[XAAMOTTOMAAX]

With the negative camber already present in my 2000 9-5 Aero (rear wheels especially), I am a tad leary of redoing the suspension with lowering springs (H&R special). 1. Can a lowered car be aligned properly? 2. Is the "Magic Camber" bolt shown on Speedparts website designed to adjust camber in a lowered 9-5, designed to remedy the negative camber associated with the stock ride height or both? Does anyone know of any options other than Abbott for a metal sump guard skid plate?

 

[cbullock]

Originally posted by XAAMOTTOMAAX:
[qb]options other than Abbott for a metal sump guard skid plate? [/qb][/b]

Wow how low you gonna go

I think Saabman and Leon have played with the rear camber after lowering, hopefully they will be able to shed some light for you!

 

[murphwiz]

The magic camber bolts listed are designed for front strut adjustment, which even when lowered stays within spec.
The rear camber does alter a fair bit with lowering, I shimmed my hubs as SAAB recommends to adjust the negative camber to somewhere near spec.

 

[XAAMOTTOMAAX]

Wow how low you gonna go[/b]

H&R Special 45mm/30mm

 

[XAAMOTTOMAAX]

I shimmed my hubs[/b]

Thanks Leon

 

[sj]

Without taking the wheels off for a poke around, how do you shim the hubs to adjust rear camber?
Apart from tyre wear, what does it do to the handling/feel of the car if you have too much negative camber on the rear?

Having made a new camber gauge (old on wouldn't fit 17" wheels) this weekend, I find mine currently sits at -3.7deg .... a bit more than
-1.1deg

When you shim the hub, does this adjust purely camber, or is it necessary to alter tracking as well to compensate?

 

[murphwiz]

To shim the hubs, you need to make some spacers up, to slot over the studs that come from the hub to the hub carrier on the rear suspension.
To do it properly, need to strip the wheel off, brakes etc off, then loosen the hub and slide the spacers over the top 2 studs, between hub and carrier.
It may be possible to do it with everything still attached but might be a bit tight.

 

[sj]

Thanks Leon, now I understand how to do it, I just need to decide if it really needs doing, as it certainly doesn't feel bad at the moment.

My car currently sits 13mm lower than it did on it's original suspension, so I guess that the camber must have been above specification even then. Is there a tolerance quoted for this?

What was your camber before/after adjustment?
Could you feel a difference, or were you just trying to keep it correct to spec?

Sorry for the barrage of questions, I learn a bit more every day One day I will understand all the important bits, and by then I'll probably have to sell this car and get a new challenge.

 

[murphwiz]

Before changing it was negative 2.5degrees, after negative 1.1degress.
My main reason for chaning was the absolute horeendous tyre scrubbing I was getting, ruined a pair of tyres very quickly!

 

[jan95aero]

Hi All,

DCA informed me my rear tyres were unwell - spin the wheel and the inside edge is all wavey. Its a Camber problem?? Took the car to the only place in Dorset I can find to do Camber - Christchurch tyres (nice big computerised machine that sorted my 900 front end). The measurements were - LR -2.06 camber and 0.16 toe, RR -1.43 camber and .16 toe. They could find no way to adjust it so we spotted this thread and they suggested it was too much for them. The machine says the range is -0.51->-1.21 is this correct? Will a SAAB body shop (SEWARDs in Poole) be able to do this or does anyone know who could? For those interested I have the complete print out of Front Camber, Caster and Toe and rear Camber and toe - before and after 2 new Michelin Pilot sport 225*45*17 on the front - they recommended getting the camber sorted before shelling out on new tyres (even though they got an extra pair in just in case) They also pointed out the tyres were an MOT failure.

Finally seems strange the car can do this and not have adjustment? The tyres are less than half worn.

Oh car is 2000 95 Aero estate no mods.

 

[sgould]

Any throbbing noises from the wheels?

There's been a lot of discussion on the board about odd noises that vary with road speed. There is a weak point on the 9-5 with a trailing arm bush that fails, usually causing a throb that is difficult to track down as, from the driver's seat it seems to come from the front!

If your car is standard I would be surprised if you needed to modify it to bring it back to spec. I would suspect the various suspension components first.

Also the rear shock absorbers on this model can be a bit short lived.

 

[murphwiz]

First culprit would be the transverse upper/lower link outer bushes.
They tend to get a bit of play in them throwing the camber out.