Negative camber on 72

Mad4slalom

CCCUK Member
Hi all , was hoping to lower my 72 a bit and introduce a bit of negative camber on the rear. Is this achieveable without buying adjustable rear links , has anyone done it , any pics of results đź‘Ťappreciated
 

Corvette

Well-known user
Neg camber is achievable with your standard strut rods, there’s loads of adjustment. I would suggest paint marking where the position they are in now. 8” spring bolts will give you a head start And make the wheel fill the arches better.
 

Mad4slalom

CCCUK Member
Neg camber is achievable with your standard strut rods, there’s loads of adjustment. I would suggest paint marking where the position they are in now. 8” spring bolts will give you a head start And make the wheel fill the arches better.
That sounds pretty easy , is the strut rod bolt on an ecentric or similar? Thank you for your help đź‘Ť
 

Corvette

Well-known user
Loosen the outer strut rod bolt by shocker, then play about with the adjustment on the inner bolt by diff. Yes it works like the lobe of a camshaft. Paint marker as although it’s a simple adjustment it’s easy to get lost from where it once was.
 

antijam

CCCUK Member
It's worth remembering that although the standard set-up gives around 0.5° of negative camber, since the strut rod is not parallel to the driveshaft, the camber will change with the rise and fall of the suspension. To get the most benefit from optimising the camber, fitting a smart strut.....
582237_582237-1.main.jpg



....will obviate this problem. This strut still has the cam adjustment on the inboard end but the rod itself is also threaded right and left hand at the bush ends. The smart strut bracket drops the inboard mounting to near parallel with the drive shaft and the cams allow this position to be adjusted to optimise parallelism. The camber adjustment is now done by slackening off the locknuts and rotating the rod. When your're happy with the camber, tighten up the locknuts. The camber will now remain constant regardless of suspension height change.
 

Mad4slalom

CCCUK Member
It's worth remembering that although the standard set-up gives around 0.5° of negative camber, since the strut rod is not parallel to the driveshaft, the camber will change with the rise and fall of the suspension. To get the most benefit from optimising the camber, fitting a smart strut.....
View attachment 8112



....will obviate this problem. This strut still has the cam adjustment on the inboard end but the rod itself is also threaded right and left hand at the bush ends. The smart strut bracket drops the inboard mounting to near parallel with the drive shaft and the cams allow this position to be adjusted to optimise parallelism. The camber adjustment is now done by slackening off the locknuts and rotating the rod. When your're happy with the camber, tighten up the locknuts. The camber will now remain constant regardless of suspension height change.
Ah ! That looks like the way to go , thank you all. , I will invrstigate the smart strutrods đź‘Ť
 

Mad4slalom

CCCUK Member
Loosen the outer strut rod bolt by shocker, then play about with the adjustment on the inner bolt by diff. Yes it works like the lobe of a camshaft. Paint marker as although it’s a simple adjustment it’s easy to get lost from where it once was.
Can i adjust with wheels on the ground or have to put it on stands. May have a play at the weekend đź‘Ť
 

antijam

CCCUK Member
Can i adjust with wheels on the ground or have to put it on stands. May have a play at the weekend đź‘Ť
It's certainly easier to carry out adjustments with the car on the ground; there will be enough compliance in the tyre walls to accommodate movement. Make sure you roll the car back and forth a few times though before checking the effect of the adjustment.
 

Forrest Gump

CCCUK regional rep
I've recently fitted threaded strut rods bought from Zip Corvette.
They're great - so easy to adjust the camber and then lock in position with the lock nuts

.......Unlike the stock "cam" design rods which I found a complete P.I.T.A to adjust and in my case, they tended to periodically move out of adjustment again.
I had originally fitted poly bushes to the stock strut rods and it was after that for some reason, I could never get them to reliably stay put - no matter how tight I did-up the locking bolt.....oh and tightening the locking bolts requires a spanner both sides or you'll move the cam again. All difficult when under the car.

