1.3_LittersOfFurry

iTrader: (4)

04 6spd GT, 110k miles, S.tech springs, D-Spec shocks, 245/40R18 tires.


I got lucky today (or so I thought), a friend who works at a shop was installing my new tires for me and said if I wanted to I could use their rack to give my car a alignment. The catch was I had to do it myself. Now, I have done alignments before in shop class, but that was over 10 years ago... I went for it, cause I need one badly and I'm always trying to save myself some cash.

Prior to the alignment, my car would pull to the right slightly and the steering wheel was off center about 5-10* to the left. And the passenger side tires wear faster than the driver side.

Getting the car on the rack and set up was easy enough, but when it came time to start adjusting I started running into problems...

REAR ISSUES-

First thing I noticed was (please excuse the lack of correct terminology) The arm that controls camber for the driver rear is slightly bent... I know I need a new one. So setting camber on that corner proved to be impossible. Also, it seems to be affecting the toe for said corner.

Best I could get for Driver rear was.. (With someone in the car)
Camber -4.8
Toe -1.99

Passenger Rear...
Camber -2.3
Toe 0.13


If that wasn't bad enough... Hear comes the front...

When I put the car on the rack the specs were...

Driver Front-
Camber -1.5
Caster 7.3
Toe -0.19

Passenger Front
Camber -1.9
Caster 6.7
Toe -0.05

I searched on here which to adjust first and got a lot of mixed results, most seem to recommend adjusting Camber then caster, while some suggested the opposite. Now from reading, I saw caster and camber affect each other. So this just complicated it more for me. I tried adjusting one at a time, both at the same time, but was having issues getting both sides to match. Yada yada yada, to make a long story short, after about 2 hours of adjusting this is what I ended up with...

Driver front-
Camber -1.5
Caster 5.8
Toe 0.10

Passenger front-
Camber -1.8
Caster 6.2
Toe 0.05

Now I'm sure with my car being lowered this is causing the higher than normal negative camber. But why can I not match the sides? Feeling defeated, I backed the car out and was offered to come back and give it another shot if I wanted to at a later date.


So I drive the car home, first thing I see? Now the steering wheel is off center about 15* to the right! WTF?! The car no longer pulls but man why is the steering wheel off so much? I made 100% sure every step I took that the damn wheel was straight!

Anyone care to chime in with some insight? I would like to give it one more shot before I start paying for one...

Thanks in advance,
-Shawn

DarkBrew

I'd hesitate to do an alignment myself but here are my thoughts.
My car needed new alignment bushings and cams as the originals were seized... no way I could do that myself.

Always rear camber first followed by toe
I like less rear camber to control oversteer... maybe -1.4 and zero toe. Presently I have -1.9 and this does not work well with my RB suspension.

Always front caster followed by camber then toe
Front caster first, then camber then toe... 6.5, -1.5, zero toe

My advice is to consider value rather than price. A good alignment will save tires and gas and improve handling.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

you will get more front camber by taking out the caster, contrary to general opinion you don't really need high caster and it often causes bump steer issues. I run mine on the minimum setting.

if you are on a rack and can handle it that's the way to go, but if you don't recognize how to straighten the steering wheel with the alignment then you're likely not ready to handle it yet. The main issue is that you're rear is way off due to the control arm/alignment problem. The car will never drive straight like that.


.

1.3_LittersOfFurry

iTrader: (4)

Well, I'm going to give getting the wheel straight another shot today. Going to also buy that control arm next pay check and then go back again. So I'll call today a "practice" day.

I'll also try your suggestion and set caster to min value. Which I believe is somewhere around +4.8*

Thanks.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

mine will get below 4*

until you get the bent arm corrected you might be able to get the steering wheel to be centered, but the chassis may "crab" going down the road (rear end not centered with the front end as the car goes down the road). Again, the car will never drive straight until that problem is corrected.

1.3_LittersOfFurry

iTrader: (4)

I did manage to get the wheel "straighter" but you are right, the car will not drive correctly till I fix the real issue first.

A fellow forum member offered me their old set (They went with the megan racing ones) for free, So when I get a minute I will slap that one on and see if the problem is fixed. If not, I'll just buy new ones.

Working on it sir.

1.3_LittersOfFurry

iTrader: (4)

Went ahead and got some Megan Racing camber arms and re-aligned the car with much better success!

Driver Front:
Camber - -1.6*
Caster - +6.1*
Toe - +0.05

Passenger Front:
Camber - -1.6*
Caster - +6.1*
Toe - +0.05*

Driver Rear:
Camber - -1.5*
Toe - +0.10*

Passenger Rear:
Camber - -1.5*
Toe - +0.10

And when the steering wheel is straight, it drives straight!

Unfortunately, I did manage to mess up a wheel sensor (I think) because now the ABS light is on along with the TC/DSC light (which have been on). Probably whacked it with the hammer by accident when beating the arm off...