Camber

[Michael Roberts]

Hi everyone,

My 04 ST is showing some wear on the inside treads of the front passenger side tire. I put new tires on about six months ago. The drivers side doesn't appear to be as bad. There's no pulling at all, however, both front tires look to be leaning in toward the tops. I've owned this ST for almost a year now and have always noticed this tilted attitude.

I would guess I'm probably doing doing 450 miles a month. It varies so hard to say.

Camber adjustment?

Can I alter this a few degrees myself? Do I need some sort of a kit?

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Usually when this starts to happen it means your lower ball joints are going bad. I had the same problem and right before I bought new tires I replaced all four ball joints and installed Caster/ Camber Adjustment Bolt Kits on both sides.



I'd check the upper and lower ball joints for play. You can get the C/C kits from Napa or rockauto.com, you'll need to get an alignment either way to save your new tires.

 

[Michael Roberts]

Jerry,

Thanks for the response!

Can you remember what CC Kit you used or which one fits best etc?nline:

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Here's Napa's kit that I used:



Camber / Caster Kit - Front Susp

Part Number: NCP 2642953

Product Line: NAPA Chassis Parts

IMPORTANT INFO: From 0 To Plus Or Minus 2 1/4 Degrees Of Change;Contains Cams & Bolt

for the price from Napa you have to call them.



Here's the kit from rockauto.com:



Related Parts



2004 FORD EXPLORER SPORT TRAC 4.0L 245cid V6 FI (E) SOHC : Suspension : Caster / Camber Cam Bolt Kit Wiki Price

MOOG Part # K80065 Cam Bolt Kit; Caster Camber Cam Bolt

Frt Susp; Upper control arm; Problem Solver; adjustment range from -1-5/8 to 1-5/8 deg.



$21.79 each two kits needed

 

[Michael Roberts]

Hi Jerry,

I bought a camber bolt kit by "Moog".

So far I've installed it on the passenger side.

I used a marker and indexed the previous location before removing the original bolt set. I also indexed where the Moog would provide its maximum opposite deflection and decided to go midway between both. This has definately made the wheel look a lot more vertical. I haven't had an alignment done but I measured the distance of the steering knuckle before and after and I didn't see any significant change here. Also there was no steering pull prior to doing this and after driving with the camber change there's no pull at all.:driving:

 

[Hal S]

Mikerobe,

By changing the position of the upper control arm, you have changed camber as well as caster. A pull is to be expected.



When you removed the nut on the upper control arm bolt, the next thing that came off was a square plate with an off-center hole. All that I do is remove those plates, install a flat washer, and slide the arm where it needs to be and reinstall the nut.

No "kits" required. Been doing that since mid 2002 when that style upper arm bolt was introduced. Prior to that, FOMOC cams, or aftermarket adjusters were required.



JM2C