I have Tanabe Springs installed and just got the alignment checked, this is what I have after adjustments:

Front:
-0.6' Camber
0.02' Toe

Rear:
-1.8 Camber L, -2.1 Camber R
0.22' Toe L, 0.33' Toe R

The rear is not adjustable. They said for $80 they could install the SPC Rear Shim kit to bring the Rear Camber and Toe back to spec.

Should I spend the money on the kit, or will my tires be fine with the above specs? Also what is a good angle for the Rear Camber and Toe?

 

I have Front and Rear Camber kits for sale in my part out thread. ALOT cheaper. My rear kit is unused. $25 shipped. Let me know.

 

Whatta plug 'B'

 

Yeah but, do you think I need front and rear camber kits?

 

This does not answer your question, but I wanted to add that your ride height should not affect the rear alignment. It sounds like your car, like mine, is not correct from the factory. It is a solid rear beam and is unaffected by ride height.

 

Is this true? I can't imagine lowering a car and the Camber/Toe not changing??

 

well all you are doing with the rear is rotating it. it shouldn't change the camber/toe because it isn't independent.

 

I am more than willing to accept a difference of opinion, but I don't see how the rear geometery can change since it has a fixed rear axle. Vehicles with an independent rear can change, but ours has a solid beam. The geometery should not change.

 

the rears on the 1st gen are adjustable because they have stub axles. taper shims go between the axle beam and the stub axles (4 bolts on each side). I have the SPCs on my '07 and I used up about 9 sets of those to get it right. I screwed one set getting the plus and minus right. I also wanted my alignment exact. You can get it close with only one set...but good luck! Really, really worth getting it exact.

 

You like that dont ya. It worked I got a Pm wanting to buy them. Now if I can sell that exhaust id be done.......

To answer all other questions. The camber will change when lowering even the rear. My car stock was -.8 degrees front and -1.3 degrees rear. After lowered on Tein S Techs I was at -1.3 front and -1.8 rear. I had the front set at -1.75 front and -1.8 rear on the Volks with the camber bolts in front.

Now for the toe......The fit stock is none for its terrible toe from stock settings. I belive it to be purposely done to keep it true on the street. "ask any racer any real racer" a certain amount of toe helps in driving feel and understeer. Toe can be corrected, but setting at zero is not suggested. You want some toe for the understeer reason. Setting camber as well should not be set at zero. Factory specs are -.8 front and -1.3 rear. If nothing else set it to this. For a better feel with your suspension set it lower like -1.0 front and -1.5 rear.

The rear toe the OP posted is not that bad, but will wear tires. Just keep your tires rotated every 5000 or so and your good. Now I could also tell you how to lower a fit and not affect front toe at all, but thats a whole new ball game.

Your welcome.

 

camber doesn't wear out tires, toe does

 

Correction...toe will ware out your tires faster than camber will. But they both will.

 

Ok, I just have 2 questions:

Is the SPC Shim kit the best way to adjust the rear toe?

What is the best setting for the rear toe? 0.05 degrees for each side? (0.10 Total Toe)

 

I've got mine setup with SPC shims…but I’ve got 1 and a half shims on each side. One SPC shim has 2 halves that rotate to create the perfect angle. When I saw that, I was very impressed by the cleverness of the design. The only problem was that it only has 1.5 degrees of maximum adjustment. I needed 1.25 for my car. So, I’ve split one in half and set it to the maximum up on both sides, measured the wheel alignment and set the shims per instructions. These shims are made of a plastic…so be real careful when torquing the stub axles. I torque them evenly to 30 then 60 then 80 to protect the plastic. I’ve got 200,000 miles on my Sport Fit…

I set my camber to -0.5 degrees and +0.1 toe in.

 

Jodele - Glad to hear the SPC shims worked for 200,000 miles. I have read they are high quality - I guess this definitely proves it!

Why did you choose -0.5 camber? Most say -1.5 camber is best for handling in the rear.
0.10 degrees for Toe sounds good however. (Is that Total Toe (i.e. 0.05 for each side) or 0.10 for each side) ?

 

Because I have a rear sway bar installed...

Sorry...0.01 toe in on each side for a total of 0.02...I was a factor of 10 off.

 

I had -4ish degrees of camber on my Teggy. No camber wear here.

 

Wow...those are $15 a set and you used 9! Man I really want to get this right the first time.

 

Yeah, good reason to find someone that has used them before. I bought 3 sets and even found the guy to do the work...now I just need to get it done.

 

It would take several paragraphs to explain why and I will not do that here, but there is absolutely no way anyone will get the rear alignment excellent – perfect in one try. I don’t give a $h!t who you are or how much experience you’ve got it is not going to happen. Anyone can get it good when the OEM rear alignment is bordering on unacceptable…usually fair. Mine was unacceptable – outside specifications. Also, the SPC shims are made of a very hard plastic, therefore very brittle…$h!t happens, $30 investment will save your a$$. Don’t cheap out…buy an extra set.

The other thing that I did with mine, was, I didn’t break out the sections as the instructions say. I drilled out holes with a Dremel tool. This left a lot more material.