Ok,

Had my coils installed 2 weeks ago, since then it has been a roller coaster ride with height and camber adjustments.

1. The suspension shop last week told me that they adjusted my camber at -0.9 & -0.8. Looked all nice and sweet.

2. I went to someone else to fix my height and this was all nice and sweet but the guy thought it wise to adjust my camber at +0.20 & +0.20. This resulted in my left tyre sticking out considerably more than my right tyre. This bugged me.

3. I decided manually adjusted the camber to be visually correct, i bring the car to a new suspension shop for a proper alignment and the machine says camber is -1.0 & +0.20.


Now here is the thing, at the time the dude told me it was at -0.9 & -0.8, the wheels looked considerably more tucked in than it is now at -1.0 & +0.20. It doesn't make much sense, does it. Either someone's machine is lying or someone is lying to me. In the third instance i personally saw the alignment computer screen with -1.0 & +0.20. Still, i can notice my left tyre being a tiny bit more outwards than my right with -1.0.

I am at a total lost now, should i bring it back to the place where they set it up for me at -0.9 & -0.8 or should i just adjust the left camber to maybe -1.2 or -1.5 to align with the +0.20 right tyre ???


Funnily enough, the first place was a franchise and to be honest they did a fine job with my height and camber but instead of raising the back, they lowered it and claimed that i am wrong. That is what prompted me to go to a second place which apparently is better and this one touched my camber out of wisdom and spoiled it all, so i did it myself and went to a racing specialist who is also telling me that +0.20 & +0.20 is the way to go, with a left tyre sticking out like a sore.


Some brain storming from you guys will be awesome, thanks a lot. What should I do ?.

1. Adjust it myself manually again and then go to a wheel shop to align.
2. Go back to the initial place, bite the bullet and get them to put my camber back to -0.9 & -0.8.

I have had 5 wheel alignments done in the last week, one everyday

I am soon running out of money and need to decide what to do.


Two out of the suspension places i have been are supposedly racing drivers with trophies and certificates in their offices, they are the ones telling me to drive the car with the left tire sticking out by a mile. The franchise place got both tyres looking identical.

EDIT: Maybe it is also worth mentioning that i have the Buddy Club N+ coil overs with slotted camber adjustment.

 

You might PM mahout and see what he would do.. He's an old guy that has a tremendous amount of knowledge about suspension geometry... It is something I need to get around to learning also... Good luck on getting in done to your liking..

 

first off: the so called "racing specialist" who told you that +.2 camber was a good idea is incompetent and you should never go to him again... period.

second: adjusting alignment by eye so it "looks right" is stupid and dangerous... don't do it again.

third: go to a place that has a good laser alignment rack if you want to pay someone to do it... have them set it up for -1 in the front with 0 toe, and make them print a before/after sheet for you - refuse to pay until you have it... this will put you at ease...

question - did someone do a corner balance on your car? this could account for the visual difference...

 

I never considered the ability to corner balance being a problem but can easily understand how it could affect the ability to get the alignment right... I took up the slack in the adjustment of the front springs when I installed mine but not so much that the springs were compressed at all.

 

Like I said in your other thread:

Go to Sydney and find an import oriented performance shop that can:

1. Set your camber to -1 and toe to 0
2. Corner balance your car with you in the driver's seat

Do the guys you went to 5 times already do circle track racing only?



If you need help with researching a good shop I can give you a hand even though i'm like 5000 miles away i'll do my best

 

-1.5 (SPC camber bolts) and zero toe on the front is where im at right now. feels good so far.

if i was on coils i would probably do -1.8 and zero toe on the front as the stiffer suspension means more work for the tires to absorb lateral G on fast turns.

GL.

 

right about now, with the drop/height I set my coilovers at... cambers measure at -1.8 | -1.9 this is all natural camber... no camber bolts.

 

The collective import enthusiasts of the internet say that this place does great work:

Heasmans Steering And Sydney Shocks. Your Complete Suspension Centre.

