Help !! Big alignment problem !!!
 

Last weekend i installed my H&R springs with the spc rear camber arms.

I then put on my new 20" wheels and waited till monday to get it all aligned.

I finally get to the shop and the guy starts working on it but he starts taking wayyyy too much time so i go inside to see whats up and he tells me he can't adjust the rear driver side to proper specs.

Its funny that the right side didn't give him any trouble but the left was the complete opposite.

He told me everytime he adjusted the camber/caster to the driver side the toe would unbalance.

The he tried to re-adjust the toe then the camber would unbalance.

WTF !!

after two hours he gave up and told me he would have to put me to -2.5 since he wasn't able to bring both to -1.3 to -1.8. The toe in the rear is sitting at 0 on both sides but its the -2.5 thats killing me right now.

The hole reason why I wanted the SPC rear camber arms was to correct the negative camber to provent uneven tire wear.

Has this ever happened to anyone before??

Should I just go to another shop for an alignment ??

Every z is different but I believe I got my rears to factory spec. I think toe is going to wear your tires more than camber. It doesn't hurt to have a shop that specialize in sports cars do your alignment.

You are going to need aftermarket toe bolts. The factory toe has minimal adjustment to it.

Now that i recall, if i remember correctly the garage that installed the camber arms put the toe bolt that came with the kit to the camber arm it self instead of replacing the stock toe bolt.

could that be the problem ??

but if thats the case why was he able to align the left side but not the right ?

No, after market toe bolts like these- https://www.splparts.com/store/produ...hp?pid291.html

You have to enlarge the hole on the subframe where these would be installed... gives you way more toe adjustability.

And to answer your question... I don't know why he was able to get one side within specs and not the other.

And toe is adjusted from where the spring perch mounts to, not the camber arm

did you get your rears to factory specs with stock camber arms and toe ?

ok i guess i'll have to tell him to take off the toe bolt he put into the wrong hole and replace the stock toe bolt with the one that came with the SPC kit.

how much does the hole need to be enlarged ?

There is no reason for the shop to put the toe bolt on the camber arm. It serves absolutely 0 function there. If anything, the camber concentric bolt should be removed and locked it with a square nut. Camber adjustments should be made on the camber arm. The toe bolt should be installed on the spring perch and that'll allow more toe adjustment. Have them reinstall it and you should get a better alignment.

I have spc arms but stock toe bolts.

The stock toe bolt and stock camber bolt are essentially the same thing, so switching them back and forth isn't going to do anything... If he can not get toe back with in specs, is because there is no more adjustability to it. You would have to enlarge the hole the toe bolt mounts into and use a aftermarket bolt like the one pictured.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...txxx/011-3.jpg
The one on the left is the aftermarket toe bolt, the one on the right is stock

what suspension are you runing ?

I think its the same one i got but was installed in the wrong hole so i'll start with that tomorrow.

Yep you will need aftermarket toe bolts. I am a little more negative in the rear than factory because I didn't feel like installing the toe bolts lol. It won't hurt anything. It will wear the inside of the tire over time but not like the wrong toe will eat a tire.

Problem solved !! Installed a new toe bolt and voila !!!

So the shop was able to align it correctly?

the toe being off will absolutely eat your tires up more... it creates more friction with the road, which means more heat... = wear

I went to another shop and got it aligned but...... i noticed something that bothered me abit.

On his screen both front wheels had matching numbers and both rears also had matching setups.

But I noticed just by looking at the rear wheels that the right side had more negative camber than the left which it was not suppose to according the his screen but the gap was visually visible.

Then one week after the alignment my steering wheel wasn't aligned with my wheels when driving in a straight ligne so I might have to get it aligned again for a third time at another shop lol.

He told me he had gotten his machine recalibrated in January.

I need to start clarifying myself a little more so you will quit busting me out lol. You do need toe bolts if you want your alignment to be back to factory specs. I purchased them however did not use them therefore I had to run a little more negative camber in the rear to get the toe in spec. The additional camber will not hurt that much in comparison to what the toe would if it was not in spec.

Just had my alignment done on H&R springs. They told me I needed a camber kit for the front. What do you guys think? The specs are below
Camber Front left -1.8 front right -2.2
Rear left -2.1 right -2.6


Done

I would just pull the right rear camber in to match the left and you will be good to go.

You think the shop will do it ?

If the right can be adjusted why wouldn't they adjust it ,if they don't then you will need a camber kit in the rear also.

Thx

Awesomely helpful thread!

Slight variances in subframe and body panel alignment can cause camber or toe to look off when it's not. I'd trust the computer over my eyes.

That may be true but I went for a third aligment and the shops computer displayed that the entire cars alignment was out of wack just two days after I had it done at the other place where they told me they had just done their recalibration.

For an example for the rear camber it displayed -1.1 at the left side and -2.6 to the right side. The toe up front was enormously unbalanced, the caster was so bad my steering wheel had a 20degree tilt when driving in a straight line.

I agree with you that computers are to be trusted vs the naked eye but only if the computer is running properly.