Saturn rear negative camber issue, how to fix?

TacomaJD · Apr 4, 2016

Had my Saturn up on a lift yesterday changing the crank sensor and noticed the rear tires extremely worn on the inside. I've always noticed it had a bit of negative camber in the rear (tires lean in at the top), but it doesn't look like there are factory adjustments for camber. How can I go about fixing this? Buy some kind of replacement control arm cam-style bolts? Buy some sort of wedged hub spacer/gasket type thing? Gotta be some way of correcting this. Bout to have to put new tires on the rear and don't want them wearing out quick like the ones on it now.

2002 Saturn L200 sedan 2.2 Ecotec

Any advice or links will be appreciated!

tonybolton · Apr 4, 2016

It might be a toe issue.....not saying it's not camber, but I'd check the toe/alignment/tire psi first.

May also have some worn bushings in there creating the toe / camber issue.

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165522

Generally you can use crash bolts / camber bolts on SOMETHING back there to get what you need. Or if you want to be really cheap, you can maybe try to shim the upper control arm and or slot the upper strut hole-pull down on the spindle / tighten.

Some old autocross / open track sneaky sneaks from back in the day. I think I got an extra 2 degrees of negative camber out of the front of a stock mustang by doing the enlarge upper strut hole thing. It was kinda noticeable though and had to dial it back before getting protested. LOL

TacomaJD · Apr 4, 2016

Re:

I'd imagine the bushings need replacing, but I briefly scanned over all the bushings on the wheel side and they are dry rotted and worn, but not broken and fallen out or anything, and by jerking on the wheel in all directions, doesn't seem to be any play in the suspension. It's always something.

I will give the camel toe a measure though, just to see.

TacomaJD · Apr 4, 2016

Re:

Oh, and it's funny to me that there's a Saturn forum. Lol

CheapJ7 · Apr 4, 2016

Lots of camber built in the the rear of my BMW. It used to destroy insides of tires. Can't rotate because they are staggered size and directional. I had the alignment guy let me set up the specs in the computer this last alignment after bushings and rear control arms, now it wears from center to inside, but the outside edges still look brand new.

TacomaJD · Apr 4, 2016

Re:

Inside shoulder on these has very concentrated wear. I haven't exactly monitored tire oressure like I should either, but you can easily look and see the negative camber issue.

tonybolton · Apr 4, 2016

Re: Re:

TacomaJD said:
Oh, and it's funny to me that there's a Saturn forum. Lol

There used to be one called StreetKiaz. All about modding your Kia. I remember seeing signatures stating mods/drag times.

It'd be like 95 Kia XXXXX.....JE pistons...crower rods....stage 4 head....spec stage 3 clutch.....zippydoodah turbo kit.....16psi.....

14.2@95

grcthird · Apr 4, 2016

I actually worked at a saturn dealer, believe it or not. Those L cars would drag the rear tires off because the rear control arms weren't set up properly from the factory. It is actually turning the rear tires out, excessive toe out. We removed them and made a slot at the mounting bolt to give it some adjustment, then aligned the car.

There is a shim that goes behind the wheel bearing assembly that can change caster and camber, it's a round piece of plastic that is thicker on one side than the other. It take more than your average alignment guy to know how to install them and set them up properly. Napa part number NCP 2642037

grcthird · Apr 4, 2016

CheapJ7 said:
Lots of camber built in the the rear of my BMW. It used to destroy insides of tires. Can't rotate because they are staggered size and directional. I had the alignment guy let me set up the specs in the computer this last alignment after bushings and rear control arms, now it wears from center to inside, but the outside edges still look brand new.

Probably because you aren't carrying 145 lbs in every seat, in the trunk, and always have a full tank of gas. That's actually how BMW wants the alignment to be done. I always used to line them up with just the weight of the driver in the driver's seat because nobody constantly has 4 people and all their junk in the car all the time.

al1tonyota · Apr 4, 2016

E brake that ol skank into a curb running 13.5mph booyang

repeat until it looks like you want it!

84mallcrawl · Apr 4, 2016

wore out rear struts causing the rear end to set lower than it should?

infamous1 · Apr 4, 2016

Re: Re: Saturn rear negative camber issue, how to fix?

grcthird said:
Probably because you aren't carrying 145 lbs in every seat, in the trunk, and always have a full tank of gas. That's actually how BMW wants the alignment to be done. I always used to line them up with just the weight of the driver in the driver's seat because nobody constantly has 4 people and all their junk in the car all the time.

