I’m confused about what the book says. It states “removal of shims decreases camber angle“. But what I can figure is that adding shims would decrease camber angle, that is, move it further into negative camber. See video below to see what I mean.

 

For conversation let's assume that no shims = zero camber. That is, the tire is perfectly vertical. No angle.

Adding shims pulls the top of the tire inward (negative camber). The tire is now no longer vertical but, instead, at an angle. If you add still more shims, the angle will increase.

If you remove shims, the angle will decrease.

Cheers
​​​​​​​DD

 

Increasing camber does mean adding more negative camber, making the wheel lean in more at the top. "Desireable" camber is always negative on modern vehicles.
Jon

 

Ok thanks for confirming Doug - that’s what I thought.

Now the hard part…figuring out how to actually push the upper wishbone inward so I can stick some shims in there. One of the two camber bolts is completely removed and the other is very nearly. I’ve tried pushing it inward at different suspension heights and still nothing. Won’t budge at all. Any tips?

 

Both camber bolts out now and still nothing.

 

Do you have a jack under the lower control arm taking weight off the upper? Without a jack, you've got the full energy of the spring keeping you from moving the upper arm inwards. That spring has a tremendous amount of force behind it. Put the bolts back in with nuts, loosely, so the arm doesn't slip out from behind the mounting point. If that happens, the force in that spring can be lethal.

 

Just tried that and still can’t get the upper wishbone to move inward.

 

Are you using a pry bar? You'll need it.

 

Hadn’t tried that yet. I assume you’re just talking about wedging it in the space where the shims go? Problem is I can’t wedge anything in there right now unless I take both bolts off and hit up on the wishbone to break it loose. But you said that’s not wise so I’m not sure how to wedge anything in there.

 

Is the spring pan jacked up on the side you are working on, so that the top wishbone arms are NOT in contact with the bump stop on the subframe shock tower?
Is the upper ball joint disconnected from the upper wishbone arms?

 

Hi Greg, I jacked up that corner until it started to lift the car off the jack stand and while it reduces some of the load off the bump stops, they were still well in contact with the subframe.

The upper ball joint hasn’t been touched - it’s still connected. I don’t see anything in the book about that in the front camber procedures.

 

The upper wishbone MUST be free of the bump stops. If not, the upper wishbones remain under pressure from the spring, which is why you cannot move them. This is a HIGHLY dangerous situation; you must keep jacking up the spring pan until the wishbone arms are off the bump stops. If neccesary move the jack stand further outwards to give more leverage on the spring.

 

Unbolt the upper ball joint.

I would recommend to swap out the upper control arm bushings while you're there.
And perhaps the ball joint....since you'll be disconnecting that as well.
While you're doing that, the lower ball joint should get replaced.

Since you'll be paying for an alignment after adding shims anyways....might as well start off with a clean bill of health?

 

I can’t move the jack further outward unless you want me to jack up the base of the lower ball joint. And what of Vee’s recommendation to unbolt the upper ball joint?

 

Sorry but semi-related question: I understand front suspension bushings should be oem, but I only ever read of wishbone and sway bar bushings. What about the subframe mounts? OEM there or aftermarket okay? Or poly?

 

ONLY OEM throughout. But unless they are in visible shreds, it will not be necessary to touch the subframe mountings.
Chock the rear wheels. Jack up under the ball joint, get a HUGE block of wood and make an indent in it. Place the block of wood under the disc and lower the jack so the weight of the suspension is on the disc which you lower into the indent; place jackstand under the spring pan for safety. This gives sufficent leverage to ensure the top wishbone arms are off their bump stops. You will find it easier to do the camber shims with the top balljoint undone; but if you can do it as is, OK, it is up to you.
Do you have any idea of what the camber was before you started, and therefore what you need in the way of shims?

 

Are you talking about the brake disc? Isn’t it a bad idea to put any sort of weight on a brake disc? Those things are known to shatter - and you’re not talking about a small amount of weight.

 

I am, it is connected to the hub and it will not shatter unless you drop the car onto concrete! You will have the jackstand just inboard for safety. You can put the weight of the car onto the hub if you prefer. The key is to have the support sufficiently outboard to clear the upper arms from the bump stops. Right now you are in great peril.

 

How am I in great peril? The camber bolts are in their designated holes and nothing else has been disconnected. The springs have nowhere to go.

 

I thought that earlier you posted that you had removed the camber bolts and could not move the asembly to get the shims in. That is the situation I thought you were in!