If you like cars, you’re likely fascinated – and perhaps perplexed – by very cambered wheels, so you may have thought, “How does someone drive around the streets with those kinds of wheels?”
Japanese auto shows have plenty of cambered wheels. Some wheels are so cambered that they are barely fitting inside the wheel guards.
Camber wheels that have extreme angles almost create an illusion that the car’s suspension is broken and garner gawking stares and confused glances from people passing by. So why do car enthusiasts use some extreme camber angles in their tuned car builds?
Why Do Some Cars Have Tilted Wheels?
Most of the time, the main reason why some cars have tilted or slanted wheels is because this is what looks good. Some lean can improve your car’s cornering, but if you really have tilted wheels, it will hurt your cornering.
Understand the wheels camber angle
Camber is the angle of the tire relative to the road when referring to wheels. This angle can be seen when a car is cornering. Tire settings are made to maximize surface contact with the ground.
Most of the time that you observe a stationary car wheels, you assume that the wheel that it is perpendicular to the wheel. The wheel is shifted a small amount.
When the wheel is stationary, the static camber is set. When the wheel is cornering, the settings are adjusted so that the tire is in more contact with the road.
Cars can have positive or negative cambers. Negative camber is when the top part of the wheel leans inward. Positive camber is when the top part of the wheel points out. Negative camber is what is seen in many tilted inclined wheels.
With respect to a car, whenever you see the outside wheels leaning outside the body of the car, you also realize the contact being made by that part of the wheel is less. Negative camber is often favorable in many cars because it offsets the effects of the car leaning during cornering.
Too much negative camber does lead to much more sensitivity to the condition of the crown of the road. Tires also wear at a faster rate than other cars.
How Far Should You Go With Inclined Wheels?
The amount of wheel inclination you desire for your car will vary depending on your suspension setup. Anytime you upgrade the suspension, you’ll upgrade the camber plates. More inclination means more pressure on the wheel that is in contact with the ground.
Most stanced cars also have their body slammed – that is to say the height of the car’s body. This is what car enthusiasts call “hellaflush” which indicates little body interaction with the wheels anymore.
Another way to modify your car wheels is with a stretched tire. This requires you to purchase the manufacturer’s maximum allowance wheel size, and then mount it to your car while modifying the suspension to accommodate the wheel.
Many people pay for tilted inclined wheels, not for performance sake, but for visual aesthetic considerations.
What Are the Dangers of Very Inclined Wheels?
As you may now be able to deduce, most people’s cars have camber installed simply because they think it looks cool.
What you must understand is that there are downsides to excessive camber, such as it can be dangerous. Here are reasons why you should not drive with excessive camber.
#1. Braking.
The first thing you are going to realize while you are driving a stance car is that you are going to have issues with braking. A standard car is made where the most the contact patch of the wheel touches the ground. Reason being is for grip and emergency braking.
If you are in a situation where almost half your tire is in the air, you have taken some, if not all, of the tire grip out of play. This makes emergency braking difficult for the driver. This is why many traffic safety authorities say and do not recommend excessive camber.
#2. Tire Wear.
If you have built-in negative camber, you are going to increase your chances of punctures, even a slow leak. That is simply because one side of the tire is getting worn.
If you plan on inclining your wheels, you better budget for extra tires and maintenance on those tires.
#3. Drivetrain Wear.
If you are thinking that just the tires are something that you are going to have to deal with if you have tilted inclined wheels, you have some really big maintenance pas ahead of you.
All the components that are associated with the driveshaft – wheel bearings, CV joints, bushes – these are all designed to be used at a normal wheel angle. When you use excessive negative camber, pressure is put on these joints.
#4. Cornering.
Cars have negative camber for a reason. This is important when you are cornering. But when you extremely incline your wheels, you are putting an excessive amount of stress on the wheel’s parts that make contact with the ground.
At extremely fast speeds, this can create a failure in your driveshaft, which could lead to an accident.
#5. Steering.
Very inclined wheels also have a lot of issues steering. The steering doesn’t get full lock because the geometry used to design it is not intended for extreme negative camber.
Additionally, the suspension is affected because it has to go both down and up, and that also has to be aligned with the wheel properly. Problems come in when those people who are making mods don’t have an angle grinder to get the suspension angles perfect.
Driving the car on its sidewall is dangerous. The sidewall was never meant to touch the ground. The more weight you have on the weak point of the tire, the greater the chance of getting a puncture.