Want a low-stance car but worried about damaging its handling? Here’s everything you need to know about camber, toe, and caster!
Changing your car’s suspension components for better handling is relatively straightforward — drop it with new coilovers, install adjustable mounts and control arms, and you already have a pretty good start. However, tuning them right is a whole other story. Indeed, high-end racing teams will often employ a dozen engineers just to get the setup spot on, with the exact configuration changing substantially from one track to another.
Of course, unless you are a pro racer, you probably don’t have access to an engineer (or the budget to hire one) to set up your suspension perfectly. Luckily, there’s a lot you can do on your own to optimize your setup and gain an edge over the competition. Combine that with some experimentation and a bit of professional help, and your car will drive better than ever before.
And even if sheer performance isn’t really your thing, misaligned wheels can significantly increase tire wear (which is especially annoying if your car is running expensive oversized tires), and have a seriously negative effect on your car’s overall handling. Put simply, a well-tuned suspension is just essential, no matter whether you occasionally spend your weekend at the track or only use it to go to work every morning. As a result, knowing how each configuration affects your tires can help you identify lousy suspension components and save a bunch in the long run.
So without further ado, let’s have a look at what camber, toe, and caster are and how they affect your vehicle’s performance!
Differences Between Camber, Toe, and Caster
Before we dive into the specific pros and cons of each setup, we’ll start by giving a brief explanation of what they are and how they work — just in case. If you are already well aware of the fine details of car suspension alignment, feel free to just skip this section and jump right back below.
What is Camber on a Vehicle?
Positive or negative camber changes the vertical angle of the wheel relative to the car. Put simply; positive camber will have the top of the wheels leaning away from the car when looking from the front or back. Negative camber, on the other hand, will have them leaning inwards instead.
Whether or not your vehicle should sport a negative or positive camber will depend on a wide range of variables, including its purpose and the desired result. A performance car, or any modern car, in fact, will have more or less negative camber for better grip during cornering. Meanwhile, vehicles designed to transport heavy loads will have positive camber, so the wheels straighten up when the load is applied to the suspension.
If you’ve never heard of the latest “Stance” subculture before, a quick Google search for “stance cars” will show a ton of wildly negative camber setups. No need to say that going to such extremes rarely brings any real benefits when it comes to handling — they’re definitely more of an “all-show/no-go” thing.
What is the Toe on a Vehicle?
Looking at your car from a bird’s eye view, if the front wheels are both pointing inwards, it’s called “toe-in.” If they are both pointing outwards, that’s called “toe-out.” To simplify further, if your left wheel is looking right and your right wheel is looking left simultaneously, it has a toe-in alignment. The opposite would be toe-out.
A classic toe setup will typically be less than half a degree inwards (toe-in) and is almost impossible to notice with the naked eye.
What is Caster on a Vehicle?
Caster is by far the trickiest of the three to explain; we’ll try our best to simplify it as much as possible.
Looking at the car from the side, if the centerline of the wheel is behind the top strut mount, that’s a negative caster. If the wheel’s center is in front of the top strut mount, that is a positive caster.
To see it at a glance, look at the shock absorber’s angle. For example, a chopper motorcycle with extended forks has a very high positive caster angle, while a shopping cart would have a high negative caster angle.
Positive vs. Negative Camber
Positive Camber: Pros and Cons
Positive camber reduces the scrub radius when turning the steering wheel, meaning steering inputs will require less effort. This characteristic isn’t as crucial for road cars as for off-road trucks and agricultural equipment, and you will notice positive camber on many smaller tractors. However, while braking in a straight line might improve slightly, a positive caster will diminish cornering speed and stability and isn’t suitable for regular vehicles, including passenger cars, SUVs, and trucks.
Your wheels can start to have positive camber if your vehicle’s control arm bushings are worn out, but pretty much any other worn-out suspension component could be the culprit, too. In most cases, positive camber will cause a higher load on the outside of a tire’s footprint so if one of your tires’ outer edges is noticeably more worn out; it’s a good sign you should have your car’s suspension thoroughly inspected.
Pros
- Lighter steering
- Steering needs less correction in a straight line
- Slightly better traction under braking
Cons
- Increased tire wear on the outer edges
- Reduced cornering speed and traction
- Reduced traction under acceleration
Negative Camber: Pros and Cons
Negative camber is a much more popular setup for road cars because it provides better handling and stability — when done right, of course. However, while negative camber can sure be beneficial for performance driving, like increased cornering grip, it will also increase tire wear on the inner part of the tread. Hence, most automotive manufacturers choose to go with a slightly negative camber angle to reap the benefits without having too much of a negative impact on tire wear. Still, if you notice uneven tread wear inside the tires, something might be wrong with your suspension.
When it comes to performance cars, a higher negative camber is generally helpful on tracks, mainly because it allows for a much better cornering grip. Nonetheless, we recommend keeping the camber at a reasonable angle for the best overall results. Once again, stance cars with extreme negative camber will perform significantly worse than cars with slight negative camber in almost all measurable metrics, including acceleration, braking, and cornering.
Stance cars may look good, but they rarely do much more than that.
Pros
- Smoother and more stable handling
- Increased grip while cornering
- Reduces steering vibration
Cons
- Increased tire wear on the inner edges
- Requires more steering corrections in a straight line
- Reduced traction when braking
- Lower grip when accelerating
How to Adjust the Camber?
