Cadillac CTS-V 2004-2007 (Gen I) The Caddy with an Attitude...

Negative camber in rear wheels

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Old 11-03-2012, 08:44 AM
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Default Negative camber in rear wheels

Getting tired of wearing out my drag radials on the inside edge. When I had it aligned last time I had them try to take out all negative camber, But they couldn't get it all out. They said I could extend the slots in the frame to get the rest out . I know it would extend life of tires & probably help traction, Which I need desparately.
So, I'd like to know if anyone has extended the slots in the frame to get the rear wheels flat & how'd it work out ?
Old 11-03-2012, 11:57 AM
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I run -2 to -2.25deg camber and don't have any issues with the inner shoulders wearing out. What are your actual alignment numbers (rear camber and toe)?
Old 11-03-2012, 12:45 PM
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Skydiver, do you have a feather-like wear pattern across your tread? This is characteristic of excessive toe settings.

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Excessive toe settings have other, inadvertent side effects such as toe thumb:

Old 11-03-2012, 12:54 PM
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I feel you skydiver. I just bought new tires and at $1k + I really dont want them to wear out from a bad alignment. I am having them get my toe good and hopefully that will reduce the wear. The tires on the stock wheels were really worn on the inner shoulder only so hopefully it was alignment and not camber.
Old 11-03-2012, 01:18 PM
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Perhaps there is an eccentric bushing available? That would give you more adjustment... Other than that you could raise the car up a little
Old 11-03-2012, 01:47 PM
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Originally Posted by FuzzyLog1c
Skydiver, do you have a feather-like wear pattern across your tread? This is characteristic of excessive toe settings.

Bad:



Excessive toe settings have other, inadvertent side effects such as toe thumb:


Does not show signs of excessive toe & you can still see the negative camber even though he took all possible out .
Been awhile since I had it aligned & can't remember the alignment specs right now , But I have a really good alignment guy that's into racing
He got all there is on camber adjustment

M/T drag radials only last about 1800 miles & that's with very few burn outs , of course the spool dif doesn't help since it scoots around every corner
Some times I've been having the tires swapped to get the outside edge to the inside & try and get some more miles outa them

Last edited by skydiver; 11-03-2012 at 01:52 PM.
Old 11-03-2012, 02:20 PM
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The guy who did my alignment said he could oval out the holes a bit to fix the camber. My camber is negative 2.

Last edited by GT Motion; 11-03-2012 at 06:22 PM.
Old 11-03-2012, 06:29 PM
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Originally Posted by AAIIIC
I run -2 to -2.25deg camber and don't have any issues with the inner shoulders wearing out. What are your actual alignment numbers (rear camber and toe)?
Suppose it might make a big difference with the spool dif & d/r that wear quick


Pull my alignment paperwork & the Camber is -- -0.8
Toe in is -- -0.08


Said that all he could get it out of the negative & said something about I
Could enlarge the slots to get it to zero , But made no mention of him
Doing it , Figured there must have been a reason he didn't offer to do it .

But at that time I was out to see if it helped tire wear with what he did before deciding if I needed to go further & it did help some but not enough

Just wondering if anyone has done this & how difficult it was , Shouldn't need much to get it from -0.8 to 0
Old 11-03-2012, 09:26 PM
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That's not much camber or toe. I'm guessing that the spool is definitely not helping, and the obviously soft nature of the DRs. Maybe trying a bit less toe in would help? I don't know enough about drag racing RWD IRS cars and how much toe one needs to keep the tires square when you launch hard.
Old 11-04-2012, 12:12 AM
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Are you looking for additional camber to assist with keeping the contact patch square to the pavement when launching? You'd probably be looking at +1.2 - +1.4 camber to do so, if I were to guess. Grinding the eccentric slots is the only way you will be able to do this.

-0.8 camber should not be a factor for tire wear at all, esp in the rear.
Old 11-04-2012, 12:52 AM
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I slot the front K-Member on a F-Cars to gain more negative camber and there are no adverse effects from it.

Too much, though, and I begin running out of threads on the tie rod ends for toe adjustment.

1/4" slot enlargement is a lot.

As long as you have 100% fastner head engagement and the slotting process doesn't add excessive heat to the mount, I wouldn't think it would matter.
Old 11-05-2012, 07:17 AM
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Skydiver, I did that to get my rear camber more positive when I installed my Pzeros and didn't want the inside edges wore out bf the rest of the tire. Wasn't that bad at all. What you will find is the lower control arm will contact the inside of the frame when you extend the slots and try to move the control arms toward the center of the car. I removed my LCA, cut the excessive meat off, then took some 3/16 plate and bent it around the arm and welded it up. I think that camber is where the tire is going to wear, and toe is how fast it's going to wear out.
Old 11-05-2012, 09:07 AM
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Skydiver,

I also had my rear camber pulled out closer to 0, and all the tech at Firestone could get was -0.7 and -0.8. I have 5k miles on a set of BF Goodrich KDW TAs and have no adverse wear patterns.
Old 11-05-2012, 12:23 PM
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I had the same issue, so I sectioned the lower control arm to get the tire to sit flat.
Attached Thumbnails Negative camber in rear wheels-048.jpg   Negative camber in rear wheels-049.jpg   Negative camber in rear wheels-050.jpg   Negative camber in rear wheels-052.jpg  
Old 11-06-2012, 08:08 AM
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Glad you made this thread... My Nitto 555's where dayum near dead on the inside of the tire, down to the metal...lol. I thought something was wrong...lol. I don't drive the V that much now for fear of killing new rubber on the back. CTS-Vette Eater how long did it take you to do that to your control arms?
Old 11-06-2012, 10:13 AM
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Originally Posted by NOLAG05
Glad you made this thread... My Nitto 555's where dayum near dead on the inside of the tire, down to the metal...lol. I thought something was wrong...lol. I don't drive the V that much now for fear of killing new rubber on the back. CTS-Vette Eater how long did it take you to do that to your control arms?
I had a shop do it at the same time they were doing a mini-tub for me. It was a bit involved but if you want to have maximum traction without interference issues then I think this is the way to go. If it is just an issue of tire wear than you may be better off just elongating the holes, that seems like a much simpler fix.
Old 11-07-2012, 08:57 AM
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Originally Posted by CTS-Vette Eater
I had the same issue, so I sectioned the lower control arm to get the tire to sit flat.
Oh wow, that is some serious mods you made there. Thanks for posting this. How bad was your camber before modifying the lower control arm?
Old 11-07-2012, 11:32 AM
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I have nothing to offer in this thread other than saying that the Toe thumb pic kinda ruined my day
Old 09-08-2014, 09:16 AM
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Originally Posted by CTS-Vette Eater
I had the same issue, so I sectioned the lower control arm to get the tire to sit flat.
I'm going to try this also, I'll let you guys know how it turns out. Traction is becoming a serious problem for me!

I cut and re-welded the spring perches Nik sent me (thank you sir!). I put a bead on the inside and outside to be sure. Just need to get them installed and then get an alignment.







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