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Horrible Alignment!!!

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 2:47 am
by BAC5.2
I swapped my struts a few weeks ago, and neglected to take the time and align the car.

So recently, I decided I should do that.

I took the car to my friends shop and we tossed it up on the rack.

Prior Front settings:

Camber: Left -1.3 degrees, Right -1.2 degrees
Toe: Left +.28", Right +.36"
Castor: Left +3.9 degrees, Right +4.0 degrees

This is horrible. Camber was OK. Castor was perfect. Toe... SHOULD be .00 to + .01". My toe was FUCKED UP, and that's what was wrong with the handling of my car.

So we fixed it.

NOW:

Camber: Left -1.3 degrees. Right -1.3 degrees
Toe: Left .01", Right .01"
Castor: Left +3.9 degrees, Right +4.0 degrees

We left the rear alone, because I need either camber bolts or plates to do what I want.

I'd like a little more camber up front, maybe 1.5 degrees, but I like it how it is. The fix for the toe was perfect. Now the car doesn't feel horrible anymore.

Also, my castor settings are WAY beyond stock trim. IIRC, stock castor is about 1.9 degrees. I love castor, it's a great adjustment and changed EVERYTHING about handling. It's nice. And yes, it's supposed to be 3.9 and 4.0, we wanted it like that.

It felt goooood.

I can't wait until the spring. The tax man shall bringeth coilovers methinks.

I will also be replacing my tires, and likely going with 225/50/16's instead of stock sized 205/55/16 or 205/50/16 like some do. If I could, I'd do 225/45/16, but I don't know who makes a tire in that size.

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 4:14 pm
by georryan
So are you tired of the 17s? Why go back to 16s? I'm just curious, since I'm lookng at getting new rims and tires at some point and I was looking at some Rotas.

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:10 pm
by BAC5.2
I rub more than I'd like with the 17's, and the RE070's have life left, so I am holding on them until the spring when I get my tax refund, then I'll do a bit of suspension work and keep them from rubbing something crazy.

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:29 pm
by scottzg
just got an alignment. I have 3.8 and 3.8 castor. Wierd.

Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 5:57 am
by BAC5.2
What alignment rack did they use?

You actually have to make an adjustment to measure castor, and since it's non-adjustable on most cars, most shops won't set it up to measure castor.

On our Hunter rack, it will say "castor not adjustable, measure anyway" or something to that effect.

Scott - To answer your PM on SL-i, I don't use AIM anymore yo.