The answer to this question will vary significantly depending on your car model. Indeed, there are several ways camber can be adjusted. but in most cases, it is set from the factory and can’t be adjusted using stock components — when the camber is out of the manufacturer’s recommended threshold, something is usually worn or damaged.
As a result, if you’ve just replaced your stock shocks for shiny new coilovers sitting several inches lower than before, and your wheels are now consequently in severe negative camber, you’ll need to replace other components with “adjustable” aftermarket ones to bring them back as desired.
In most cases, camber bolts should be available from the manufacturer — these are what technicians would use to adjust the camber on your car at the dealer. Camber bolts are simple bolts with an offset center, whose positioning or rotation dictates the camber angle. This method doesn’t allow for drastic angle changes but is usually enough for the average road car.
Unfortunately, that won’t do the job for dropper cars though. Indeed, you’ll need adjustable top mounts here, allowing for a much bigger adjustment range. They are easy to install and allow for about 3 degrees of adjustment on average, which should be enough for most vehicles, including track cars.
Adjustable control arms and ball joints will also give you more room to adjust the camber angle, especially if you combine them with adjustable top mounts. This setup is most popular for stance cars but has its uses for performance driving, too.
“Toe In” vs. “Toe Out”
Toe-In: Pros and Cons
Adjusting your wheels to point inwards won’t be as helpful for road cars as it will for track days and racing. Moreover, toe-in is much more popular with rear-wheel drive cars as the less responsive steering and increased slip angle reduce oversteer. Such a setup will also increase tire wear significantly, which is not really a problem when racing but sure is with your daily commuter.
Indeed, a worn-out outermost tread is a sure sign of excessive toe-in, quite similar to what you would notice with positive camber, but in that case, the wear is much more gradual between the two sides. As a general rule, improper toe often results from hitting a big pothole or worn-out steering system components.
Pros
- Better acceleration
- Reduced oversteer
- Tires will heat up a lot faster
Cons
- Slower steering response
- Uneven tire wear
- Can reduce tire life tenfold
Toe-out: Pros and Cons
A “toe-out” configuration is a lot more popular for front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive cars, aiming to reduce understeer, a condition more frequent with FWD and 4WD layouts. Again, such a setup is best used for racing as the decreased tire life span will far outweigh the performance benefits in road use. Tire wear will be most noticeable on the inner edges of the tire.
Pros
- Quicker steering
- Reduced understeer
- Better steering stability
Cons
- Increased tire wear
- May decrease braking performance
Positive Caster Angle vs. Negative Caster Angle
Positive Caster: Pros and Cons
Interestingly, a positive caster has a lot of benefits without many downsides. For instance, since it produces torque, a positive caster returns the steering wheel to the center position after a turn and keeps it steady in a straight line. And since the wheels will turn into the corner, they will increase the camber angle and give the car a better grip. Meanwhile, the camber would remain lower when driving in a straight line.
Furthermore, a positive caster doesn’t increase tire wear unless combined with an incorrect camber or toe. It will generally make driving the car easier with better handling and improved performance. One potential downside is that it will make the steering a little heavier. That said, a positive caster in modern road cars with light steering might improve your driving experience by giving you more feedback and increased steering precision.
Pros
- Better straight-line stability at high speeds
- Better cornering performance
- Easier to control at the limit
Cons
- Heavier steering
Negative Caster: Pros and Cons
A negative caster setup has virtually no upsides besides making steering inputs lighter. On the other hand, it will make the car much more unstable, causing it to wander instead of staying in a straight line. Also, a negative caster will heavily compromise stability when braking due to reduced traction. As for cornering, despite the lighter steering, this setup will also be much less precise.
Put simply, unless you drive a shopping cart, stay away from negative camber.
Pros
- Lighter steering
Cons
- Unstable in a straight line
- Increases swerving under braking
- Decreased braking performance
- Steering will feel looser
Last Words
It’s interesting to notice that some of the pros mentioned in this article, like lighter steering, don’t sound like pros in today’s day and age. But that wasn’t always the case in the past, as steering systems weren’t always as advanced as they are now, which was a big problem. Most cars today come with at least a slight negative camber right from the factory, which is a good thing when looking at all the performance benefits. But then, what about old race cars or even vintage F1 cars rolling around on positive camber?
Well, that’s because they had to do everything they could to make steering those tin rockets easier. While positive camber decreases traction in the corners, there won’t be any actual use of the extra grip a negative camber setup would provide if the driver can’t even turn the steering wheel fast enough to stay on the track.
Also, to better see how negative camber changes the wheel geometry during cornering, try looking up photos of F1 cars driving in a straight line and then compare them to photos of the same formulas under hard cornering (make sure the camera is low enough and positioned at the right angle). You will notice how the camber angle of the outside tire no longer looks negative in corners but rather vertical, almost at 0 degrees of camber angle.
As for adjustments, do note that changing the camber will also affect the toe and caster. For instance, you can retain the straight-line stability when increasing the camber by also increasing the caster angle and keep the steering responsive by increasing toe-in. Whatever you do, though, make sure you only make small adjustments; even a fraction of a degree can dramatically affect how your vehicle drives.
And of course, no matter the kind of car you drive, make sure to have your vehicle’s alignment checked regularly. Proper wheel alignment requires the use of specialized equipment and can only really be done at the repair shop. Yes, you can always eyeball it and call it a day, but after all, if you’ve just spent an arm and a leg on a set of new coilovers, new shiny new wheels, and new sports tires, you really don’t want to be using the whole thing to only 50% of what it can really do, right?
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