DIY Alignment

[DrewQ45]

You know me...always up to sumthin....

Read the section "Cheap and easy Camber measurement"

http://www.shallowsky.com/alignment.html

Before I get flamed, understand that I'm doing this so I can correct the camber using flat washers. I'm planning on lowering with Cali Custom springs soon. My Q already eats the inner edges of Z rated front tire$ for breakfast as it is. I have a new set of 245/45/18 sitting on the garage floor but refuse to drive on them before I deal with the camber issue.

I was waiting for SPL to come out with their new adjustable upper links but they keep pushing the date back... now it says... "Product being re-designed, ETA on v2 front upper arms is Sep 2007"... Screw it, I can't wait, soooo.... flat washers, here I come!!!



Thoughts...

I'll need 230 lbs in the front seat when I do this (my weight)?Done after lowering? (Duh, I guess this is common sense)Would measuring while using my old worn-out tires make a difference or should I do this with the new tires installed?Any fancy math involved? Using the carpenter's level method to measure, I will simply add the same amount in flat washers. See first link if this puzzles you.

Of course, after all this, I'm taking it for a professional alignment.

...Also, on their site, SPL has a Camber Shim kit.... Notice the slant of the shims. Does that mean I will use unequal amounts of washers in relation to top/bottom?

"300deg front camber kit $90"

Finally, what can I do with the rears? Even wearing of tires now but I haven't lowered yet.

...Drew...
Modified by DrewQ45 at 4:32 PM 7/10/2007

[maxnix]

You are not going to be able to get very close without the laser Hunter setup.

Somewhere I swear I saw a wedge shaped plate, might have been for a Z32.

Hell of a lot of labor to adjust camber.

[DrewQ45]

You are not going to be able to get very close without the laser Hunter setup.

Somewhere I swear I saw a wedge shaped plate, might have been for a Z32.

Hell of a lot of labor to adjust camber.

Yeah, why the wedge shape I'm wondering? How do I compensate with the washers?

Wish I had a hunter machine in my garage but it ain't happening. Anything will be better than losing tires the way I am. I'll post pics later.

[maxnix]

Well, the wedges are a little more sturdy than the stacked washers, but in either case now your surfaces are not parallel.

Wedge is at top to move upper link mounting point of bracket out to reduce negative camber.

[DrewQ45]

Well, the wedges are a little more sturdy than the stacked washers, but in either case now your surfaces are not parallel.

Wedge is at top to move upper link mounting point of bracket out to reduce negative camber.

Yeah the wedge would be ideal and prettier, but once everything is tightened down, I doubt I'd be able to tell the difference, except that my pockets would lighter with the wedges. This is going to be a lot of work... guess I'll need longer bolts too. Car already on jack-stands. Just changed 1 front and 1 rear caliper along with slider brackets. Now dealing with persistent "brake pad worn" message. I have shorted out the sensor wires already.

[Q45tech]

If you provide exact [2 decimal points] L&R front camber with your weight in seat then you report exact lowering [within 1 decimal point inch] easy to calculate the required shim thickness.

High School Trig.

[jamesmost]

rear z32 upper adjustables work well for me.i had a hard tome getting the front spl as wellcheck out the z forum

[elwesso]

the CAMBER IS NOT what is likely causing your tire wear its TOE. You can run -2* camber and with good toe its not gonna wear the tires big time.

Honestly you wont have huge camber issues. Just get the toe adjusted properly and you should be fine. Do you have any recent alignment numbers? The main thing you should be concerned about is side to side differences, not the actual numbers themselves. Sure, you want to make sure your camber isnt way out of whack but you want to take extra effort to make sure theyre the same.

What I would do is ask your alignment guy if they can put the car on the rack and give you a baseline, then like tech said its pretty easy to figure out how much you need to space them out.

Be sure to wait a week or so before you align the car because it will settle a little bit.

[DrewQ45]

Had one of the best alignment shops in ATL align it the last time. Of course, I could have done a thing or two to throw it off but it seems that camber is in issue. I run ZR rated tires which are not cheap so I'm looking for a solution that works.

[elwesso]

What are your alignment specs?

[DrewQ45]

What are your alignment specs?

I'll search through my records but the alignment was done over a year ago so not sure where it stands right now.

[maxnix]

I'll search through my records but the alignment was done over a year ago so not sure where it stands right now.

I think Wes is 75% correct as toe changes with wear. But I agree that excessive camber will add to wear also. It's seldom just one thing.

[DrewQ45]

I think Wes is 75% correct as toe changes with wear. But I agree that excessive camber will add to wear also. It's seldom just one thing.

Well, I had it aligned back when the current were new so the toe was fine then. If your theory stands correct, then the camber would start the process, then as the wear progresses, the toe becomes the greater contributor? How would you fight that, keep getting alignments or start out with perfect Camber?

[maxnix]

Seems on the Q45, that front end alignments should be every 3K to 5K miles. I know I need to do it more frequently than 10K.

[qship96]

Seems on the Q45, that front end alignments should be every 3K to 5K miles. I know I need to do it more frequently than 10K.

wow,you must have bad roads or aim for potholes! my last alignment was 30,000 miles ago when I had the Exaltos installed-car still tracks streight on highway w/o hands on wheel,and tires wearing extremely evenly across the tread{6/32 tread depth left at 30k of the 10/32 when new}

[96Qowner]

Maybe the 96 is just better than the other G50s.

[maxnix]

Tracking is straight, toe out just increases gradually. Wife says I drive with too much exuberance.

[elwesso]

Certainly excessive camber would cause issues, but having -1* vs -2* isnt going to cause terrible issues.

Take in mind thats just because your alignment is good doesnt mean that its not the tires themselves. Tires not meeting load specification and other qualifications are exempt because they werent designed for use on the car in the first place.

My point about the toe is THAT is the most likely cause of wear due to lowering, not the camber increase.