Front Alignment

[OmegaRoach]

The inside of my front tires has been wearing pretty quick and I was getting pretty tired of it. So I did some research here and was having a hard time finding answers in one simple thread. So I figured I make a thread that only deals with the front end alignment on a lowered M35.

I am lowered on H-Tech springs and have been for a couple of years now. I have been through 3 or 4 sets of tires, and all of them have worn on the inside edge. After the first set of tires I put a camber kit on the rear wheels, thinking that was the only place the problem was. Turns out the front was issue too, so I am finally getting around to the fixing the front alignment.

As all of the posts I researched showed, you cannot adjust the front camber on our cars in stock form. There are two options in fixing the camber. You either use camber bolts, or you get a front camber kit (Adjustable Control Arms).

The camber bolts can be had from Precision Motoring 615-750-3892 for $150. The camber bolts offer a minimal adjustment in stock form, however some drilling to the stock control arms will allow additional adjustment.

The Adjustable control arms are more expensive, but you won't have to modify any stock parts. Just replace the stock arms with the adjustable arms, get an alignment, and your good. I was able to find adjustable control arms by Eibach (made by SBC) and by Ichiba. The eibach part number is 5.72130K. The Ichiba I could only find on ebay part # NS-20055F. The Eibach prices I found varied from $340 to $450! The Ichiba was listed for $330 on ebay. When searching I found that if the part did not come up using a 2006 M35 it would come up using a 2010 G37 sedan. I ended up going with Auto Anything because they had 15% off for new users and free shipping. So it came to $299 shipped. A member here posted a long time ago about finding the eibachs for $250 but he never gave any further info. I looked hard for that price but couldn't find it.

I'll update my post with the install process once I receive the control arms.

[trayday]

install is easy, I had to lower my springs to install, also if having trouble lining up the driver side, you can remove the intake hose to thread the bolt to the nut

[The Bodyguard]

Thanks four your research.... I will be following this thread!!

[OmegaRoach]

Thanks four your research.... I will be following this thread!!

you're close enough to follow in person... I live in Richmond

[The Bodyguard]

That's kool!! Did you receive your parts yet? If not when are they due to arrive?? I looked up on auto anything but didn't look hard enough... Let me know when you receive parts! Where you are doing the install and how much it runs you??

[trayday]

i picked up a SPC front and Eibach rear camber kit off Ebay, wasnt expensive

[radigan]

I would stay far away from ichiba. Go with the eibach front camber control kit. I might get these because I had to change my tires because of uneven wear which causes cupping, very annoying while driving at slow speeds.

[OmegaRoach]

alright, I got the eibachs in today. Install this weekend sometime

[OmegaRoach]

That's kool!! Did you receive your parts yet? If not when are they due to arrive?? I looked up on auto anything but didn't look hard enough... Let me know when you receive parts! Where you are doing the install and how much it runs you??

I'm going to the install in my garage! First time, but I did my front brakes a couple of nights ago and thearms look easy to get to.

[The Bodyguard]

Wow! Brave man.. Lol! So you have spring compressor and a good set of mechanic tools? Air tools maybe??

Taking my car down to dealership this Saturday morning hope it's not serious...
good luck with your project... I definitely want to see the turn out!!

[OmegaRoach]

The job ended up being fairly simple and straight forward.

You will need a 14mm wrench, a socket wrench, 14mm socket, and a hammer (jack and jack stands are assumed).
1. Loosened lug nuts
2. Jacked car up and put it on jack stands
3. Removed front wheels
4. I started off with the passenger side. The upper control arm is held on by three bolts. I went for the two bolts at the wheel well first. One bolt is closer to the spring than the other so I had to attack it with the 14mm wrench and the other I was able to do with the 14mm socket wrench since there was more clearance. I didn't remove them completely so I could easily tackle the bolt at the knuckle. The bolt at the knuckle came off easily with the 14mm wrench on side and the 14mm socket wrench on the other. The bolt at the knuckle is what holds the arm on so you do have to remove it COMPLETELY. Once it is removed the arm will come up and you can remove the other two bolts and pull the original arm out. Putting on the new control arm is the same thing in reverse. I set the camber adjustment in the middle and tightened it up since I knew my next stop would be the alignment shop (YES YOUR NEXT STOP HAS TO BE THE ALIGNMENT SHOP). I hammered the knuckle down into the assembly and lined up the other two spots to put in the bolts at the wheel well and put everything back together.




