Quick alignment question

[4.8isX5]

lol my left is actually the same, not really any diff. Just took pic of the right.

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by srmmmm

Count me in with you who have way more negative camber on the right rear - I think that makes four of us on this thread. Other than the fact you tend to make harder turns to the right instead of the left because your body can lean against the door, does anyone have any ideas as to why the right rear seems to be worse?

I've also noticed the right rear is typically the corner where the most squeaks are reported as well.

2002 X5 3.0 242,000 miles
2005 325i 107,000 miles

What do you mean by "right rear seem to be worse"?

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by srmmmm

Count me in with you who have way more negative camber on the right rear - I think that makes four of us on this thread. Other than the fact you tend to make harder turns to the right instead of the left because your body can lean against the door, does anyone have any ideas as to why the right rear seems to be worse?

I've also noticed the right rear is typically the corner where the most squeaks are reported as well.

2002 X5 3.0 242,000 miles
2005 325i 107,000 miles

For the most part its the rear swing arm ball joints that are worn out if you are having troubles adjusting camber in the rear within spec, after that I would check out the rear upper control arm (wishbone), and perhaps the rear subframe bushings after that.

It's all about on/off ramps I think that always causes the right rear to be more worn before the left, but that's just a theory of mine.

[srmmmm]

@bcredliner - The people who listed existing cambers generally had right rears exhibiting a larger negative value than on the left rear. In my case, the shop was barely able to move the right rear in a positive direction far enough to get it within the allowable range on the last alignment. And my right rear has a wonderful squeak anytime the ambient temperature is under about 95 degrees, that is clearly audible across three lanes of traffic on I35 in downtown Dallas, but that's another $586 story!

2002 X5 3.0 242,000 miles
2004 325i 107,000 miles

[bigwave2255]

and of course all this becomes super critical once you go to 315 series tyres, wider the tyre the more they suffer from excessive camber, so for me its a balancing act between good cornering ability and uneven tread wear.

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by bigwave2255

and of course all this becomes super critical once you go to 315 series tyres, wider the tyre the more they suffer from excessive camber, so for me its a balancing act between good cornering ability and uneven tread wear.

Wider tires, alone, don't change the amount of negative camber.

The distribution of vehicle weight applied across the tire width (contact patch) will change with wider tires, resulting in greater inside tire wear. Wider tires will have more weight on the inside of the tire. The increased weight causes more friction resulting in increased wear. Inside tire wear will increase further if the the distance from the rim to the ground (aspect ratio) is greater. In either case, less negative camber would be necessary to decrease the friction on the inside of the tire, reducing inside tire wear.

Wider tires often mean wider rims are added at the same time. All wheels are built so that a particular amount of inches of are from the center of the wheel (offset). If the new wheels are a shorter distance on the backside of the wheel the the previous wheels negative camber will increase. The best practice when changing wheels that cause a change in offset is to have the vehicle aligned to your desired camber.

If you keep the existing wheel and go to wider tires and/or rims because they look better rather than to improve handling, you can either have the vehicle aligned at or less than specs, or, measure the tread wear across the width of the tire every 200 miles or so and depending on the inside verses outside tire wear, increase tire pressure a small number of pounds to slow inside tire wear.

My goal is handling. I am always at the maximum, within spec, negative camber. Note- I have the original style 87 rims, tire size and aspect ratio.

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by srmmmm

@bcredliner - The people who listed existing cambers generally had right rears exhibiting a larger negative value than on the left rear. In my case, the shop was barely able to move the right rear in a positive direction far enough to get it within the allowable range on the last alignment. And my right rear has a wonderful squeak anytime the ambient temperature is under about 95 degrees, that is clearly audible across three lanes of traffic on I35 in downtown Dallas, but that's another $586 story!

2002 X5 3.0 242,000 miles
2004 325i 107,000 miles

Unless the center of the wheel to the ground is higher on the right side for some reason, or from doing something like hot laps around a NASCAR track, the wear on the right side should be the 'same' as the left side.

Something is not right if the suspension is squeaking and that is likely part of the $586 story.

[srmmmm]

The $586 was the quote to replace the lower, camber adjusting bushing. But to me, the squeak seems to be higher, perhaps the upper arms.

2002 X5 3.0 242,000 miles
2004 325i 107,000 miles

[bcredliner]

Difficult to pinpoint suspension noises, especially when it only happens while driving. Once in a while a spray of WD40 will make it briefly go away but it is very frustrating when you spray one part a time and never find the problem. A second opinion is far easier.

I try to never replace parts to narrow down a problem unless they are living on borrowed time or are very inexpensive. Suspensions are a different story. I know how long the current suspension has been in place. Since the lifecycle of most moving parts are about the same, it is already torn down and cost of multiple alignments adds up fast I bite the bullet and do all of both sides at one time.

Hopefully the shop was able to make it squeak on the rack so you have some confidence they are on target or at least take a drive with you to hear it.

There are so many posts here where someone has replaced several parts and problem still exists. I hate that. Are there any more symptoms you haven't that might generate more input for you?

[bcredliner]

Difficult to pinpoint suspension noises, especially when it only happens while driving. Once in a while a spray of WD40 will make it briefly go away but it is very frustrating when you spray one part a time and never find the problem. A second opinion is far easier.

I try to never replace parts to narrow down a problem unless they are living on borrowed time or are very inexpensive. Suspensions are a different story. I know how long the current suspension has been in place. Since the lifecycle of most moving parts are about the same, it is already torn down and cost of multiple alignments adds up fast I bite the bullet and do all of both sides at one time.

Hopefully the shop was able to make it squeak on the rack so you have some confidence they are on target or at least take a drive with you to hear it.

There are so many posts here where someone has replaced several parts and problem still exists. I hate that. Are there any more symptoms you haven't that might generate more input for you?