visual inspections, but the trailing arm bushings look ok. Does it matter how the springs were put in? There is a painted verticle stripe - I have it facing toward the inside. I am not looking forward to it, but would swapping the springs make a difference? Do the shocks have any effect on the camber? Is checking the rear toe something I can even do? Is this something I should have done professionally after I have the front end realligned? I don't see how the Goodparts adjustible trailing arm bracket can adjust the camber. If I get some of the Goodparts brackets, how easy are they to install? Do I still have to put in new trailing arm bushings? Where do I get the Goodparts brackets from, and how much do they cost? It still bothers me that I can see nothing wrong, and yet I still have the camber problem. There has still got to be something I am missing.
 
Goodparts mounts can be purchased from The Roadster Factory or directly online. I want to say they cost over $100.

You must remove the trailing arms. Everything has to come apart, although I did mine without disconnecting the brake lines. This is a good time to replace the bushings if they need it. It is a matter of keeping track of how many shims are at each bracket and putting them back in as they came out. You have to make sure the new brackets are facing adjuster bolt head down. It is all pretty straight forward.

Getting the bushing out is a matter of getting a piece of threaded rod, two nuts and flatwashers. You will also need a socket or a piece of tubing that is a little larger in diameter than your bushing. If you use tubing, you must have a flatwasher that is larger than the tube. With these items, you can press the bushing out of the trailing arm and into the tube. If you have access to a hydraulic press, you don't need these items.

To press the new bushing into position, the same items will work, less the tube(or socket).

Don't waste your time trying to pound the bushings in or our with a hammer.
 
How the springs were turned shouldn't make a difference, but swapping them might. The suspension moves through an arc, so ride height directly affects camber. If one spring were taller, that side would have more positive camber. Shocks should have no effect.

Just a thought, did you replace the spring pads on both sides?

No reason you can't check toe-in yourself, just like at the front. Spin the wheels and hold a sharp object (like a knife) against the tread to form a reference line; then be sure to check the distance at the center line of the tires.
 
RonMacPherson said:
As well as, both toe and camber.
Click to expand...

Ron, now you have me confused. I was looking at a set of Goodparts adjustable camber brackets, but the ones i see on his website look like they are only for adjusting camber? I suppose you could also change ride height a small ammount as well, but I don't see any place that you can adjust the toe? Do you have a different type that adjusts toe in and out at the same time?
 
With the good parts you still need shims, to adjust only toe. Without the height adjusting brackets you would stack either the inner or outer bolt bracket with shims to obtain camber.
But this was a lot of work for subtle measurement changes.
Used to have a bunch of different thicknesses shims. But the major input on camber will be the spring height, a perfect spring packing piece can be found on 86-87 Acura Legend if you can't find the rubber or aluminum spring "packing piece".
 
To adjust the camber, you can purchase mounting brackets with the holes for the trailing arm bushing bolts in different locations. The hole locations are indicated by the number of notches in the bracket arms. They come with 1, 2 or 3 notches. In addition, you can turn the brackets over. So, you have 1 up, 2 up, 3 up or 1 down, 2 down, 3 down. Mixing the inner and outer brackets in this way will allow for adjusting the camber. For more information on using this 'factory' method of adjusting camber with the notched brackets, look in the Moss catalogue.

The alternative to getting a variety of brackets with different notches is to buy the Goodparts brackets. These have a bolt that allows you to, in effect, move the mounting hole up and down by turning the bolt.

The shims at the back have almost no impact on camber - they're just for adjusting toe.

Bryan
 
Thanks for the clarification. It has been so long since I set up the rear end of the black one that I could not remember the bracket(ry). Something was going on in my grey cells about three notches, etc and shims. But sorry if I gave the wrong info.

I remember that I had welded on several shims to my three notchers for support as they kept breaking too easily.

After goodparts came out with his adjustable brackets, I disposed of most of my brackets and shims. Might have a few but they are in the abyss pile in storage..

Again, I apologize for giving misleading information.
 
You can get a good look at the Goodparts TA Kit here to see how it all goes together. As others have pointed out, the shims are used between the brackets and the frame to adjust toe in/out. When I removed my old brackets, I just made note of how many shims were behind each bracket and then re-used them in the same place with the TA kit. The brackets themslelves are used to adjust chamber which is best explained by this Buckeye article As you can see there's lots of combinations. With the Goodparts TA Kit, you just screw the bolt up or down to adjust chamber.
 
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