5. The drivers side was ALMOST as easy. Unfortunately my spring did get in the way of removing the two wheel well bolts on the drivers side. To get passed this obstacle I put my jack under the lower control arm and jack up until the spring compressed itself out of the way. Everything else was identical to the passenger side.
All in all I started at 9PM on Sunday and I was done by 11PM. This could easily be an hour to 1.5 job.





If you can change a tire, you can certainly do this project.

The alignment shop had no problem aligning my front the next day! Unfortunately I evidently didn't put toe adjustments on the rear so they are able to get camber or toe aligned in the back, but not both. So my next project is going to be rear brakes and toe bolts in the back.

I refuse to put my 19" EXE Konkaves back on until I am aligned flat all the way around. Tires AINT CHEAP!

[CPJ LB]

...good job...I too am lowered on H-Techs...I installed the front adj camber arms a long time ago and I'm good with my alignment...

I'm not sure when I'll be installing coilovers, but I'm glad that I have the adj camber arms prior to them....makes life easy...

[The Bodyguard]

Great write up!!

[The Bodyguard]

How's everything holding up?? I now have coilovers and I'm do low the front has negative camber I want to fix... Plus other members asking about front end alignment as well...

$457.22 all four!!
Found on: www.AUTOANYTHING.COM with a15% discount plus free shipping!!

Front part #5.72130k
Rear part #5.72280k
Both kits include right and left so the two kits will take care of it!! If you just need front they are the highest $$ ones but should be about $300 shipped!! I will be getting these in the near future...

[iculkn]

Great write up!

I checked out AutoAnything and found the camber kits for the 2008 m45. I called them to confirm if these will fit a 2008 M45 X and they said it won't work on an AWD. Back to the drawing board!

[jonlex99]

[quote="iculkn"]Great write up!

I checked out AutoAnything and found the camber kits for the 2008 m45. I called them to confirm if these will fit a 2008 M45 X and they said it won't work on an AWD. Back to the drawing board![/

They should. I have them on my 06 M35x. Unless the front suspension changed.
I will double check the part numbers and post..

[iculkn]

Great write up!

I checked out AutoAnything and found the camber kits for the 2008 m45. I called them to confirm if these will fit a 2008 M45 X and they said it won't work on an AWD. Back to the drawing board![/

They should. I have them on my 06 M35x. Unless the front suspension changed.
I will double check the part numbers and post..

Thanks Jonlex99!

[Se@ttleM35S]

Question:

I am lowered on Eibach Springs ~ 1.0 - 1.5 inch drop & stock Sport 19"s. When I got my alignment the guy said that I should get a camber kit for the front and rear. Is it really necessary?

That's seems like such a minimal drop and alot of money for camber kits that I may not need... Thoughts or suggestions?

[The Bodyguard]

Question:

I am lowered on Eibach Springs ~ 1.0 - 1.5 inch drop & stock Sport 19"s. When I got my alignment the guy said that I should get a camber kit for the front and rear. Is it really necessary?

That's seems like such a minimal drop and alot of money for camber kits that I may not need... Thoughts or suggestions?

If you want alignment done to OEM specs you do need camber kits, adjustable control arms, etc. I was dropped on eibach springs for about a year and no real noticeable damage to tires... I think you're close enough to specs as you are..

[Se@ttleM35S]

Thx bro. I will check out my tires during my next rotation and see how they're wearing. If it's not that bad, then I'll hold off on the camber kit. Right now my ride is smooth and I don't notice any difference in the alignment so it's all good.

[M35-Brad]

Super awesome write up!