Alignment specs for spirited DD

[Nate_V8]

Wow that is pretty important then lol. I go to the alignment shop thursday morning and they said they do custom specs so I'll really emphasize getting the rear toe right. I saw complaints in reviews on the place of people complaining they had to wait even though they had an appointment because another customers car took a long time to align. That's good new for me, that means they will take the time to get it right lol (they were the only complaints)


And thanks for the help guys

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[Dana Pants]

Front camber is adjusted by slotting the struts as shown.

alignment shop also needs to buy smooth shank service bolts because the splined factory bolts are horrible.

 

[Nate_V8]

Front camber is adjusted by slotting the struts as shown.

alignment shop also needs to buy smooth shank service bolts because the splined factory bolts are horrible

Do alignment shops perform that work? or if I asked for front camber would they just go ahead and widen those slots?

 

[Bluemustang]

Less camber up front will typically introduce more understeer at the limit. A lot of factory cars are configured this way since understeer is easier to manage than oversteer in most cases. With your tire size selection, the car will most likely be understeering considerably at the limit... you could make suspension changes to compensate, but the huge disparity in front/rear grip will make that a difficult task imo.

I found this to be pretty much true. I've tried it with less front camber, same camber f/r and finally more front camber and now at -2.2/-1.7.
I have used the Ford "track" spec and for awhile, I ran the same camber front and rear. It led to a little understeer at the limit. The 0.5 degree camber split I have now was eye-opening. It actually changed the feel of the car and made it more lively. I actually adjusted my driving style because of it. It steers more with throttle and the rear end. I wouldn't call it oversteery but closer to that side. It's more neutral now.

Having more front camber than the rear makes sense because of the suspension design. The camber gain is much better in the rear than it is in the front. And due to the McPherson front you can reach an "inflection" point if you will, where the suspension can no longer keep the tire upright and it curls into positive camber. You see it all the time with BMWs. The solution is more front camber and stiffer springs and bars.

 

[NightmareMoon]

Front camber is adjusted by slotting the struts as shown.

alignment shop also needs to buy smooth shank service bolts because the splined factory bolts are horrible.

if you slot them, (which can get you a little bit of camber at the expense of wheel to strut clearance, I recommend wending in some metal back into the slotted hole to lock the bolt in it’s new home. They aren’t slotted by default for a reason, they can slip.

I used to have mine slotted and slipped on w/in 20 minutes of leaving the alignment place. Another loosened up later and went banging around until I caught it. Nearly destroyed the strut itself. Careful slotting things.

 

[Nate_V8]

Yea I think I'll just wait until I get CC plates next year for the front camber lol

 

[Bluemustang]

Camber bolts are an easy way to adjust front camber. You can buy them for cheap. It's fine for street use. When you do get the CC plates, I'd put the oem strut bolts back though. One less adjustment to have if you are running CC plates.

 

[Dana Pants]

if you slot them, (which can get you a little bit of camber at the expense of wheel to strut clearance, I recommend wending in some metal back into the slotted hole to lock the bolt in it’s new home. They aren’t slotted by default for a reason, they can slip.

I used to have mine slotted and slipped on w/in 20 minutes of leaving the alignment place. Another loosened up later and went banging around until I caught it. Nearly destroyed the strut itself. Careful slotting things.

Im not saying it didn’t happen, but considering that the torque spec for these two cross bolts is 184 ft-lb, I suspect someone goofed in putting your car together properly.

 

[Dana Pants]

Do alignment shops perform that work? or if I asked for front camber would they just go ahead and widen those slots?

you would slot the struts before going in most likely.

 

[Nate_V8]

Yea, sorry I'm not going to bother. my suspension parts will be going in next spring and I'll need an alignment again so I'll just wait until then for the front camber. It really doesn't bother me to wait until then

 

[NightmareMoon]

Im not saying it didn’t happen, but considering that the torque spec for these two cross bolts is 184 ft-lb, I suspect someone goofed in putting your car together properly.

Yeah, possibly right. Or reused bolts when a new one was needed. Either way slotting is not the preferred method of getting camber, that's what Camber plates are for.

Slotting is cheap if you can do the labor yourself, but if you can't, you might as well pay for camber plates.

 

[Dana Pants]

Yeah, possibly right. Or reused bolts when a new one was needed. Either way slotting is not the preferred method of getting camber, that's what Camber plates are for.

Slotting is cheap if you can do the labor yourself, but if you can't, you might as well pay for camber plates.

On my S197 I had both maxed out camber plates and 2 mm of slotting on the struts. So much glorious front grip...

 

[AlbertD]

toe out in the front is ok, it gives quicker turn in response at the cost of less mid corner grip. I personally wouldn't run toe out on the street just because it would be a handful to manage with the steering being so responsive. I would prefer zero toe or a bit of toe in.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Toe in is a stable condition. Toe out, somewhere between less so and unstable. You want the rear to be stable rather than anxious to steer off in some other direction at least partly because you don't have direct steering control over the rear wheels.


Norm

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