Checking front end camber?

[WmWatt]

Could not remember which way the front struts came off so may have them on backwards affecting camber. How could check? I only need to know if the camber is wrong so I can take off the struts and put them on the right way 'round (turn the tops 180 degrees).

I did paint dots on the fender and bolt heads some time ago but the paint has come off the bolt heads. The tops of the struts on my car have the little nipples on one side so you can tell which side is which but I can't remember which way they went either. I looked at the photo of an engine in the Haynes manual and put the nipples on that way but there's not guarantee that's a standard way to do it. Also there is some paint on the top of the struts which must have been done at the factory, but again, |I don't know which way the paint is supposed to face.

Thanks for any help with this.

[Bert]

Park the car on a level surface and use a spirit level to see which orientation is closest to plumb. There are only two choices thank goodness. Other option is to drive the car and judge which is most comfortable and easiest to steer and track.

[WmWatt]

I've been searching the Internet to understand camber. I assume the Festiva uses negative camber. Would that be correct? How much negative camber is recommended? I've found out how to measure camber at home so only need to know what it should be. Thanks.

PS One of the stuts has lock washers on the bolts but the other has none. I though that was a mistake but is that how they set the angle at the factory? Do in I need to add or remove lock nuts when replacing struts?

[navdoc101]

I'm not sure myself, but when eurotiva( Greg) did my Aspire front suspension swap he put both nipples inboard.
Everything seems fine to me.
Hope that helps .

[WmWatt]

Thanks navdoc. That's what they are in the photo in the Haynes manaul.

Looking in the suspension forum I found a recommendation of negative 5 degrees camber for street driving (zero for racing).

BTW for alignment I remember 1/8" toe in recommended when I checked mine last year using the string wrapped around wheels method.
On the Internet I found a modification where the string is stretched between two axle stands set the same distance from the front and rear hubs.
(A straight line being the shortest distance between two points. )

[WmWatt]

It was easy after looking at camber on wikipedia to check with a one foot carpenter's square which has a level. Putting it up against the rim showed the wheel was leaning out (positive camber) whereas it should be leaning in (negative camber), so I'll have to loosen off the struts and turn the tops 180 degrees, and mark them so I'll know next time.

[denguy]

Could the camber being off cause a vibration at 55 mph?

[WmWatt]

denguy: the only camber effects of which I've heard are cornering and uneven tire wear. I've heard that alignment, wheel balancing, and tie rod ends can cause shimmy. I installed my snow tires on rims myself and they vibrated at that about speed (80kph). Now that they are off the car for the summer season I'll take them in for balancing before putting them on for next winter. I had the summer tires balanced over the winter and they didn't vibrate. (This was before I started playing around with the struts.)

[Bert]

Having tires dynamically balanced is definitely advantageous. They 'bounce' ever so slightly on the road at high speeds if you don't, and whatever imbalance you started with will only get worse as the tires gradually go out of round as a consequence.
Castor/camber will change when you cut the springs so I'd be doing that first. There is no real need to put lockwashers on the top hat nuts; but don't overlook putting one on the physical through connection that holds the spring.