I've retained the stock inboard bracket (at least for now) as I really didn't wan't those pesky cams again. I'm not sure why is adjustment actually needed to get the strut rod parallel to the driveshaft? couldn't they just design it to put the rod in the correct position? I've heard of people achieving the same thing by putting packers between bracket and diff to lower it into a parallel-to-driveshaft position.
20200725_151411.jpg

20200726_144119.jpg

Inboard End
20200726_145834.jpg

Outboard end (lock-nut not tightened yet)
20200726_151315.jpg

With the stock strut rods you will definitely need the wheels of the ground to adjust. I had the car in the air to adjust the new threaded strut rods also just to avoid straining the threads.
 

Daytona Vette

Well-known user
Half a degree is about right, one degree absolute max, but less if not standard tyre sidewall height - You can lower the back with long spring bolts, you do not need negative camber
My Strut Rods have rose joints with grease nipples - I needed to re-route the exhaust slightly to accommodate the Struts
 

Mad4slalom

CCCUK Member
Half a degree is about right, one degree absolute max, but less if not standard tyre sidewall height - You can lower the back with long spring bolts, you do not need negative camber
My Strut Rods have rose joints with grease nipples - I needed to re-route the exhaust slightly to accommodate the Struts
i would like it a bit lower but also with some negative camber just for that “planted “ look .has anyone used a particular brand of lowering springs for the front, dont fancy cutting coils but dont know what others on here think or suggest. 👍
 

Mad4slalom

CCCUK Member
I've recently fitted threaded strut rods bought from Zip Corvette.
They're great - so easy to adjust the camber and then lock in position with the lock nuts

.......Unlike the stock "cam" design rods which I found a complete P.I.T.A to adjust and in my case, they tended to periodically move out of adjustment again.
I had originally fitted poly bushes to the stock strut rods and it was after that for some reason, I could never get them to reliably stay put - no matter how tight I did-up the locking bolt.....oh and tightening the locking bolts requires a spanner both sides or you'll move the cam again. All difficult when under the car.

I've retained the stock inboard bracket (at least for now) as I really didn't wan't those pesky cams again. I'm not sure why is adjustment actually needed to get the strut rod parallel to the driveshaft? couldn't they just design it to put the rod in the correct position? I've heard of people achieving the same thing by putting packers between bracket and diff to lower it into a parallel-to-driveshaft position.
View attachment 8119

View attachment 8120

Inboard End
View attachment 8121

Outboard end (lock-nut not tightened yet)
View attachment 8122

With the stock strut rods you will definitely need the wheels of the ground to adjust. I had the car in the air to adjust the new threaded strut rods also just to avoid straining the threads.
great pics , thank you , can you recall price of the smart struts? đź‘Ť
 

Forrest Gump

CCCUK regional rep
i would like it a bit lower but also with some negative camber just for that “planted “ look .has anyone used a particular brand of lowering springs for the front, dont fancy cutting coils but dont know what others on here think or suggest. 👍
Front Coil-overs obviously give you height adjustment, but quite pricey. Some on here have got these.
Otherwise cut the springs you’ve got. It’s not difficult, but go steady on how much you cut. Half a coil makes quite a difference.
 

Mad4slalom

CCCUK Member
Half a degree is about right, one degree absolute max, but less if not standard tyre sidewall height - You can lower the back with long spring bolts, you do not need negative camber
My Strut Rods have rose joints with grease nipples - I needed to re-route the exhaust slightly to accommodate the Struts
Had a look around underneath and can see the set up now. One thing re lowering, I measured my bolts and they seem about seven and a bit inches so i dont think 8” ones will help much, can I get longer ones i wonder.
 

Mad4slalom

CCCUK Member
Neg camber is achievable with your standard strut rods, there’s loads of adjustment. I would suggest paint marking where the position they are in now. 8” spring bolts will give you a head start And make the wheel fill the arches better.
Had a measure of my bolts and they seem a tad over 7”, would 8” bolts give me much difference or can I buy 9”” bolts ? Thank you
 
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