Camber Explained

What is Camber?

   Camber is described as the angle of the wheel as you look at it directly from the front or rear of your car and if set correctly will improve your cars cornering ability considerably, by providing increased traction. This simple to make adjustment is considered by many to be one of the most effective changes you can make to your car for better handling.

   Positive Camber is when the top of the wheel is angled outwards. Negative Camber has the top of the wheel angled inwards.

   First of all, get yourself a good camber gauge. All adjustments to your cars camber setting should be made with the car in race mode, that means the motor, battery etc in position in the chassis.

On-Road Camber Angle

   To check the camber angle of an On-Road car, it must have the ride height already set to around 5mm. Place the car on a perfectly flat surface, position your camber gauge against the side of the wheel you are checking and take the camber angle, normally this is between -1 and -3 degrees negative. Next, put a small 1mm thick piece of card under that corner of the car and push the corner down until it touches the card. In this position, check the angle again. It should be between 0 and -0.5 degrees negative camber. If not, pick up the car and put it back down on the flat surface, check and make adjustments, using the turnbuckle, that you consider are needed to achieve your goal. Keep checking and adjusting and repeat for all four corners. What you are aiming for is an angle that will provide your car with the maximum amount of rubber on the track on high speed corners.

Off-Road Camber Angle

   Off Road cars can be adjusted in a similar manner to that described previously, with the ride height set at around 20mm, but in place of the card, use a small booklet or something around 5mm thick. The optimal camber setting is a little more difficult to find for off road cars and depends generally of the track surface you are racing on. Slippery tracks generally require less camber because of reduced suspension movement when cornering, whereas high grip tracks require more camber to compensate for inertial induced body-roll. Depending on the particular model, this setting can be anything between -1 and -5 degrees - sometimes more. Check your model manual for details.

Don't Overdo It

   Be aware that for all model types, too much negative camber can reduce straight line traction, but with a good setting for any particular track, the advantage it gives, that of vastly improved cornering stability, far outweigh any negative effects.

   For beginners, this setting is by far the easiest to experiment with. Just take the car out on the back yard and with a few simple turns of a turnbuckle you will soon learn just what difference a small change in your cars setup can do to change its handling ability. Good luck and good racing.

   At present, the RC Model Manufacturers, Brands and Distributors covered by us are: ABC Hobby, Academy, Acme Racing, Agama Racing, Amewi, Ansmann Racing, ARRMA, Team Associated, Atomic RC, Axial, AYK, Bolink, BSD Racing, Capricorn, Carisma, Carson, Caster Racing, Cen, Corally, Custom Works, Durango, Duratrax, ECX - Electrix, Exceed RC, FG Modellsport, FS-Racing, FTX, Fujimi, Gmade, GS-Racing, Harm, HBX, Helion, Heng Long, Himoto Racing, Hirobo, Hitari, Hobao, Hong-Nor, Hot Bodies, HPI, HSP, Intech, Integy, Jamara, JQ Products, Kawada, Kyosho, Losi, LRP, Maisto, Mardave, Marui, Maverick, MCD Racing, Megatech, Mugen, New Bright, Nichimo, Nikko, Nkok, Ofna, Pro-Pulse, Protech, PTI, RC4WD, Redcat Racing, RJ-Speed, Robitronic, Schumacher, Seben, Serpent, Smartech, Sportwerks, Step-Up, Tamiya, Team-C Racing, Team Magic, Thunder Tiger, Tomy, Top Racing, Traxxas, Trinity, Tyco, Vaterra RC, Venom, VRX Racing, WLToys, X-Factory, Xmods, Xpress, Xray, XTM, Yankee RC, Yokomo, ZD Racing and Zipzaps.

   This is an ongoing project, with new and "lost in time" RC Models and Brands being added as they are found and although most of those listed above have been covered in relative detail, some are still being researched and will be completed in the near future.