The owner of the shop i went to today said a camber kit is always neccessary and keeping the toe zeroed has nothing to do with it... I'm not calling you a liar but can you, or anyone elaborate on "keeping the toe zeroed"?

 

camber is the "top to bottom" angle of the wheel, toe is "left to right" angle... the shop owners want you to buy a camber kit from them... they're definitely a good idea but a bit of negative camber helps the car handle better, I don't think they're totally necessary...

right now I don't have a camber kit installed, we shall see how my tires wear

 

if you dont want to buy tires every few months get camber kits and if you ever go to a track you can make adjustments

 

i buy front tires almost 3 times a year cuz my camber was soooo bad if u can see that its only wearing in the inside i say get a camber kit

 

watch your tire wear closely.. this will tell you if you need a camber kit.

negative camber does make the car hug the road a little bit more.

I've seen crazy negative camber before, and crazy tire wear. they needed a camber kit.

i think if you take a little air out of the tires it can slow tire-wear from too much neg camber. don't quote me tho...

 

I say spend the extra money and get a camber kit and do it right, just for insurance...they also are waaaay easier to make adjustments too, that's why I got a kit. I got an ebay kit and its held great, I think I got lucky though haha.

 

I had brand new tires on my hatch when I got it, drove it for a year lowered around 1-1.5", no camber kit, only had the toe set to zero, and the tires barely wore at all

Depending how low you go, you won't need a camber kit. Toe is what kills tires. People have said this a million times, it's always people saying that a shop said they need a kit. Why do they say this? To make money, or they are just ignorant.

 

I agree. Everything I have heard says if your toe is perfect the effects of the camber will be minimal. But if toe is off a little bit the camber maximizes the tire wear. I would get a camber kit if it was me but not from a shop. It will prly be alot.

 

yes you should get a camber kit people always say that camber dont wear tires but that is not true it may not wear as quick as toe but it will wear ur tires unevenly, camber kit is like insurance ur tires will last longer

 

camber will wear tires a little, but not nearly as bad as toe. Camber wears just the inside, and won't wear too bad, but toe will eat them all over and fast.

 

this has been covered many times. i have been running without a camber kit for 5 years. this is my 3rd winter (winter's here last 5-6 months) on the same set of snow tires and we all know how fast those wear (lowered to less than one finger gap). do the washer trick in the rear to shim the rear upper control out some, and have a shop set your toe to zero all the way around. run the factory specified air pressure and you will see minimal wear. Then just keep up with rotating you tires. i use to see abnormal tire wear until i had my toe zeroed. camber will take some life away from your tires(not very noticeable), but your main culprit to tire wear is toe. hope this helped. i think camber kits are a waste, unless your slammed. keep in mind: The front adjustable upper control arms can sometimes slip-throwing your alignment off, and they can also hit the tops of your inner fenders.

 

I'm not quite sure what my negative camber was last time, but my wheels are definitely much closer to zero than last time. so i'm not too worried about the camber kit at the moment, but once i go lower I'll check it out. Im thinking the shops are pushing the camber kits just to make money, because the guy also told me that my car couldn't go any lower becuase it would be undriveable... my tires were tucked much further than this new set and I got around just fine.

thanks all on the posts

 

I would say it depends on how bad your tires get destroyed (if that even happens.)

When I got my del sol it was 9 inches off the ground (from lower bumper to floor it was on) and I ended up dropping it down to 3 inches (from lower bumper to floor it was on) and I have not had ANY problems with irregular tire wear. I also still clear speed bumps easily (only 1 speed bump in my area I cant cross but so cant many many many cars that haven't been lowered) My tires also aren't at their fullest PSI (it should be 32? its in the 20's....).

It all depends. Drive it around for awhile (few months) and then see how the tires wore down. If it seems like even wear then hell with it. If it is uneven (outside more tread then inside) by a lot then get the camber kit.

I plan on getting Buddy Club Extended Ball joints. It puts your lower control arm back into its oem position while still having the car lowered which is better for handling. If that messes up my tires, then I'll get a camber kit. Until then, its stock.