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Camber is the term used to describe the vertical alignment geometry of the wheels/tires when viewed from the front or rear of the car. At zero camber, the wheels are parallel to each other from top to bottom. Positive camber results in the wheels/tires leaning out at the top away from the center of the car and away from each other. Negative camber results in the opposite, with the wheels/tires leaning in at the top. Not just Saab, but Porsch, BMW and other makers design for negative camber to create more aggressive road holding performance, but at the expense of unequal tire wear (inner edge of tire tread wears faster). Regular tire rotation tries to spread this inherent wear to all tires. I have yet to try remounting my rear tires to switch from left to right and not just front to rear. This would keep the tire spin direction the same.
I've yet to satisfactorily accept the negative camber for my 1999 9-5, but I probably don't drive aggressively enough to really need it. Some people say it's a bad design and should have been better done (like Porsche, BMW..) Some say it's a hidden fault that the rear suspension bracket to the body is too flimsy and deforms. The car is probably heavy enough to set the car up for zero camber and prolong tire tread life with the available shims. Plenty of tire shops just punch in the car make and model on the alignment machine and get back preprogrammed info that either the camber and/or the toe (horizontal alignment)is not adjustable. Only somebody that deals in Saab alignments regularly knows what to do, despite what some alignment machine's manufacturer provides.
For now, I'm tolerating (barely...) the uneven tread wear and noise it generates...Maybe brand new tires and a zero camber setup is the answer.
Kirk D.
posted by 169.253....
, Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:54:27
, Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:00:49, Thu, 11 Oct 2007 22:05:39, Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:25:22, Thu, 11 Oct 2007 07:41:39
, Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:00:17
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