Getting the run around..... alignment

[ForTehNguyen]

i did minimum drops on the front and the camber is barely out of spec, the rear only has .75" drop and you have to use the slotted adjustment on the upper camber arms to get it within spec

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[Beef]

Well looks like i will pick up a set of camber bolts and try it again.....

BTW got a quote from a performance shop to align the car.... they wanted 190 to do it.... kinda steep just for an alignment.

 

[Competition Orange]

Here's my before and after lowering with Steeda Sport Progressive springs. I do have the Steeda adjustable toe links. I'm not sure that you can adjust the toe on stock toe links.

No reason to have that much rear camber based on your front numbers, FYI.

 

[Todd15Fastback]

Well looks like i will pick up a set of camber bolts and try it again.....

BTW got a quote from a performance shop to align the car.... they wanted 190 to do it.... kinda steep just for an alignment.

I paid $215 for my performance alignment here in the Atlanta area. 175 for the alignment and 40 to adjust bumpsteer. They do the alignment with you in the car, too. Car rides and drives perfect. I am at -2 camber up front and -2.1 out back. Perfect tire wear across the full width of the tires.

 

[Cascadia_302]

i did minimum drops on the front and the camber is barely out of spec, the rear only has .75" drop and you have to use the slotted adjustment on the upper camber arms to get it within spec

So are your rear springs the SP082's?

 

[PonyGrrrl]

No reason to have that much rear camber based on your front numbers, FYI.

Thanks for your insight.I will keep that in mind my for next alignment when I do the next round of mods.

 

[Todd15Fastback]

No reason to have that much rear camber based on your front numbers, FYI.

Care to explain your reasoning on that statement?

 

[SWETRID]

Caster split is what is causing your pull concern. You can try to move subframe on front to adjust caster before you buy caster camber plates.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Camber bolts will work just fine.....

I'll give you that they'll "work" . . . as far as getting camber to the spec you want it set to goes, anyway.

But I do not fully trust the reduced diameter half-strength bolts that you find on the aftermarket. Not even for a car - any car - that only sees easy street driving, let alone a car that's likely to be driven "enthusiastically" from time to time.


Horror stories like the main topic of this thread should be getting people to learn how to do this kind of work themselves. At the very least, learning it only so they understand it better and can speak up on the spot when a service writer tries to slip something past because he thinks you're just as clueless as the last customer.


Norm

 

[PonyGrrrl]

Care to explain your reasoning on that statement?

[MENTION=7398]Todd15Fastback[/MENTION] the performance shop that did the alignment recommended that having slightly more camber on the front was better for turn in. I read a few posts on the forums with similar recommendations so I went with it. I know it's toe that will affect tire wear negatively. I've been happy with it. Was I given incorrect advice?

 

[Norm Peterson]

Care to explain your reasoning on that statement?

Performance-oriented alignments generally run front cambers a little more negative than rear cambers, possibly by as much as in a 2 to 1 ratio. Front cambers of about -1.75° might be better matched with rear cambers closer to -1° for lighter understeer.

Lighter understeer could place greater demands on the driver in terms of driving smoothness and throttle modulation skills.


Norm

 

[PonyGrrrl]

Performance-oriented alignments generally run front cambers a little more negative than rear cambers, possibly by as much as in a 2 to 1 ratio. Front cambers of about -1.75° might be better matched with rear cambers closer to -1° for lighter understeer.

Lighter understeer could place greater demands on the driver in terms of driving smoothness and throttle modulation skills.


Norm

Thanks for the explanation Norm. This is in line with what I was told by the shop that did the alignment on mine. I don't think I want or need lighter understeer for spirited driving. I'm not planning to track my car although I would love to, it's an expensive hobby that I cannot afford.

 

[Beef]

Just worried that the negative camber up front will chew up my new tires..... should i be worried??

 

[Norm Peterson]

I'm more concerned about the left and right cambers being that much different, particularly with the left front being that much more negative than the RF (it'll help the road crown make the car drift down toward the right side gutter on a road with much crown for drainage, rather than work against it).

-2° can be driven on without running into uneven wear if you do enough cornering that's harder than what most other traffic normally does. Bad toe is what chews up tires because you're actually scrubbing the tire tread in a slightly different direction than the tire is trying to roll in, or kind of like it's always driving in a mild cornering condition even though you're going dead straight ahead. A little bit each mile, every mile, adds up.

Ford has their own camber correction procedure (used by some autocrossers to get more negative camber, but you can use the same approach in the other direction to get less), and at least Steeda has camber plates for the S550. I do not know of any aftermarket "camber bolts" that can be tightened to the full OE torque spec, and as a result I cannot recommend them. Steering is mission-critical stuff.


Norm

 

[Cascadia_302]

Steering wheel is off center and she pulls to the right.
Just want to see a show of hands that has gotten thier car aligned properly without using aftermarket adjusters.

No aftermarket adjustment parts required for me.

Just had my alignment performed, l installed (the week prior) BMR's minimal drop springs SP089F (-.875") & SP082R (-.050") with bushing preload removed.
I also installed Steeda's subframe alignment kit as the subframe was indeed factory misaligned, thank you Ford.
The only out of spec condition was the front left wheel toe @ -.31° which was adjusted back to 0.00°.
Knowing they readjusted the toe l wish l had noticed the steering wheel being slightly off to the left before leaving. It's not off by much and not really a big deal, more of a OCD thing with me l guess.
Another interesting thing, when they drove the car on and off the rack my (Steeda) jacking rails scraped, something l wasn't expecting to happen.:shrug:

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