Camber issues, Ate up new tires in less than 10k miles. Options

[kevin311]

What's up fellas, hopefully y'all can help me get this straight.

'94 GT manual. Did a lot of front end work last spring, right before mounting a new set of Kuhmos. Ball joints, axles, struts all the way around. All factory replacements. Should've done the wheel bearings also but had no evidence of play or grinding/roaring prior to replacing parts. After new parts had alignment done, shop said all is good. Noticed the tires roared pretty bad, checked wheel play and nil. Read reviews about the tires bc they were pretty cheap but were a few complaints about tire noise, but overall a nice tire. Few thousand miles in I notice slight inner tire wear. Still not feeling play in the wheel bearings. Parked the car a few weeks ago bc now the inner side of the drivers front tire is bald. Only the very inner tread is gone. From the side the tires still look brand new. The pass front shows some inner wear but not nearly as harsh. I can now physically see the negative camber at the front wheels.

So I guess I'm wondering is there a chance the axles are incorrect length? Think I read somewhere that people had problems gettin wrong axles for a '94 bc they're listed part number is for a 5th gen or something along those lines. I've got a set of outer tie rods tht I'll get around too wen it's not 99+ degrees outside, and considering a camber kit if that's what it comes to. I'll check bearing play again this week sometime and verify their condition. She had sat for a while before I got her road worthy, on bad struts no less. Anyone know the factory height for the stock springs? And/or know of a worthy camber kit? I've seen camber bolt kits, anything else out there?

Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[VavAlephVav]

If you go to a shop with a modern alignment rack they will give you a computer printout that shows Exactly where everything is set at.
like this one


If not then I'd just have an alignment done at a big place like NTB where you have proof of where it's set and they will let you come back and get it realigned for six months.

I've been running some decent used BF goodrich after this for several months and they didnt wear at all. Now i finally got me some new Kumho Excsta II , they say the II revision has less highway noise and longer tread wear.
we'll see

[kevin311]

That's good to know, thanks for the info. Here's where I have an issue. From what I've gathered, the front alignement can't be adjusted on the Celica WITHOUT a camber kit. It's said if there's misalignment then there's part failure or improper equipment. Is this true? Only adjustment I could see would be toe with the tie rods.

[kevin311]

It's wheel bearings. Jacked her up today once I got home from work before it started raining again and the driver side is real bad. Pass side is bad also, but not near the extent of the drivers. Since I've already gotten outer tie rods, how big of a PITA would it be to do inners as well?

Also tracked down a clunking noise I've been hearing for a while now. Appears to be the universal joint in the steering shaft. Is it possible to fix that with engine in the car? Looks pretty tight

[jordisonjr]

I don't think wheels bearings would cause tire wear in the form of camber. I've had some pretty bad wheel bearings in the past couple years and have never seen excessive wear from it.

[kevin311]

My GSR wore like this but not until after I lowered the car. Once I installed a camber kit all was good. But my Celica is on stock suspension. Outer tie rods look to be ok so what else could it be? Ball joints a brand new. Maybe a bent strut?! It's weird bc the treads on both sides were about the same on the inside of the tires and then within a couple weeks the driver side was slick.

This post has been edited by kevin311: Jun 28, 2015 - 7:47 AM

[VavAlephVav]

when you did the struts did you replace the strut mounts as well?

[kevin311]

No I didn't replace the strut mounts, they looked like they were in decent shape along with the bump stops. I replaced the dust boots though. One thing I forgot to mention in my original post, I'm on 17" alloys with 215/45 Kuhmos. I'll probably replace the mounts then once I pull the hubs to have the bearings pressed in.

[VavAlephVav]

The front mounts are especially important because they also have a steering bearing in them. And when you have a set of nice coil-overs the camber adjustment slot is built into adjusting the top mount. Your mounts could be slightly tweeked or the bearing is worn. That could be your problem.

[kevin311]

Thanks for that insight Vav, I'll try to get under the car again tomorrow and take a closer more in depth look at things. Just to be sure something isn't missing, maybe somethin is loose or bent. Didn't get a chance to get the wheel off the other day before it rained, I was only able to mess with the wheels to check wheel bearings condition. I need to check the control arm bushings as well. So top mounts and wheel bearings right now are on my priority list.