Alignment question
 

So I installed some ST coilovers. Pretty happy, besides some clunking in the rear.
I also installed adjustable SPC lower control arms (rear).

So to make this short, the front alignment was exactly what I wanted. 1.8 camber 0 toe.

However in the rear, the technician said he could get 1.3 camber on the left rear(exactly what I wanted), but on the right rear he could only get down to 2.1 camber. So I had to settle and get 2.1 camber on both sides of the rear

I am not very knowledgable of alignments, I have a little bit of suspension knowledge, but.. why was he able to only get 2.1 on one side while the other he could get 1.3? Is it possible he didn’t know how to adjust the control arm?

P.S. all of the numbers provided are negative camber

I really doubt he didn't know how to adjust the LCA.
The bigger question here is what is causing the "clunk"?
There should not be "clunking".

Double check to make sure everything is installed correctly. The clunk is worrisome.

Disconnected endlinks, was still happening. My friend in automotive school thinks it’s the bushings. I personally think it’s something with the top hats cause the sound appears to be coming from there. It’s died down a lot since install. Just really over big bumps.

Did you tell the tech you have this clunk?

Something seems off. I'm not sure I can get toe right at only -1.3° camber in the back. Plus that clunk.

I think he was able to get very little toe, like 2%, in the rear with -1.3* camber. So, why was he not able to get 1.3 on the right side?

I believe the clunk is just the top hat hitting the trunk. I’m not very concerned with it since it’s only over large bumps. I may get a tech to check it out.

You should be able to get zero toe and -3°... Assuming the car is lower on the coils. Stock should fall around -2° or more, lowered.

Also, clunks lead to broken parts. Just because you only hear it over big bumps, the constant chatter is there. Fasteners aren't rated for that and eventually break.

Look at the camber adjuster on the LCA's and see where they are at. If you are not sure what you are looking at post a pic of each side. I can't imagine what would be off that you can't get the adjustment you need.

https://i.imgur.com/MUMOWNO_d.jpg?ma...idelity=medium
https://i.imgur.com/SMFquM6.jpg

This is the camber adjustment right? If so left and right arms are shown. I can provide better pictures if those aren’t clear enough

Those are good pics.

Yeah both those are only about half way through their adjustment range so I don't know why he can't get the same on both sides unless he couldn't get the one adjuster to spin. So he just used that as an excuse.

Ah, thank you. When I go back, I will show him the picture. How exactly do you adjust these, in case he asks?

If an alignment tech asked me how to adjust any alignment characteristics on my car I'd find another shop.

I'd just find a different shop and tell them what the first guy said.

Make sure you ask for printouts of both before, and after.

In order to dial in the proper camber with the SPC, you may have to loosen/adjust the toe simultaneously. One time the alignment guy couldn't get pass -1.5 no matter how much he turned the cam bolt. Then as soon as he loosen the toe adjuster, it went to -3.

Ah I see. The tech said if I had any issues or wanted a change he would do it for free so I will give him one more try. How exactly do you adjus the camber on these? Isn’t the ring supposed to hit a notch on the arm or something?

So you were using camber adjustment to minimize rear camber for street, not to maximize it for track, right?

-2.1 rear camber is fine as long as you keep rear toe minimized. I'd go for zero rear toe.

2% rear toe? Toe is generally reported as either mm, fractions of an inch, or degrees, or sometimes arc-minutes. Units are easy at zero, 0° = 0 mm = 0 in. = 0 arc-minutes :)

Can't speak to clunking issue...

Found my before and after sheet. .4mm toe in the left rear and .8mm toe in the right rear. He stated he could 0 the toe in the rear if he was able to put more negative camber.

And also he was able to get .2mm toe in the left rear with -1.3 camber, but the best he could do was .4mm with -2.1 camber on the right rear.

So that led me to believe he doesn’t know how to adjust the lower control arm possibly

As you turn the camber bolt, it (round silver ring) pushes against the notch on the arm, thus the bottom portion of the knuckle goes out. If you loosen the toe arm in front, that'll give it more room to play with.

You could run -2 both sides, IMO that's totally streetable if toe is minimal. You have 0.4mm+0.2mm = 0.6mm total rear toe-in, that's only:
sin-1(0.6mm/627mm) = 0.05° total, that's near enough to zero.

But yeah, with adjustable arms you'd think you could get it where you want it.