DIY Camber Gauge

First of all, this is not my design, all credit for the design and text goes to Caretakerplus, i am merely the messenger! :)

camber gauge by dansharpy, on Flickr

Notes for making and using the D.i.Y. Camber Gauge.

As the angles involved in wheel camber are very small, it would be as well to make the distance

between the cord suspension and the plumb bob as large as practically possible; this will make it

easier to read.

As with the tracking gauge, all of the parts are available from B&Q, but some people will have most

of the components at home anyway.

The plywood can be about 800mm to 1m high, by about 500mm wide.

If you have made the tracking gauge, you may well have enough ‘off-cuts’ for the uprights and

dowels.

The only other items required are a school type protractor, a length of thin cord, a plumb-bob and

means of locking the dowels to the uprights (please see tracking gauge details for ideas on this.)

A lot of care is required in marking out the angles which the plumb-line is to describe, as they are

very small (minus25 minutes, plus or minus 20 minutes in the case of my Mk4)

NB The minus means that the wheel ‘leans’ in at the top, giving what is termed, negative camber.

As the best that you can hope for from a simple protractor is 30minutes (half of one degree) this will

have to suffice, but if anyone has access to a vernier protractor, they could perhaps make a super

model.

Construction:

Mark the holes for the dowels in the uprights, corresponding to the diameter of the wheel rim.

Clamp the uprights together and, with the bench drill or using a drill stand, drill straight through both

uprights, giving correctly spaced, parallel holes for the 10mm dowel.

Clamp or screw the protractor to the plywood and drill a small hole for the cord EXACTLY on the

zero line.

With a metal straight-edge and a VERY sharp pencil, carefully mark out a few degrees at half degree

intervals each side of the zero line on to the plywood.

Put the dowels through the holes (to keep them parallel) and screw the uprights to the plywood.

Sharpen the dowels as in the tracking gauge, to give a ‘point’ about 6mm diameter.

Attach the cord to the plum-bob at one end and thread the other through the hole at the top of the

plywood, fixing it with a small screw at the back.

Calibration and use:

Hold the plywood by the hand hole and bring the pointed ends of the dowels into contact with an

object that is exactly vertical ( use a good quality spirit level to verify this object is in fact vertical).

Adjust and lock the dowels in position, making sure that the cord is exactly on the zero line.

With the car stood on level ground and with the tyres inflated to the correct pressure, bring the pointed

ends of the dowels into contact with the wheel rim.

Read off the camber angle and repeat on the other wheel.

If you don’t have a (transversely) level bit of ground, the operation can be carried out on an incline,

but the gauge would need to be calibrated on the same plane. If this is not possible, carry out the

readings on both sides of the car and subtract one result from the other.

Note: If you have a pair of decent dividers (and a steady hand!) you may care to make some marks

on the plywood, corresponding to say 15 minute divisions between the half degree marks originally

marked out.

This device can only measure camber, king-pin (or swivel-pin) inclination, which is just as important,

and is linked to camber, requires an altogether more complicated set up

As with the tracking gauge, my thanks once again go to ‘dansharpy’ for getting the sketch onto the

Forum.

camber gauge by dansharpy, on Flickr

Edited 26 January, 201115 yr by dansharpy