Because of the way the Saab 9-5’s rear suspension geometry works, the lower the car, the more rear camber is added.  The reason for this is simple.  If you load the trunk up with a ton of heavy junk, the addition of camber helps stabilize the load and keep the car from skidding.

Nearly all modern cars have a rear suspension setup that adds camber as the body sits lower.  As genius as this is, it has drawbacks.  If your car is just lower due to the addition of sport suspension or saggy old springs, your rear tires will wear on the inside edge much quicker.  If you love replacing tires, that’s all fine and good, but most of us prefer nice even wear.

It seems like nearly every 9-5 I see on the road has some rear camber that appears out of spec. The correct camber alignment which would be just -0.8deg on the rear.  In general, with most 9-5’s on the road I am probably looking at multiple degrees of negative camber!  There are multiple contributing factors to this:

• If you’ve lowered your car with lowering springs, you will have additional negative rear camber
• If you carry a lot of junk in your trunk, you will end up with additional negative rear camber
• If your coil springs are original and have sagged over the years you will have additional negative rear camber
• If your rear suspension bushings are worn out you can have additional negative rear camber

We offer shims that you put between the hub and the spindle, but these shims are only good for a degree or so of correction.  For some, that might be enough to get you back in spec, but for most you will find some extra effort is needed.  Now, you can replace all your springs, shocks, and bushings to get back to stock ride height -or- you can try a set of adjustable cross stays.  The adjustable cross-stays aren’t a replacement for a well sorted suspension, but they will be far cheaper.  These SPC Performance adjustable cross stays are good for around 4 degrees of camber correction!  If you have a Saturn L-Series, you’re in luck, you can fix your rear camber with this kit as well.

These components will allow the shop doing your next alignment to dial in the exact amount of camber to keep your rear tires planted and wearing evenly.  Keep in mind that if you have auto-leveling Xenon lights, you will find the rear cross stay has a nub on it to accommodate the auto leveling sensor.  I have seen a few different approaches to this, including cutting the ball nub off the existing cross stay and tack welding it onto the adjustable unit, or just aiming the headlights by moving the sensor arm and fixing them in place. I found this video online in case it’s helpful, and perhaps sometime soon we will get a DIY together from eEuroparts.

Stop replacing tires!   Fix your Saab 9-5 or Saturn L-Series rear camber once and for all with these adjustable cross stays.