When an alignment is necessary...

1567 Views 6 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Bampf, Feb 16, 2002

Daft

Discussion Starter · Feb 12, 2002

Is it necessary to have an alignment after installing shocks/springs?

What exactly dose alignment mean?

Camber and caster?
How about steering left to right, is that alignment too?
Or is that tie rods only?

Most people I talked to seem to think that alignment is only left to right adjustment, recently I was told that it only adjusts camber and caster. What exactly is "toe in" Is that when the front wheels are slightly turned in twards eachother? And is that efect adjusted by alignment?

What do you think?

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LimeCivic

· #2 · Feb 12, 2002

Alignment

If you lowered your car, chances are you will have some negative camber on your wheels. When you get an alignment, they fix everything they can adjust, (camber, toe, etc...) if you do not have a camber adjustment kit installed, they may say you need one to fix your problem, and that your tires will wear irregularly. Take it in just for a check and see how bad your negative camber is. If they say its bad, buy your own camber kit and install it. Then take it in for an alignment and they will have every adjustment they need to fix it. Thats what i did, and it totally fixed my problem.

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junglistgsr

· #3 · Feb 12, 2002

on hondas caster is not adjustable and so they essentially adjust the toe and if you have a camber kit the camber...

depending on the install and how much you lower the car will depend on whether you need an alignment...but it is a good rule of thumb to expect to need an alignment after lowering your car or raising it back up a significant amount.

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Redline25

· #4 · Feb 12, 2002

Re Alignment

Mine alignment on my Integra is way off.... and I can't install camber kit unless I raise my car a tat....

Anyone here has that problem??

My car is lowered 3 1/4" in front and 3" in rear.

Thankssss

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junglistgsr

· #5 · Feb 12, 2002

Re: Re Alignment

Redline25 said:
Mine alignment on my Integra is way off.... and I can't install camber kit unless I raise my car a tat....

Anyone here has that problem??

My car is lowered 3 1/4" in front and 3" in rear.

Thankssss

so raise the car, your already lowered too much and you are just hurting your handling, your suspension and everything else.....it might look "mad tight" but i'd laugh if i saw a integra lowered over 3"s with insane negative camber and seeing it bounce all over the place.....

solution: raise your shit, get a camber kit (you'll need one with LOTS of adjustability if you keep it that low) and get it aligned (your going to get raped on the price if your car is that low and you attempt to get it aligned)

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deMad10

· #6 · Feb 14, 2002

Yeah anytime you mess with your suspension you need to have your alignment checked out.

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Bampf

· #7 · Feb 16, 2002

Getting an alignment done for Hondas does two things. First it adjusts the toe angles (yes if you're car is toed-in then that wheel is pointing in towards the middle of the car, if it is toed-out then it's the opposite). Second, because of the adjustment to the toe angles of the car, the camber angles are adjusted slightly (not much, so if you've lowered the car more than 1.5" you're prolly gonna need a camber kit).

It's a good idea to get an alignment done about 1-2 weeks after the installation of new springs (or any adjustment to the height). Waiting will allow the springs to settle...if you don't wait, then you may end up needing an alignment again after a little while 'cause the springs will settle and lower the car a tiny bit more.

Redline25, I will suggest that you raise the car some, but do what you want, it's your car. If the reason that you have to raise the car is that the camber kit cannot "overcome" the amount of negative camber you've got, then there is one product that might help you. There are some companies that sell adjustable a-arms, which can correct up to something like -5 degrees camber. I won't ever use something like this 'cause I won't lower my car that much, so I don't know too much about the adjustable a-arms, but I do know that they are available.

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