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View Full Version : My rear wheels are butterflying

graphikg04
08-08-2002, 01:18 PM
My car has Tokiko Blue shocks, and Srint springs, and my rear whells are starting to butterfly. How can I prevent this, and how can I make it stop. This might be a newbie question but I have asked around and my cousin says that he had a friend that had his A4 slammed and the wheels started butterflying. He said that all he got was an allignment and they stopped butterflyng and everything was all good from there. Then I asked my friend, he said to get a camber kit, or to get some adj. pillar mounts. But that seems like a lot of money to me. So whats the best deal?  I will do the allignment if it would work, because I think I can get a better deal on that. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, PEACE

graphikG
AKADriver
08-08-2002, 01:46 PM
"butterfly"?  You mean excess negative camber?

To correct a serious rear camber problem in the 240SX requires adjustable upper control arms.  Whether you get this or not, an alignment is what you need.  Your best bet is to talk to a good alignment shop and ask if there's enough camber adjustment left in the stock suspension to fix your problem.  If you just have off the shelf lowering springs and not coilovers I don't think it could possibly be that bad.
240 2NR
08-08-2002, 02:00 PM
Are they wearing out to one side, or do the treads look all screwed up across the tire (never heard the term butterflying,)? If it's the latter, toe is to blame. You have either too much toe in or toe out. An alignment should fix that for you.

If it's excessive camber, some aftermarket camber correcting device will be needed in addition to an alignment. The stock adjustment is only good for about a degree I think.

Edit:  If this is a tire problem you should probably call them tires instead of wheels.  If it's actually a wheel problem, look into getting them balanced (I'm guessing butterfly is when they shake, i don't know, the more I read you post, the less I understand it)
graphikg04
08-08-2002, 07:20 PM
Ok, I am sorry. I will elaborate on the word butterfly, my rear tires are cambering out and they are causing wear on the inside of the rear tires. The wear is not that bad now, but its just that I want to get the camber fixed before the problem becomes worse. Here is a diagram that might help.


                                  (normal)
                          ------------------------
left rear tire---->    l   rear right tire----->l
                            l                             l
                            l                             l
                            l                             l


                                 (mine)
                            ----------------------
                                /                   \
rear left ------> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; / &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;\<--rear right
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;/ &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;\
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;/ &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;\
&nbsp; note: this is an exaggeration, my tires arent like this, but some cars do get up to this state. And this is a diagram with a view of looking towards the back of the car. I hope this is a better description, and I hope it is more understandable.
Again, any suggestions are appreciated.

graphikG
240 2NR
08-09-2002, 08:31 AM
That's excessive negative camber. &nbsp;There is a stock adjustment in the rear end that allows for a small amount of correction. &nbsp;If you're seeing tire wear, or they are visably "butterflied" you probably have too much for that to work effectively, though it will help. &nbsp;Eccentric bushings are one option (cheaper <$100), and an adjustable conrtol arm (more expensive, easy adjustment ~$300) is another. &nbsp;You can get pillow mounts for the rear but they won't be adjustable and anyone who tells you they will fix the problem in the rear is on crack since its a multilink setup, though adjustable pillow mounts will work up front if you are having issues up there as well. &nbsp;Either way you will need to go have an alignment done. &nbsp;

How low is your drop that you can see that much camber? &nbsp;Mine has ~1.5" drop and it looks about perfect though I haven't run any numbers to be sure.
sr20mofo
08-09-2002, 05:14 PM
http://240sx.org/links/installs/camber/camber.html &nbsp; here ya go... hope this helps
graphikg04
08-09-2002, 07:45 PM
Well 240 2nr, I am sorry to say, but I dont really know how low the drop is because I bought the car how it is. &nbsp;Here is a link to a picture though, it might give you an idea.

http://community.webshots.com/album/43433065kNExxW

&nbsp;As you can see, it is pretty low, and you cannot see any negative camber happening. But I just want to fix it before it just gets any worse. So I will check on getting an allignment, and I will see what the mechanics say what I should do from there. I know the mechanics and they are very trustworthy. Thanks 2nr for the suggestions, and the same for sr20mofo.

graphikG