Are these camber bushings adjustable?

[inquirer]

I was looking at this camber bush kit and I wonder if I'm missing something...

According to the fitting instructions the inner tube that is the part that alters the camber angle is pushed in position while the arm is off the vehicle.

So, can it be adjusted at an alignment shop or should the arm be taken off again? And if the arm should be off the car for any adjustment to take place, how is the adjustment supposed to be carried out, blindly?

 

[WobblyElvis]

Contact the customer support line?

 

[inquirer]

Contact the customer support line?

Just sent an email to the company. It probably isn't adjustable though and that does not make much sense.

 

[WobblyElvis]

Perhaps the bushing is pushed in...not all the way, everything installed and alignment measured. Then everything removed and the bushing is rotated a set amount as indicated in a manufacturer's chart. Re-installed and yur good to go. Wishful thinking?

 

[inquirer]

Perhaps the bushing is pushed in...not all the way, everything installed and alignment measured. Then everything removed and the bushing is rotated a set amount as indicated in a manufacturer's chart. Re-installed and yur good to go. Wishful thinking?

Removing and reinstalling the arm would mess with the alignment. When removing certain parts of the suspension, after reinstalling them you have to take the car for an alignment even if they are not adjustable.

 

[D60]

Completely wrong thread!!

 

[inquirer]

@D60

Wrong thread? I don't think any of the things you wrote have the slightest relation with alignment, they aren't even suspension related.

 

[IndyIan]

I think you should be able to rotate the "crush tube" fairly easily inside the bushing? The outer tube and bushing get pressed into the arm, but rotating the inner "crush tube" gives the adjustment. You might have to take the whole piece out to rotate the crushtube on the bench, but its only a couple bolts.
To get close on the first try, if all the bushings in the rear suspension are good now, measure the camber you have now on each side with a plumb line. Then do some measurements on the suspension members and do some geometry to get how much offset you need to get the camber you want.

 

[Rand]

looks like its 2 orientations only?
"Performance Alignment - adds +/- 0.5deg camber"
that is the settings + or - .5deg
not infinitely adjustable?

 

[Mainia]

I am a +1 on Rand's post.

 

[thescreensavers]

It's an eccentric bushing, just like an eccentric alignment bolt it allows a total range of 1deg of adjustment +/-0.5.

It needs to be timed appropriately but you'd have to rotate the inner crush sleeve which likely requires removing the arm. Once you tighten the bolt it won't rotate anymore.

 

[inquirer]

I think you should be able to rotate the "crush tube" fairly easily inside the bushing? The outer tube and bushing get pressed into the arm, but rotating the inner "crush tube" gives the adjustment. You might have to take the whole piece out to rotate the crushtube on the bench, but its only a couple bolts.
To get close on the first try, if all the bushings in the rear suspension are good now, measure the camber you have now on each side with a plumb line. Then do some measurements on the suspension members and do some geometry to get how much offset you need to get the camber you want.

Removing an arm and reinstalling it can by itself mess the alignment as the arms don't always sit at an exact position. I'm not 100% sure if that's the case if only the camber arm is removed, but when I removed all the arms in the rear in order to install poly bushings, without removing the trailing arm, the alignment was all over the place. In some cases that can be true for removing and reinstalling a single arm.

Even if removing and reinstalling the camber arms does not affect the alignment by itself, having to measure the angle then remove the arms for a blind adjustment and then repeating the process is not really convenient.

By the way, I contacted the company, but they didn't give a straight answer about the adjustment process, so I emailed them again asking them to clarify how the adjustment really works. (They only said that the arms have to be taken off for the bushings installation, but they pretty much didn't explain anything about the adjustment process.)

looks like its 2 orientations only?
"Performance Alignment - adds +/- 0.5deg camber"
that is the settings + or - .5deg
not infinitely adjustable?

What do you mean by infinite, ± 90°?

It's an eccentric bushing, just like an eccentric alignment bolt it allows a total range of 1deg of adjustment +/-0.5.

It needs to be timed appropriately but you'd have to rotate the inner crush sleeve which likely requires removing the arm. Once you tighten the bolt it won't rotate anymore.

Yes, I know what it is and how it works. But that means certain issues may arise during adjustment as I wrote above in my reply to @IndyIan.

 

[IndyIan]

I guess if you want exact alignments that are easy to adjust, you need threaded rear top links, not these. With some extra work, you could get a precise alignment, but these are mostly just made to add "more" rear camber.

Is your car anywhere near the maximum rear camber you want? My fwd cars I set up for autocross needed more front camber, so I just added "more" as equally as I could without an alignment other than me setting the toe. I was nowhere near too much camber, so I didn't worry about exact numbers.

 

[inquirer]

I guess if you want exact alignments that are easy to adjust, you need threaded rear top links, not these. With some extra work, you could get a precise alignment, but these are mostly just made to add "more" rear camber.

Is your car anywhere near the maximum rear camber you want? My fwd cars I set up for autocross needed more front camber, so I just added "more" as equally as I could without an alignment other than me setting the toe. I was nowhere near too much camber, so I didn't worry about exact numbers.

On the front axle both wheels have a positive camber angle, just a little out of the manufacturers accepted range. I plan to fix that by drilling the top mounting holes of the front struts a little wider. That will give room for proper adjustment.

On the rear, one wheel has a camber of -0.9° which is in the middle of the range Mitsubishi gives for the Lancer, but the other has a -0.4° camber which is marginally out of spec. Also the difference between the 2 wheels is more than the one Mitsubishi advises. As far as I remember the difference shouldn't surpass 0.3°. By the way, the difference is visible to the bare eye! I guess installing adjustable camber arms is the only proper solution for the rear axle.