At 10:40 PM 12/11/04 +0000, Mitch from the Twin Cam Group wrote:
>"On the inboard side of the damper, underneath both of the studs, were a couple of washers/shims, I would guess about .050 worth of them. .... Anyone know why the damper would be shimmed like that?"

Shimming up the inboard side of the damper base moves the damper pivot shaft outboard about half the distance of the shim height. This can be used to make a small change in the camber angle of the wheel.

The factory design does not provide for any "intentional" camber adjustment. It is assumed that no such adjustment would be needed. If the camber is wrong there may be some damaged parts, bent or worn, or some worn bushings may need to be replaced. Worn front suspension parts will allow the top of the wheel to tilt inward under load, so the shims may have been an attempt at a cheap fix to compensate for wear.

The presence of shims under the damper should cause an immediate knee jerk reaction to look for problems in the suspension. If everything in the suspension is in good condition, there should be no need for shims.