Quote:
Originally Posted by ApexEight
Isn't factory rear toe adjustment just turn eccentric and tighten nut once desired toe is reached?
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Yup, no big deal if you have an alignment rack or a decent setup for doing the work. I personally don't and the math of throwing several hundred dollars per year at a shop to tweak didn't add up to me. I'm not the norm, I totally understand that, but I know I'm not the only person who has struggled with factory toe adjustment.
So imagine you're in your garage with the car jacked up so you can adjust it. Now imagine there's slop in the bolt so just lining up the marks isn't enough, you have to line up the mark in a consistent fashion (kind of like tuning a guitar from low to high tension) say from clockwise to counterclockwise. Then tighten the bolt, make sure it doesn't slip while tightening, ok now check it. Get out from under the car, if you have wheel mounted alignment tools you can wing it in the air with some confidence, do final torque of 76 ft-lbs (I blew almost an entire season not torquing properly, dynamic toe isn't fun) check it again, now do the other side. Drop the car, drive it around the block, bring it back in and confirm you're good.
Repeat if wrong, add in multiple steps if you're using toe plates and need the car to be on the ground,I haven't figured out reliable ghetto slip plates imo. Then there's the complication of toe link and lca interacting with each other to adjust camber and toe, with spc lca and stock toe link you have two eccentrics to manipulate, torque, check, repeat until you are satisfied. I don't mind being wrong on setup guesses, but not being able to have consistent setup has driven me crazy, having it measure out different every time is my personal hell. Upgrading tools may help with that but it's all procedure and patience to do this on a budget.
That's been the last year and a half of my autox experience. If you're not a perfectionist maybe it's not a big deal, but the number of times I've tightened it down and had it slip and had to crawl back under and do it all again. I'm done, got the SPC links sitting on the shelf right now, they'll go on in a week or two.
There's added bonus with two threaded adjusters (sorry ssc) you can figure out how much to turn both links to get the camber and toe you want, have it all figured out in the garage and go to an event or test and tune and be able to quickly test a wide range of camber and toe settings with confidence. At least that's part of my plan for next year, I bet some will be doing that with their ssc cars as well to hit the ground running and dial in their alignment early on which should pay dividends as you have spec spring rates and tires your steady state cornering can be nailed by the first big events.
Again, this is cake with a decent alignment rack, plenty of access, high quality slip plates and real time feedback on adjustment takes what used to be an afternoon job and reduces it down to fifteen minutes or less once the car is up on the rack.