Lol I do european alignments like this also. Neat to know there are other alignment technicians out there and not just "set the toe and let it go guys" I take pride in my alignments.

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grcthird · Apr 4, 2016

Re: Re: Saturn rear negative camber issue, how to fix?

infamous1 said:
Lol I do european alignments like this also. Neat to know there are other alignment technicians out there and not just "set the toe and let it go guys" I take pride in my alignments.

I don't currently have an alignment set up, but I am anal about them being dialed in, some I have pulled back on 2 and 3 times because the steering wheel would be off by just a little bit. Hell I even had my old blue beater Toyota trail truck dead nuts lined up. And it maybe drove 30 miles on the road like that.

TacomaJD · Apr 4, 2016

84mallcrawl said:
wore out rear struts causing the rear end to set lower than it should?

No, it actually sits at a normal looking ride height. Tires are just laid in. I may just put tires on it, then flip em around after they get worn on one side lol. Sounds like it's not something I'm comfortable with fixing myself. Can get 2 brand new tires for about $150. :dunno:

tyldyl12 · Apr 4, 2016

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My wife and I bought a new Mazda 3 in 06. I noticed a couple of months in that all 4 corners were doing as you say yours is. I had the dealership check it and they said, "it's within specs." When I noticed the tires showing extreme inner wear, I went back and showed them again. They checked it and said, "it's within specs." I then went to a 3rd party dude and told him the whole story. He put it on his machine and guess what, "it's within specs." So I had him flip the tires around. I still own this car and to this day, I have the tires flipped on the rim every several thousand miles. I don't know what else to do about it. It has 160k miles of wearing one edge at a time out on tires. Any tire place, other than my usual, I have to almost draw them a picture to get them to understand what I want them to do. They always assume I mean a rotation. Of course, I guess I don't come across to knowledgeable when I roll up in a Mazda 3.

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TacomaJD · Apr 4, 2016

Re:

tyldyl12 said:
My wife and I bought a new Mazda 3 in 06. I noticed a couple of months in that all 4 corners were doing as you say yours is. I had the dealership check it and they said, "it's within specs." When I noticed the tires showing extreme inner wear, I went back and showed them again. They checked it and said, "it's within specs." I then went to a 3rd party dude and told him the whole story. He put it on his machine and guess what, "it's within specs." So I had him flip the tires around. I still own this car and to this day, I have the tires flipped on the rim every several thousand miles. I don't know what else to do about it. It has 160k miles of wearing one edge at a time out on tires. Any tire place, other than my usual, I have to almost draw them a picture to get them to understand what I want them to do. They always assume I mean a rotation. Of course, I guess I don't come across to knowledgeable when I roll up in a Mazda 3.

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I hate dealing with shops of any kind! Wish Gerald's shop was closer! I'd ease on by Gear Grinder's for a professional rear alignment! molaugh

44BRAND · Apr 14, 2016

grcthird said:
I actually worked at a saturn dealer, believe it or not. Those L cars would drag the rear tires off because the rear control arms weren't set up properly from the factory. It is actually turning the rear tires out, excessive toe out. We removed them and made a slot at the mounting bolt to give it some adjustment, then aligned the car.

There is a shim that goes behind the wheel bearing assembly that can change caster and camber, it's a round piece of plastic that is thicker on one side than the other. It take more than your average alignment guy to know how to install them and set them up properly. Napa part number NCP 2642037

THIS^^^ I worked for Saturn dealer for way longer than I want to admit years ago. Repair is exactly as above, tires have negative camber in the rear from factory because its a Euro thing and the L series platform is actually an Opel. Leave neg. camber alone and get the excessive rear toe out concern fixed. factory spec is way more than it needs, set it up just barely toed in.

jeepmedic · Apr 14, 2016

Paint it green and hire a Lesbian driver? :****:

fordcontraption01 · Apr 14, 2016

al1tonyota said:
E brake that ol skank into a curb running 13.5mph repeat until it looks like you want it!

I love this idea

TacomaJD · Apr 14, 2016

New set of rear tires installed today, $105 shipped on ebay, $34 install and rotation. I guess I'll just deal with the problem a little longer, no more than tires cost for it. Then flip the tires around on the rim when they get to wearing on the inside bad enough.