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Im working on a 2005 Honda Element with about 165k on it and that tows a small trailer often. There is a lot of negative rear camber to the point of wearing out the inside of the rear tires prematurely. There isn’t any camber adjustment. I am thinking about just replacing the rear strut and spring assemblies. Would you check anything else? Any thoughts?
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You may need your alignment checked. I believe There
is no camber adjustment on Honda.Its fixed.The other factors
are the Tires you use.Michelin is the preferred tire.also how
much weight in the trailer? Is the trailer level when being towed?camber adjustments in general are not easy to make. with struts, it usually requires drilling out the top holes in the strut mount. with most vehicles though, camber is set at the factory with no method in place for future adjustments; you take what you get.
i would recommend getting your vehicle on the alignment rack and see how far the camber actually is. if it’s only 1 or 2 degrees off, then break out the grinder and have at it. if it is several degrees off, then it is something more serious. an inspection of the rear suspension and struts would be needed in order to determine what (if any) corrections could be made.
you might be able to machine the struts/add shims somewhere to bring the camber back out.
[off topic, but interesting]
So last week i did my first alignment on my own vehicle, 2003 crown vic cvpi. did a perfect toe adjustment. get it off the rack and it drives straight as an arrow; however, my steering wheel was about 45 degrees off lol. went back a couple days later and did a total toe adjustment and it came right back to normal. not sure what happened, but this time i paid extra close attention to steering wheel position.
I would not recommend grinding or adding shims as this could weaken the suspension components. If it is a camber problem there is an issue that needs to be addressed. There is currently no real evidence of a camber issue but more likely a toe-in toe-out problem.
I forgot to mention that Hunter alignment racks will literally show you how to make any required adjustments… it’ll actually show a video of a mechanic performing the adjustment for your type of vehicle. 🙂
Do you know if the vehicle has been in any sort of collision? I had a similar problem with my acura after it was hit in the front. Ended up having to replace the control arms because they were bent but the struts could cause this issue as well.
I would say it’s likely the result of you using it for towing. The Element was never really meant for that. The extra weight on the back will cause the suspension to compress thus increasing negative camber. Since there is no camber adjustment there is little you can do really.
Rear tire wear could be from incorrect toe if its featheting the outer tread blocks.
Moog and others make adjustable rear camber link for the Element.
PepBoys* sells a Northstar brand one for about $68. (-2 to +3 degrees. SKU 9943825) They need not be installed in pairs if only one side is out of tolerance.
*I’m a little down on PepBoys alignment service. They claimed to have adjusted the front camber without changing parts, and I know the pinch bolt are original OEM.After converting the fsctory specs to decimal degrees, their “specified ranges” for camber don’t match.
Hi all, I have had my Element a 2008 with 225k miles for about 4 years and have also noticed that rear camber issue. I do believe in my case it was caused by over stressing the rear springs (my element was used as a delivery vehicle the first part of its life). I bought the upper rear camber adjusters but never installed them. Instead I installed rubber spring spacers available on online. which brought the ride height back to normal and made the camber much better. So the best way is to probably change out the rear springs. But I’m happy with the ride and correction of the rubbers that are installed by jacking the car up and just working them in.
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