Dick Taylor wrote:
> Now for the "3 degrees of negative camber". (I think that's what you're
> referring to) If not. disregard the rest of this blurb.
> The shims between the trailng arm bracket and the frame
> won't do anything to cure this somewhat severe lean-in. (They're for
> wheel alignment.) My choice is about 1/2 degree neg., or leaning in
> about 1/4" at the top of the tire, from true vertical. This somewhat
> tricky setting is the result of spring length, spring rate, and what
> kind of trailing arm brackets you have. (There are three kinds, each
> with a different "notched" I.D. The kind of lean-in that you have MAY be
> dialed out with a spring spacer added to the bottom, on the spring
> perch. This is not ideal for an auto X setup, but can help with ridding
> this much negative camber. To see if it's just a weak spring on one
> side, swap it with the other side as a check. There's about a jillion
> ways to change camber, and some is tedious work. If you're a car
> hobbyist, you'll soon find many of them!
I agree with everything you said, but don't forget that the three types of
trailing arm brackets can also be installed upside down and each of the six
possible settings for each bracket will result in a slightly different
mounting point height relative to the frame.
For each trailing arm, as has been pointed out before, there are 6 x 6 = 36
possible ways to mount the brackets. It's possible to vary the camber over a
range of more than 10 degrees in this way. For a complete list, dig out
Brian Lanoway's post on the subject from the Triumph List archives.
While adding spacers to the springs will also produce changes in camber,
remember that both methods will have an effect on ride height and weight
distribution - you may end up with the camber you want only to find that the
car itself is listing to one side or the other.
Clever chaps, the British.
Jim Hill
Madison WI
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