Front camber alignment?
 

Hello,

I just did an alignment on my wheels and figured that it's not possible to adjust front camber on stock car. Is it correct? I also attach photo with my allignment results so someone who has more knowledge about this can comment (It's in Lithuanian, I'll put translations below).

Left side is before, Right side is after.

K. - Left
D. - Right
1 - Total toe
2 - Camber
3 - Caster

There is no camber adjustment on the front with the factory control arms. If you wanted to be able to adjust front camber you will need to get aftermarket upper control arms.

Ah thanks! Gonna get the Z1 ones I guess.

Your toe is a little straighter than OEM nominal specs, front and rear, but not bad.

http://www.the370z.com/brakes-suspen...ent-specs.html

Should feel pretty quick to turn as is. A little more positive toe would make it more straight line stable without too much affect on tire wear. But if you like it I don't think you need to change it.

Camber and caster are good unless you want to track the car.

Ye, the car feels better after alignment . But I wanna go fully to stock spec since I plan to visit the track once - twice a month when it gets warmer :)

I would think your toe would be great for track. Don't really need more camber in the rear in my opinion but this may come down to preference. Definitely could use more negative camber and positive caster up front but honestly if you did nothing this would be a good place to start for track sessions. I'd at least track it once before you adjust it or put on camber/caster front arms to know what it feels like before and after on track.

Camber is already almost at minimum stock spec, why go even lower?

FYI, all numbers here are degree minutes:

Your front camber is close to "minimum" at -1.12, that means it leans in. Closer to nominal spec (-.4) would make you straighter up and down. More negative camber helps to "flatten out" out the tire during cornering creating more grip. There will be a lot of difference of opinion on this but a lot of people will run -2 camber up front because the Z tends to push at the front. More negative camber, more grip in the corner (to a point).

Your rear camber is pretty close to nominal at -1.4. This is pretty acceptable. Again lots of opinions on this but something closer to -1.11 would be better out back. My reasoning is as follows: More rear camber means less grip in a straight line. Our cars have a lot of negative camber gain as the suspension compresses so less initial camber is needed. So less negative camber out back means more grip during acceleration but still enough during cornering.

Take this all with a grain of salt. There is a lot to know about suspension setup and LOTS of opinions. And remember, there is no perfect. Street/Track, surface type, race type all affect optimal settings.

Thanks for all that info! I don't wanna go something like -2 camber since it's my dd as well and I'd like to get equal tire wear :)

z1 upper control arms
 

Last year I installed Z1 motorsports upper control arms. Then had a 4 wheel alignment. What a difference. The Z1 arms have 6 degrees of caster built in which help with turn in. The align was what most suggested for a track/street set up. Some camber and some toe. Best money spent for the dollar.

Thanks for your input! My arms are already in transit :happydance: Any chance you have your alignment numbers?

Here is an easy-to-read chart of how the alignment is supposed to be.

http://www.the370z.com/brakes-suspen...ent-specs.html

Stock front camber is 0.7

I enjoy 1.8 for street and track compromise.

I was very disappointed to see that my Z1 arms were not adjustable once installed on the car. I set them up using the stock arms as a guide. But that's where they stayed too. Luckily the numbers came out ok, but if I want to change the alignment, it's really not possible without removing them, and with swift springs that also means removing the wheels, strut tower bar, and struts themselves. There is no room to remove the 2 bolts holding the arms to the chassis because spring coils are compressed. What am I missing? I find this to be an almost pointless purchase at this point. Especially since I set them up to be like stock, so my numbers are probably what they would be on stock arms. Except for the caster.

This is why i always say get SPL FUCAs and be done. But oh well

The Voodoo13 FUCAs appear to be a great alternative and about $100 cheaper than SPL.

At a $100 difference, might as well buy the SPL arms, which have proven to be the best option. Voodoo's are yet to prove themselves.

Besides, see it as an investment, since the SPL will sell in a heart beat and will retain their value if you choose to part.

:twocents:

SPLs:
- best locking mechanism for your alignment guy
- track proven durability across multiple platforms
- high quality balljoints that are self-cleaning
- camber AND caster adjustment

There's a reason why they don't pop up much in the FS section and are scooped up quickly when they do.

Sorta like Fast Intentions Exhausts. They easily sell in a day or two and retain a healthy chunk of their value.

Buy SPL. Never worry again. Plus, after you get the FUCAs, you can run pretty much any size wheel/tire in front. any. size.

I recently purchased a set of the Voodoo13 FUCAs. I'm pretty skeptical when it comes to "unproven" brands but I did as much research as I could before purchasing and I am definitely not disappointed. The build quality is excellent. They offer independent camber and caster adjustment. Design and adjustment are very similar to the SPLs. The self-cleaning aspect of the SPLs sounds cool but time will tell how necessary that feature really is.

I've always been a fan of SPL products but I think this Voodoo13 stuff is well worth the consideration.

The SPC kit was just the ticket for me. I got more caster and exactly the camber I was looking for. Not sure why SPC isn't very popular. SPC UCAs seem to be very well built. Easy to replace the ball joint when it wears out along with OEM style bushings. Super easy to adjust if needed.

Maybe you have the new design?

http://www.spcalignment.com/sport-compact

They weren't always like this.

I guess I have the original design. Should I expect any trouble with them?

Original design is prone to slippage under hard driving conditions.

I have heard that. I was told to add torque to the ball joint to eliminate slippage.

Even then they will slip under enough load with repeated use. I have to re-adjust mine here soon as they've slipped (again). Wide R-comp tires can put some serious stresses through the arms.

There should be no reason to undo the inner bolts on the Z1 arms since that is the castor adjustment which, if adjusted properly should give you more than stock which is desired for better handling and turn in vs stock. The camber adjustment is easily made by unbolting the center heim joint which is simple for either you or the alignment guy. If you are tracking the car all of the time than the SPLs are the best for max adjustability but this was not for me. Once the settings are made on the Z1s, they will never 'slip' as comparable cheaper designs do! In addition, mine is a street car so SPL arms and track settings (which wear tires much too fast) were too much for my wallet!

Agreed - Love mine!

Adjusted properly? As in off the car? It's more like castor setup, as in "set it, and forget it". And hope you got it right. You're speaking as if there is one way to properly set it, in which case it should come as a static piece. The impression with the design is that it's "adjustable"



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks everyone for your great input! I did go with Z1 FUCAs, if I ever need more adjustability I'll now know about the pros of SPL and SPC arms. Thanks!

The Z1 upper control arms are adjustable but only for camber. They have the recommended 6 degrees of caster already built in which makes for a stronger design. To adjust the caster you simple remove the upper ball joint and turn in or out and reattach. My alignment shop was familiar and used a floor jack on the ramp to slightly lift the car and reach from under to adjust. Wheels never came off. Had my alignment done at Texas Track Works in Ft. Worth.