Alignment questions

[Lorne]

I've thrown on a set of BC racing BR type coilovers and am having problems finding someone who will align the car.. The shop that I went to this afternoon told me the machine they use to align the car will more than likely damage my rim (I have a set on rays 57 xtreme 18x9.5 this rim has a HUGE outer lip) so they sent me to a different shop, one that they said would have the machine that straps to the tire and not the rim. I went there and when the mechanic saw my car he grimaced and told me to go to the shop down the street. I went to the next shop and he told me "don't worry, we'll get you back to stock" to which I was like "naw". He then showed me the machine that straps to the wheels and it won't work either because my front wheel is tucked into the fender. Then I suggested I put the stock wheels back on just for the alignment and we can just use the machine that hooks onto the rim. He said it would work! but will it? the stock wheels are 17" I'm pretty sure, will this matter? Will it affect my alignment when I replace them with my new wheels?

I've been doing some research on alignment shops in my area and there's one about an hour and a half away that agreed to do it via the rim method and use a bit of tape where it hooks onto my rim. Would this not compromise the alignment?

Also, I am still on stock lower control arms at the moment and am unsure if these need to be replaced in order to fully align the car. do the stock lca's have a toe adjustment?

Any help on this would be awesome, I'd like to get the car aligned ASAP as it looks sick and I want to drive it lol.

[finch1750]

yes we have toe adjustment stock

[df.dima]

Where are you located? GTA I assume? There have been multiple great shops recommended/discussed. I prefer to go to Scott@CanAlignment near Hwy 6, I think he can align anything and everything to whatever spec you want, fancy rims or not. He aligns by using the wheels and did not leave a mark on my new shiny Wedsports.

There is a limit to what you can do with stock LCAs, camber or toe including. Aftermarket arms will probably net you more adjustment range, and if you are that low, not sure if you will need to take out some camber, it might be a challenge, but I'm not into that low life, so others could give you a better answer.

[Ashikabi]

Wheel size doesn't affect alignment. I ran into the same "tuck"problem. Tape on the wheels won't hurt it either

[nickmerronesucks]

I find the ones that clamp the edge of the wheel are way more accurate and better. as the ones that clamp the tire you can easily mount very crooked and mess it up easily.

Also the ones that mount to the tire you can just bump the head to make the alignment green and the customer is happy(something being the customer you dont want).

[mav1178]

Newer Hunter alignment racks have sensors that no longer clamp on the wheel face. If you are paranoid about wheel damage, you should seek out a shop with one of the newer alignment racks.

[Ashikabi]

Originally Posted by mav1178

Newer Hunter alignment racks have sensors that no longer clamp on the wheel face. If you are paranoid about wheel damage, you should seek out a shop with one of the newer alignment racks.

His wheels tuck so the arms can't fit under the fender. I've been to a shop with one of these already

[Lorne]

Originally Posted by mav1178

Newer Hunter alignment racks have sensors that no longer clamp on the wheel face. If you are paranoid about wheel damage, you should seek out a shop with one of the newer alignment racks.

Yep, what Ashikabi said. Thanks to everyone who posted in the thread with information, I'll be putting my stockies back on and getting it aligned tomorrow morning! I never realized how much trouble slamming a car would be lol. First I was sceptical about my wheel and tire combo even fitting on the coils, now I'm having shops turning my car away.

[Lorne]

Originally Posted by df.dima

Where are you located? GTA I assume? There have been multiple great shops recommended/discussed. I prefer to go to Scott@CanAlignment near Hwy 6, I think he can align anything and everything to whatever spec you want, fancy rims or not. He aligns by using the wheels and did not leave a mark on my new shiny Wedsports.

There is a limit to what you can do with stock LCAs, camber or toe including. Aftermarket arms will probably net you more adjustment range, and if you are that low, not sure if you will need to take out some camber, it might be a challenge, but I'm not into that low life, so others could give you a better answer.

Yeah I saw people posting in the Canada forum about Scott and while I'm sure he does amazing work, I live about 3 hours away so this option was pretty low on my list. The shop near my house said they could do it with the stock wheels and there wont be an issue so I guess that's what I'll do. They have a lift that's level with the ground so height won't be an issue.

[Ashikabi]

Originally Posted by Lorne

Yep, what Ashikabi said. Thanks to everyone who posted in the thread with information, I'll be putting my stockies back on and getting it aligned tomorrow morning! I never realized how much trouble slamming a car would be lol. First I was sceptical about my wheel and tire combo even fitting on the coils, now I'm having shops turning my car away.

I've been to many shops, some I was too low to get on the rack, others didn't know how to adjust it or couldn't fit their sensors. FYI you'll probably have to cut your subframe where the LCAs mate if you're gonna get a wrench in there(don't remember if you have LCA or not) to work on them. It's the only practical way

[Lorne]

Originally Posted by Ashikabi

I've been to many shops, some I was too low to get on the rack, others didn't know how to adjust it or couldn't fit their sensors. FYI you'll probably have to cut your subframe where the LCAs mate if you're gonna get a wrench in there(don't remember if you have LCA or not) to work on them. It's the only practical way

I don't have after market LCAs, I'll need to cut into my car to allow the stock ones to be aligned?

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Ashikabi

FYI you'll probably have to cut your subframe where the LCAs mate if you're gonna get a wrench in there(don't remember if you have LCA or not) to work on them. It's the only practical way

wtf

In for pics.

No problem adjusting my LCA nor can I envision the need for such a thing on any other LCA design I've seen.

Originally Posted by Lorne

I don't have after market LCAs, I'll need to cut into my car to allow the stock ones to be aligned?

Stock has no LCA adjustment. No reason to cut the subframe that I can tell.

[Ashikabi]

Where the lock nut on the LCA is is where I cut it. There wasn't room for a wrench and taking of the lca, adjusting it, putting it back on, checking, taking it off etc was lame. So I cut it. I'm not the first guy to do it here either

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Ashikabi

Where the lock nut on the LCA is is where I cut it. There wasn't room for a wrench and taking of the lca, adjusting it, putting it back on, checking, taking it off etc was lame. So I cut it. I'm not the first guy to do it here either

Bonkers, didn't even realize that was a potential pitfall but it's all about how that control arm was designed, zero issue adjusting my control arms and the SPC/Whiteline control arm adjusts hub side so that's a problems specific to LCA's designed like yours.

I got Racer-X, the chassis side bushing is designed to push the adjustment mechanism outboard for access apparantly.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68983