Also mentioned are Spinning Wheels and Road and Race

All of these are located in Sydney, but i'm not sure how far away they are from you. A good alignment shop is worth the drive. As an example, there's a few alignment shops I know of in Los Angeles that people will drive hours to get to because their work is so legendary.

Good luck whatever you decide

 

that's good. i would keep it there or go another -0.3 degrees depending on how stiff your ride is and how much grip you're getting from your tires.

 

Woaahhh, nice help guys, thanks a lot. I have an appointment for today with a little guy, he did a good job first time but stoopid me didn't follow up. What u said makes a lot of sense. Am gonna give it a final try today and if this fails again I will check that suspension place Wanderer mentioned I'm sydney.

Racing specialists huh,hahaha.

Suspension tuning is turning out to be a black art that not many people actuallt knows, I am noticing now.

 

Thank you guys, I cannot thank you enough for brainstorming with me and making me see clearer which direction to take.

I will post up tonite and let u know whether it's been fixed today or whether it's time ro pack up and take a 3hrs drive to sydney.

Thanks again

 

Ok,

Just dropped it, right behind my workplace. Fingers crossed !

Funny how I am back right where i started, funny or irony, both of em. The car is right where it was when i had the coils installed, except that they were too tucked in at the time and now sticking out like sores.

I will wander for a walk around 3pm, take a peek, just in case

I'll update tonite i really hope this time is the time. Been saying that for the last two weeks

 

Ok,

Got the car, saw the data sheet and camber set to -0.9 left and -0.8 right and toe set to 1.5 i see.

Handles much better and those measures are much more logical to the eyes. Buuuuuuuut, left tyre is tucked in a bit more than the right. Last time they did it spot on, so i went back and i asked him if he can adjust that and he told me to bring the car back and he will do it for me on Monday.

Sounds ok. It's quite a daunting task trying to adjust them (i tried), so i will give him another chance on Monday morning


One thing i appreciated is that he told me "this is a task which takes time to adjust" as opposed to the racing dudes who told me those rims aren't for this car or there is nothing that can be done as that's just the way it is or this is what happens when you fit big wheels or your tyres are too big.

 

Ok,

Went home, left work early. Took my measuring tape, measured literally everything :-D

I will roll my guards, soon.

It makes sense now, when I look at my wheels amd tyres. The right wheel which is currently -0.8 just needs one more touch of negative to align with the left wheel which is -0.9. This is visually and mathematically correct.

I will try and get a camera shot tomorrow in daylight and post up ;-)

 

Partner, I'm keeping my fingers crossed along with you. I noticed that most of the people in Sydney relied on public transportation when I was there... Seeing what you are having to go through is adequate to justify why that is so... The intersections there back then didn't have stop signs like we have all over the place here yet traffic flowed very well and no one ever pulled out a gun and start shooting or even start screaming insults or give other drivers the one finger salute... This is where I first saw girls wearing mini skirts and all of the walking they did produced some great looking legs and butts... I spent my first afternoon there in a park with a small lake near Kings Cross armed with a single lens reflex camera with a telephoto lens checking out all of the great legs and butts... After 10 months of living in the jungle with a company of Marine grunts and raging 19 year old hormones coursing through my body it's a wonder I could control my urges.. Thankfully the girls there were very friendly and accommodating during those short 6 days and nights.

 

-.08. If it were mine I'd go with camber bolts in the lower position. Toe @ 0 would be best. Luck to ya.

 

you got good eyes to notice a difference on -.1 camber from right to left....

 

I see better than my wife sees with her glasses ;-)

 

^^ +1 yah, i can tell 0.2 camber difference but 0.1 i let it go unless i can feel it from how the car behaves. GL!

and i have to agree, the car likes zero toe. you dont need much toe-in.

 

Left side:


Right Side:




Notice the extra incline on the left side !