Garagistic Weld In Camber and Toe Adjustment Options Overview

Getting the camber out of your E30s rear suspension is much harder than most other cars. Since the E30 doesn't have any built-in adjusters as standard you as the owner have to modify the rear suspension to get rid of the natural e30 camber. To do this you have two options. Subframe risers, or Weld in camber adjustment plates. We offer both of these solutions here at Garagistic. This article will go over the different options and the pros and cons of each!.

Weld in Camber and Toe Adjustment Plates

Weld in camber adjusters have been the go-to fix for E30 camber and toe correction since the original spec e30 racing began. These plates weld on to the existing trailing arm tabs and with the use of an eccentric bolt, shims, or serrated locking plates you are able to set the camber and toe to your desired setting within a certain range.

Eccentric Bolt Style Adjusters

These are the oldest and most well-known style of adjusters. These weld on to the existing trailing arm tabs and using the slots on the tabs allow the trailing arm to move up and down to adjust camber, and forward and back to adjust the toe. These are the most precise adjusters available. They have the ability to match camber and toe exactly from side to side. (assuming nothing is bent and the plates were welded on correctly.) One downside to these adjusters is that over time the bolts will come loose and your alignment will shift. This means you will still need regular alignments.

Serrated Style Adjusters

These adjusters offer significantly more adjustment than the eccentric style and use locking teeth to hold your alignment in a fixed position. Once you set it, you can pretty much forget it. They won't come loose over time, however, the adjustment is a little less precise. These adjusters are really designed for people who are okay with having slight variations in their alignment.

Note: When installing these with subframe risers, most chassis will require an access hole to be cut in the trunk floor both for clearance and the ability to make adjustments.

Shim Style Adjusters

The shim style adjusters use the same concept as the eccentric adjusters and even use the same hardware. They also offer the security of the serrated adjusters. However, like the serrated adjusters are slightly less precise than the standard eccentric adjusters. Each shim kit will lock the eccentric bolt in a certain location in its rotation path and it will not be able to move from that position. These kits require the weld on eccentric adjuster brackets to be installed before they are able to be used.

Subframe Risers

Subframe risers are the easiest and least invasive modification you can do to reduce camber on your e30. By raising the subframe you can alter the overall angle of the trailing arms. This brings them to a more level line. This will reduce the overall rear camber in the vehicle. Subframe risers require no welding and can be installed in a day with a moderate amount of automotive skill and knowledge.

 Subframe Risers With Weld In Adjusters

For most people, one of these solutions is enough to correct any camber and toe issue. However in cases of vehicles that are extremely low or vehicles looking to run zero or positive camber. You may consider using both the subframe risers and weld in adjusters. This option will more than likely give you more than enough adjustment to get your vehicle aligned the way you want it. Running this combination does require some extra modification and will require cutting into the floor of your vehicle. In order to safely and accurately get to your adjusters after installing subframe risers, you will need to cut holes in the floor of the vehicle in order to reach the adjustment bolts. We recommend using both of our camber solutions together only if you are willing to chop up your car!

Installation

 One of the most common questions we get with our adjusters is how to orient them when installing. The camber adjustment brackets will be installed on the inside trailing arm mounts. These need to be mounted so that the ridge on each is facing up towards the body and down towards the ground. The toe adjustment brackets need to be welded on the two outside trailing arm mounts and need to be oriented so that the ridges face the front and rear of the vehicle. See the picture below for a visual reference.