Rear adjustable control arms

Since lowering my car I have been eating thourgh my rear tires every 5K miles even after an alignment from the dealer. I'm thinking about buying some rear adjustable control arms to help dial out some of the negative camber. Does anyone have any experience they'd like to share? Not sure if I need the adjustable toe link as well since some of the ads state that the RCA can also help with toe in/out. Any brand preferred by the board....Agency Power, Sharkwerks, GMG, etc. Thanks

im on teh same boat.... look up Torque Solution on 6speedonline. They have a great members discount.

I recently installed the Agency Power upper control arms (at the same time I installed the M030 RoW suspension kit). They look good, work well, and were a cinch to install...I recommend them. The last time I had the car aligned the shop could barely get the camber within spec (borderline too much negative); when I got the car re-aligned today after the M030 install they had no problems whatsoever nailing the rear camber. I was able to procure the AP items on sale for less than any other manufacturer's advertised prices. Watch for sales, you will be rewarded. One thing to note...rear tire wear is very sensitive to rear alignment, both camber and toe. If the dealer has your alignment just a wee bit off spec that can make a huge difference. But the UC arms can't hurt (which is why I now use them).

Zookie - Thanks for the info. I'll check into the Torque Solutions. 02TX996Cab - Thanks for the good words on AP. I did have a factory USA M030 but changed it out for an Eibach pro kit and Koni FSD shocks. Very happy with the change but I have to do something about these tires. I dug up my last alignment sheet and scanned it. Everything looks OK...? Hmmm. I'm running 295/30/19 on a 19 x 10.5 rim with an offset of +52. I know the offset isn't quite right (I think factory is +65, which means my wheel is sitting 19mm further toward the outside of the car) as I had to get the rear fender rolled due to very slight rubbing. Could this be what's eating the inside of my tires? My other thought is that my eccentric is worn out and my alignment is way off. http://www.flickr.com/photos/6417347...0842/lightbox/

Problem is not just the negative camber. Most of the issue is your shop set too much toe in. Dial it down to the MINIMUM for the Porsche setting in their little machine and you will be safe, and have a lot less tire bills. DEALERS WILL PUT IN WAY TOO MUCH TOE IN!!!!! Read some of the lawsuits from years ago against Porsche. They are very conservative and sacrifice your tire wear in the name of no more lawsuits.

Wow...and I thought my toe settings weren't too bad. Range appears to be from 0.08-0.25. Mine are set at .20 and .21 (L & R). What is a good compromise with tire wear and high speed stability? Midpoint would be ~ .016, so would .12 be OK? Since mine is a daily driver and an interstate queen, my goals would be high speed stability instead of turn in sharpness and increased tire wear. Interesting...copied from Tirerack's site: "Additionally the vehicle's toe is one of the most critical alignment settings relative to tire wear. A toe setting that is just a little off its appropriate setting can make a huge difference in their wear. Consider that if the toe setting is just 1/16-inch off of its appropriate setting, each tire on that axle will scrub almost seven feet sideways every mile! Extend it out and you'll discover that rather than running parallel to each other, the front tires will scrub over 1/4-mile sideways during every 100 miles of driving! Incorrect toe will rob you of tire life." Thanks everyone for your help and responses so far.

Isn't the toe-in adjustable with stock components? My alignment guy said it was, I'm pretty sure... Once you change the upper control arms to adjustable, you have control over the 'too much neg camber' issue, right? Even being lowered, the same toe in adjustments can be made as when stock, Iwould think...? The wear from too much neg camber is excessive wear on the inside of the tire.....the quote from tirerack seems like it will just wear the overalltire more, not the 'inconsistent wear that the camber issue leads to...

I believe the toe is adjustable with the eccentric for the toe link. I will take it for an alignment to see if they can get my car down to the .12 settings with the factory toe link. I didn't know that the toe could cause such drastic wear, I thought it was all camber related (All of my wear is generally on the first inch or two of the inside of the tire though). I guess I'll try to see if I can get some of the toe dialed out and make the tire run a little straighter. Just to be clear I have too much "toe out" and need to have the rear "toe in" more, correct?

You have TOO MUCH toe in. 0 would be straight. So with the .08-.25 range of toe in (the higher the number the more toe), you are almost at the top of the recommended scale. Cut back to .10/.11 (still within the Porsche acceptable range) and you find the you most likely at least doubled your tire life. This is still a toe in setting, just about half of what you have now. Oh and the car will be more responsive yet still very safe. It is a combination of the negative camber and the toe causing the issue. Take out some of the toe and you will have a have good tire wear, stable responsive car without spending a lot of money for unnecessary parts.

Thanks Viperbob. Going to see if I can get it aligned with the factory toe link and save some cash. Otherwise, I guess I be on the lookout for an adjustable toe link kit.

The eccentrics are crap. They should be able to get you where you need to be though. Sometimes a little prybar before tightening or new eccentrics may be needed. You are better long run though with the toe arms. Drive around the block after alignment with the factory toe arms and settings will change. Lots of rubber in the stock piece.

viperbob is spot on here... Get the Toe as close to 0 as you can and bring the camber to around -1 Deg or Less ( all very possbily with stock Parts!) and those tires will last 2 or 3 times longer. If you need trailing control arms, Upper Control Arms (DogBones) or even Lower Control Arms... give me a call... We carry TRG parts as well as some of our own products and can beat most others prices.... Chris

Chris thanks for confirming viperbob (not that I doubted him). I have new tires being installed on Tuesday since I'm nearly to the cords and I will have it aligned the following day. I'll post back and let everyone know how things turned out. If I need some new parts, I'll give LC Motorsports a call.

So I had my car aligned and it made a big difference in the way the steering feels. There were some settings that were SEVERELY out of adjustment. I asked them to set the toe as close to zero as possible as suggested. (He got some negative toe on some, but not too much, as the eccentric was giving the tech fits) Hopefully I'll see a big difference in tire wear as well. New Alignment However, my car still feels like it is floating at speeds greater that 40 MPH. If I take the steering wheel and gently make the car sway back and forth if feels really "loose" or "wobbly" for lack of a better description. Instead of feeling hunkered down and immediately changing in direction, it lazily changes direction and feels very uneasily doing so. I replaced my USA M030 springs and shocks with Eibach Pro springs (1 inch drop) and Koni FSD shocks on in May hoping this would help lower the car and get rid of the floating feeling. Also replaced sway bar bushings. What should I change next. The car is 11 yrs old and still has original factory steering and suspension components. Would lower control arms with new ball joints help? Or should I change the tie rods or maybe my drop links....please help!!! Other possible reasons that I can think are causing this floating feeling: 1. Factory Aero taco wing is set at it's highest setting. It has been like this for the nine years I've owned the car. Could this be causing too much down-force on the rear and causing the front to lift slightly? 2. Missing the rear most under-body panel (closest to engine). The tabs broke when I was removing it to change the manual transmission fluid and I never replaced it. 3. Aftermarket cheap 19" wheels. Probably a lot heavier than my stock Sport Classic IIs.

which brand Dog Bones did you get?

I did not purchase any yet since it was mentioned that my wear was primarily due to my toe settings instead of my camber settings. I'd eventually like to get adjustable toe links and dog bones, but for now I'd just like for it to feel comfortable at speed.