Camber out / outer edge tyre

[406HDi3]

Hi guys,

Back again for more of your usefulness help.

So 2001 406 estate. 2.0 HDi. Been monitoring the tyre wear over the last few months since I tried a new company for tracking.

Whilst tracking they mentioned that the rear n/s (pax side) wheel camber was out so they only tracked as best they could since the 406 manual says no rear camber adjustment.

3 months gone by and this has never happened in my lifetime with this car, rear n/s tyre outer edge is 1mm lower than the inner edge so quite a noticeable difference when up on the ramp.

I've had the two rear tyres taken off and swapped since they are directional and have had the tracking done again. Still the comment on the rear camber being out on the n/s.

Any suggestions please or anything that can be done to the camber?

Thanks.

[Doggy]

Find someone that knows what they're talking about?

Rear camber is adjustable, have a look at these threads:
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=20234
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=20050&p=199823&hil ... er#p199823

[406HDi3]

Thanks. According to the Haynes manual it isn't. Strange eh.

[Tubthumper]

I had the exact same issue wuth the rears on mine, but after having it laser aligned, which found that all 4 corners were out, it now drives much nicer and the tyres are wearing much more evenly

[406HDi3]

I had the exact same issue wuth the rears on mine, but after having it laser aligned, which found that all 4 corners were out, it now drives much nicer and the tyres are wearing much more evenly

Do you know if they had to adjust the rear cambers in your case?

[Tubthumper]

Yep, as all 4 wheels were out by quite a bit. I asked my local tyre fitter, who doesn't have 4 wheel laser alignment who he'd recomend going to , and he pointed me towards a little garage that specialises in setting up competition cars. The whole job cost £60 and has saved me much more in tyres !

[406HDi3]

That's really good to hear

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Just to put you straight on this, the Haynes manual is right. The camber front & rear on the 406 is NOT adjustable, as std anyway .
What people get confused with is the eccentric mounting bolts & washers used on the top link arm at the rear on the inside on the 406 .
This does NOT adjust the rear camber, it is for tracking only! , but this will make a massive diference to how the car drives after a four wheel alinement.
It made a huge difference to mine , as other people have noted it feels like it's skipping out when it's realy bad before it's done.
Afterwards it's like night & day .
This is very important to have this done after changing the top links, it's no good marking where the eccentric bolt head was as the top links can vary in length also
manufacturing tolerances ect .

Hope this helps clear up some confusion DDD.

ps if you look at my post for overhauling my rear brakes you'll see a pic of said top links
Also markw has posted pic's of said eccentric bolts in a post about eccentric bolts ,
These are now back in stock at main stealers

[azazel]

The front wheels need to be parallel and rears need to be alligned with the car body. You can do it with sticks and tape measures reasonably well. This four wheel alignment often fails to include the car body which means the steering wheel isnt straight.

[jasper5]

I'm sorry, but the confusion is being continued...camber is the in-out up and down, tracking is side to side.You cannot move the rear wheels side to side on the 406.
Tracking on the rear of the 406 cannot be adjusted, camber can, using the eccentric bolts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_alignment

[steve_earwig]

N.B. : The rear axle camber cannot be adjusted.

I came across a diagram once (it looked like a Service Box one but I can't find it on there) explaining just what adjusting the rear upper arm did to the geometry, it kind of pivots the while assembly at 45 degrees to the horizontal. Not sure which value this changes but I don't think it'll be castor, Service Box says it's not camber, so it must be toe

[406HDi3]

I'm confused!! I'm told my camber is out hence outer tyre wear, but had been 4 wheel aligned and no parts have been replaced. What can I suggest to the garage tracking my car?

[markw]

Also confused.
If you adjust the eccentric bolt and watch the rear wheel, it moves in and out (ie on a vertical axis with the 3o/c and 9 o/c points moving either inwards towards the centre of the car or outwards towards the er...outside)
I have not seen the opposite happen when adjusting these. (ie on a horizontal axis with the 12 o/c and 6 o/c points moving)...which would be the camber setting.
Unless I'm totally mistaken with the terms being used here, I thought the 406's camber was fixed in the design stage and was unable to be altered by the owner.

[dirtydirtydiesel]

I'm sorry jasper, I know you are a very experianced car mechanic but you are mistaken in this instance.
I have it on very good authority from a wheel & suspension expert of over 25 years (Jeff fowkes autos.com) that the rear adjustment on a 406 is tracking/toe only.
Not camber, so yes steve earwig & markw you are both right & to the o.p if this is out it will cause your tyres to scrub just like it would on the front
Hence the odd / excessive tyre wear, hope this helps DDD.

[406HDi3]

So, solution to camber being out...possible?