Hi!
I just did an install of the Tanabe GF210s, it was great for 20 miles, and then my fiance and I decided that the scraping on our sloped driveway (no way to avoid it) was intolerable.

So, back on with the stock springs.

Unfortunately, replacing the stock springs did not bring back the nice crisp handling of the stock Fit. It feels like there's additional caster, maybe a change in camber also.

I read a bunch of alignment threads here, mentioning that stock Fits only have front toe adjustment.

I've replaced struts and springs before on other makes and models, and in those, the orientation (rotation) of the upper rubber boot on the top of the strut has an effect on the caster and camber. The way this usually works is that the mounting hole in the rubber boot is not exactly on center, so when the boot is rotated, the upper mounting point is moved around in a circle (just a little), which changes caster and camber. This setup sucks because the amount of adjustment is small, and the caster and camber are linked.

Some sort of mark on the boot is usually turned in a certain direction for stock mounting.

The upper boots on the Fit have a white paint mark on them, so I'm guessing that the orientation of these boots is important.

So my question is: Does anyone know that the stock orientation of these marks are? Does anyone have a factory shop manual that mentions these marks? Does the white mark matter for alignment? If it doesn't, does anyone know what these white marks are for?

Thanks in advance fit freaks!

 

Bump. tagged for interest.

 

I've managed to track down the service manual for the USDM Fit, and also an older one for Fit / Jazz 2002-2005, and neither one mentions anything about the white mark, so I guess it doesn't matter, and my suspension problems lie elsewhere.