Alignment

[Cheatermouse]

I'm planning to replace my stock spring and shocks with Tokico "blue" and Tanabe nf210. I understand that I need to have an alignment when I lower my car, but is there something else I need to know about alignment? what is this camber thing?

[IanS]

Yes, you will need an alignment.

Make sure to inform the tech doing the alignment that you lowered the vehicle.

Camber is one of the angles that effects handling. It is that angle at which the wheel is to the ground. 0 would be 90 degrees to the earth, meaning the wheel is straight up and down. When you lower a vehicle most suspension designs will cause the wheels to camber in. It is caused by the changing of the relation between the pickup points and the spindle. Most cars will gain negative camber.

IIRC, the Versa uses a beam rear axle, and McPherson struts up front. This means, lowering will not change the rear alignment. The front tires will toe out, and they will gain a small amount of negative camber. Because you have McPherson struts, the camber gain will be minimal. The lowering springs will not be dropping you much, so I would not worry about camber.

Just make sure they fix the Toe, it is the biggest tire wearing angle.