Ghostrider Rear Camber Arms REVIEW
03-16-2013, 02:17 PM
#1
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Derby, KS
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2005 MB C230K Sport Sedan & 2011 MB C300
Ghostrider Rear Camber Arms REVIEW
I just thought I'd post up a review of the Ghostrider Rear Camber Arms since I just got them installed and my vehicle aligned.
I own a 2005 C230K Sport sedan that is sitting on Bilstein Sport struts and Eibach springs. The previous owner cut some coils off of the front and rear springs to achieve his desired stance and look. Unfortunately, this resulted in the rear passenger side tire having -2.5 degrees of negative camber. It looks great, but the excessive camber wear became a nuisance.
The 19x9.5 iForged wheels in the rear, particularly the passenger rear was wearing out after 13,000 miles and it was due to the excessive camber. I lurked the forums, USED THE SEARCH FUNCTION
and stumbled upon the Ghostrider camber arms. Thank goodness! Because it was going to be a pain if I had to change rear tires every 13,000 miles!
The guy who makes the camber arms isn't located far from me. About 3 hours northeast of my location so the item arrived in about 2 days. I am more than capable of installing the items myself, but I wanted to have my alignment guy install it and align it all at once. Therefore, I paid the labor rate for the installation of the rear camber arms plus a 4-wheel alignment.
$71 an hr labor rate
1 hr per side
$99 4-wheel alignment
Total w/tax = $275 and some change
The before and after pictures shown below are quick "alignment check" measurements from my local Sears Auto store. A good friend of mine happens to be a manager there so I had him take some before and after measurements. The alignment shop that actually did the work just wrote the "after" measurements. Although, I trust the alignment shop that did the work very much, I just wanted to see a computerized printout.
Before the installation of the rear camber arms, upon visually looking at the right passenger rear tire you could definitely tell there was some negative camber; Almost had that stance/caved in kind of look. And after the installation and alignment there was quite a difference; It was a lot more positive and vertical. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures to represent the differences.
While the passenger rear was sitting at -2.5 degrees of negative camber I was able to accommodate 2 passengers in the rear and have no rubbing what so ever. Now that the arms have been installed and the camber corrected, I get SLIGHT rubbing on bumps and hard left turns here and there. I would think that having passengers would cause even more rubbing. I would prefer NO RUBBING, but I'll take slight rubbing versus having to change tires every 13,000 miles. And trust me, with this being my daily driver 13,000 miles comes REAL QUICK.
The tires in the rear are 265/30/19 Continental DWS all season tires. They were the only tire brand that had a "rounded" sidewall after installation and I was also wanting an all season tire because this vehicle is driven in fall, summer, spring, and even in MILD winters.
In the "BEFORE" picture, the rear toe was in the green and looked okay. The excessive rear camber was causing the tires to wear prematurely. The alignment tech said that while adjusting the rear camber arms it moved the toe way out, but it looks like he was able to get it back to green. Well, close to green.
All I said to the tech was to do the best you can and get everything within specs if possible. It definitely looks the rear camber arms worked and got the vehicle back within specs.
I'll continue to monitor the tire wear after a few thousand miles, but for the most part I am satisfied with the purchase of the Ghostrider Rear Camber arms. Installation and adjustments were no problem for the alignment tech.
Overall an A++++ PRODUCT!!!
I own a 2005 C230K Sport sedan that is sitting on Bilstein Sport struts and Eibach springs. The previous owner cut some coils off of the front and rear springs to achieve his desired stance and look. Unfortunately, this resulted in the rear passenger side tire having -2.5 degrees of negative camber. It looks great, but the excessive camber wear became a nuisance.
The 19x9.5 iForged wheels in the rear, particularly the passenger rear was wearing out after 13,000 miles and it was due to the excessive camber. I lurked the forums, USED THE SEARCH FUNCTION
and stumbled upon the Ghostrider camber arms. Thank goodness! Because it was going to be a pain if I had to change rear tires every 13,000 miles! The guy who makes the camber arms isn't located far from me. About 3 hours northeast of my location so the item arrived in about 2 days. I am more than capable of installing the items myself, but I wanted to have my alignment guy install it and align it all at once. Therefore, I paid the labor rate for the installation of the rear camber arms plus a 4-wheel alignment.
$71 an hr labor rate
1 hr per side
$99 4-wheel alignment
Total w/tax = $275 and some change
The before and after pictures shown below are quick "alignment check" measurements from my local Sears Auto store. A good friend of mine happens to be a manager there so I had him take some before and after measurements. The alignment shop that actually did the work just wrote the "after" measurements. Although, I trust the alignment shop that did the work very much, I just wanted to see a computerized printout.
Before the installation of the rear camber arms, upon visually looking at the right passenger rear tire you could definitely tell there was some negative camber; Almost had that stance/caved in kind of look. And after the installation and alignment there was quite a difference; It was a lot more positive and vertical. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures to represent the differences.
While the passenger rear was sitting at -2.5 degrees of negative camber I was able to accommodate 2 passengers in the rear and have no rubbing what so ever. Now that the arms have been installed and the camber corrected, I get SLIGHT rubbing on bumps and hard left turns here and there. I would think that having passengers would cause even more rubbing. I would prefer NO RUBBING, but I'll take slight rubbing versus having to change tires every 13,000 miles. And trust me, with this being my daily driver 13,000 miles comes REAL QUICK.
The tires in the rear are 265/30/19 Continental DWS all season tires. They were the only tire brand that had a "rounded" sidewall after installation and I was also wanting an all season tire because this vehicle is driven in fall, summer, spring, and even in MILD winters.
In the "BEFORE" picture, the rear toe was in the green and looked okay. The excessive rear camber was causing the tires to wear prematurely. The alignment tech said that while adjusting the rear camber arms it moved the toe way out, but it looks like he was able to get it back to green. Well, close to green.
All I said to the tech was to do the best you can and get everything within specs if possible. It definitely looks the rear camber arms worked and got the vehicle back within specs.
I'll continue to monitor the tire wear after a few thousand miles, but for the most part I am satisfied with the purchase of the Ghostrider Rear Camber arms. Installation and adjustments were no problem for the alignment tech.
Overall an A++++ PRODUCT!!!
03-19-2013, 04:05 PM
#6
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: So. Cal.
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'02 C320 Wagon, '78 308 GTS, '06 Highlander Hybrid
BTW, Speedway Motors sells the same camber arms for half the price.
