A friend and I were talking about rear camber adjustment on the mustang. I'm pretty sure there isn't any but he was saying that he had never heard of not having any. Do we or not?
Rear Camber adjustment
- Thread starter Melvo
- Start date
On a solid rear axle there is no camber adjustment.
though, if you wanted to adjust the camber, you would take a torch to the top of each axle tube and quickly quench it with a wet rag. of course, if your looking at doing that(very common amongst the stock car/modifieds crowd), i'd suggest doing some heavy research or, better yet, having a race shop do it so you don't screw up your rear housing. toe can also be added this way, heating/quenching the front of the tube instead of the top.
but, yes, no actual adjustability from the factory
but, yes, no actual adjustability from the factory
Ok cool. I didn't think there was. I just wanted to be sure
Or the axle bearings.
in all seriousness, Ive actually heard of this, but Im not sure how its actually mechanically possible, it just doesnt add up you know? lol
Some extremely high end circle track stuff has some camber adjustment built in, but you'll never see this from the factory with a solid rear.
The only mustangs that have camber adjustment in the rear are the IRS cars.
The only mustangs that have camber adjustment in the rear are the IRS cars.
well keep in mind that there is a very minor amount of play in the splines of the axle and the center section - it may be a very minute amount when measured at the axle a 1/2" from the diff, but if you measure it all the way at the end of the axle then that minute amount increases quite a bit. what your doing is bending the axle tube where it runs into the center section of the housing, so say a 3/8" bend at the end of the axle tube would equate to say .5* negative camber. so your misaligning the axle ever so slightly so that the wheel flange of the shaft 3/8" higher than it would be. again, that's 3/8" measured at the end of the axle, with the center section being the fulcrum. so, the axle shaft isn't bending over it's length to give you the camber, your just using up what little play there is in the spline engagement at the diff end(i'm sure i'm sounding repetitive, but i'm trying here:lol1
.an axle shaft and diff can live fine with(IIRC) ~.7* negative camber max, but you drastically increase bearing and spline wear after that point. a full floating axle is definitely needed after that point, and they actually make adjustable end plates that allow camber and toe adjustment with hand tools. at this point, your using axle shafts designed for cambered use, with ball-like spline ends.
i'm definitely no expert on this, but i did a whole lot of research on it a few years back. i know it sounds 'hack', but it's very common, mainly amongst the stock car/modified racers. it's also been used a lot in road racing, namely the trans-am series back in the day. the heating/quenching method is the most common method since it's easy to do, but there are other ways to do it to, like sticking the axle in a massive press to make more accurate bends, or using straps to pull on the axle tubes and bend them.
hope that all made sense, that's about the best description i can give, though there are many websites out there that do a MUCH better job:lol1:
found an excerpt from herb adams "chassis engineering"(amazing tech book!) on giving a solid rear some negative camber...
Chassis engineering - Herb Adams - Google Books
Chassis engineering - Herb Adams - Google Books
:lol::lol::lol:
yep, that's it! you can get almost 1* of angle out of the slop!
in fact, i bet if you measured a stock axle under a mustang, it'll have some sort of camber and/or toe angle straight from the factory. these axles aren't as straight as you think.
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