Alignment FAQ Thread

[Khyron686]

Thx for the comments. I considered a few options (and may change it next time I get aligned). I'm stuck with what I get for the rear camber (unless I want new LCAs) and I'm ok burning tires a bit quicker.

I based my front toe on the alignment guy, and tirerack. Also, it's only .1 of a degree, which isn't going to shred tires like 1 degree would. Under load I probably end up slight toe-out anyway. Based on feel, it's sharp as hell now.

Tire-Rack: A rear-wheel drive vehicle "pushes" the front axle's tires as they roll along the road. Tire rolling resistance causes a little drag resulting in rearward movement of the suspension arms against their bushings. Because of this, most rear-wheel drive vehicles use some positive toe-in to compensate for the movement, enabling the tires to run parallel to each other at speed.

Conversely, a front-wheel drive vehicle "pulls" the vehicle through the front axle, resulting in forward movement of the suspension arms against their bushings. Therefore most front-wheel drive vehicles use some negative toe-out to compensate for the movement, again enabling the tires to run parallel to each other at speed.

Toe can also be used to alter a vehicle's handling traits. Increased toe-in will typically result in reduced oversteer, help steady the car and enhance high-speed stability. Increased toe-out will typically result in reduced understeer, helping free up the car, especially during initial turn-in while entering a corner.

[sluflyer06]

Had them installed yesterday morning and aligned by a great shop here in St. Louis.

Front: Camber -1.3L -1.4R
Rear Camber -1.4L -1.7R

Had the front toed out a hair about 1/32 and rear toed in 1/16. Car drives dramatically different with the camber up front, front end grip has skyrocketed and it is now very hard to overload the front end where before if I really threw it in a hard turn there was noticeable (but not horrible) under-steer.

Rear end feels more lively now due to increased grip in the front, overall I could not recommend this mod+alignment more especially for the small investment. The car drives great from the factory but getting some camber dialed in up front just ices the cake and makes it so much more fun.

[xxBrun0xx]

I know this thread is really old, but thank you so much for all the info! Just installed TRD springs and was planning on getting an alignment, but think I'll pick up some factory crash bolts (plan in stock class @ autocross) before I go in. Plus, now I know what I'm talking about when I talk to the tech. Thank you thank you thank you!

[scirocco78]

You can't run TRD springs in stockclass.

[Dezoris]

Originally Posted by xxBrun0xx

I know this thread is really old, but thank you so much for all the info! Just installed TRD springs and was planning on getting an alignment, but think I'll pick up some factory crash bolts (plan in stock class @ autocross) before I go in. Plus, now I know what I'm talking about when I talk to the tech. Thank you thank you thank you!

Yes you will now be in STX now.

Install front bolts, and max out that front camber. If you have some good tires and you improve your driving at the local level even in STX you can be towards the top.

[gonzo]

Can we sticky this thread, please. Great info.

[DarkSunrise]

Just to add a data point, I had my car aligned on stock suspension + whiteline front camber bolts.

Front: Camber -1.4L -1.5R
Rear Camber -1.0L -1.4R

I asked for 0 toe all around.

From my last track weekend, the car is slightly more neutral compared with stock. There's still some residual push, but easily controlled with the throttle or brake. I don't think I'd want it any looser than this.

My Sumitomo HTRZIII tires had chunked at the track before the alignment. I rotated the chunked tires to the rear and ran them again. No more chunking issues at the front. In fact, now the rear tires chunked slightly, so all four tires are getting worked pretty well now I'd guess.

[Ondreiko]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

Hi everybody!

I got strange front tyres wear (it is inner edge of the tyre) which looks like diagonal heel and toe wear from the picture above. I also attached the picture of my front left wheel (the right one looks same). My front wheels allignment is about -1.4 deg camber (camber bolts) and -0.04 deg toe out. And i don't have any idea what should i fix of adjust to get rid of that wear. Would someone please explain?

Thank you in advamce,

Andrey and BRZ

[CSG Mike]

What kind of tires are those?

[Ondreiko]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

What kind of tires are those?

Thy are winter tires (m+s) Bridgestone Blizzak spikeless.

[ragequitfail]

Read through this old but very helpful thread. I'm chilling at Starbucks waiting for the shop doing my alignment right now. Thought I'd post my first experience getting an alignment to custom specs instead of just whatever is within factory specs, maybe it can help someone coming across this thread in the future.

After lowering on sportline springs(about 1.3" drop all around) the camber in the rear is definitely much more than in the front(i read somewhere that the rear ends up at around -2). I got whiteline camber bolts for the front and spc lca for the rear.

For camber I asked for as close to -1.7 they can get with the bolts up front and a little less than that for the back. They are gonna do 0 toe front and a little toe in for the back. After reading through this and a couple other threads I think that should be an ok setup for a dd car. Right? What do you guys think?



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[jimmillion]

For those coming to this thread for DD alignment advice, figured I'd share mine that I'm finally happy with.

No two alignments are the same, but my advice for all the DD drivers with new coilovers is that these are the important things to aim for:

- unless you're a racecar don't go zero toe in the rear, you'll get micro bouncing at hwy speeds (kinda like if your rear tires are unbalanced)

- rear should be toe-in'd until your overall toe is in the center to avoid the above.

- getting overall toe in the centre of factory spec also applies to the front

- having -2 camber in rear but -0.5 camber in front gives you a very heavy/dull steering feel. (ie. my first alignment before the camber bolts)

- either dial in more camber in the front than rear or aim for close to even all around. This gives your a very balanced handling that I would say is like OEM but better, because camber goood.

- lastly, don't worry about every little variance in the numbers, below is an example of close enough for DD.

Good luck, and spend the extra bucks finding a good shop that will work with you.


(No LCA in the rear yet, so couldn't even it out anymore)

[FR-Sky]

Why can't we run more rear camber than front on this car?

[Icecreamtruk]

Originally Posted by FR-Sky

Why can't we run more rear camber than front on this car?

You can, the thing is that you gain nothing from it. The car will understeer more, that is all. It all depends on what you want out of the car. Rear camber usually only gets you uneven tire wear and understeer, so people try to avoid it.