2012 Kia Forte camber bolts

[Fred Malito]

Make

Kia

Model

Forte

Year

2012

Miles

50kish

Engine

gas

Good evening, folks!

It has now been about 15 years since I've run an alignment rack, and I'm afraid I've got an embarrassing question. On my buddy's Forte, I need to stick in some camber bolts to make some minor corrections post-accident. I picked up some Moog K90474 eccentric bolts that are supposed to be for this car. However, the tab on the back of the washer doesn't fit anywhere in the strut hole, and the bolt seems much too small to do anything. It just spins in the hole with no resistance. How is this thing supposed to adjust anything?

So, go ahead, embarrass me. I'll chalk it up to sleep deprivation.


Fred Malito

 

[Mobile Dan]

Front struts, lower bolts? With two fat original bolts, there is no adjustment (if the holes in the strut are round, not slotted). But if you replace one fat bolt with a skinny bolt, now you have some slack to allow adjustment. (It can lean in or out) Typically you would position "cam" to allow maximum lean "in" and then turn bolt head to cause movement towards "out", stopping when you have the alignment set where you want it. Then snug the other "fat" bolt, hold the cam bolt head while locking down the cam bolt nut, then do a final tighten on the "fat" bolt.

 

[Fred Malito]

I guess the problem I’m having is that once installed, when you turn this bolt, It doesn’t do anything. It just spins. I guess I’m used to the type of strut that has slots on either side and the eccentric is mounted on the outside so that when you turn the bolt it actually moves something by itself. That’s the satisfaction I was looking for out of this and didn’t get any.

So what you’re saying is we’re more or less allowing the weight of the system to make things sloppy when we loosen the bottom bolt with the skinny bolt installed at the top, and then when sloppy the bold will become useful to make the adjustment. Is that what I’m understanding?

Thanks

 

[Mobile Dan]

The cam bolt can be installed in the upper or lower hole....depending if you want the strut/spindle to lean "in more" or "out more". More than what, you ask? More than "center", which is where you would be if you had two fat bolts.

Consider the egg. How tall is it? Without assistance, it is shorter. If you rotate it 90 degrees, it is "bigger". but it is the same egg. Curious...

 

[Fred Malito]

Ok, I’ll stick ‘em back in and let the alignment shop worry about it. Thanks for the help!