Alignment setting suggestion in Glendale/LA?

[makofoto]

I don't know anything about alignment ...

I just had Tein S.Tech lowering springs and Hotchkis lite weight sway bars installed on my '03 WRX Wgn. I understand that the lowering springs change the rear camber ...

I didn't realize that there is no chamber adjustment in the rear of the WRX ... do i need to get the camber adjustment bolt?

Which way ... do I now have MINUS or PLUS camber ... do I need to have that dialed out for good normal handling ... not ultimate adhesion ....

I have 17" SSR's w/ 225/45 S-03's

What should my alignment be ... and any suggestions where I can have this done in the Glendale ... Los Angeles/San Fernando area.

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Lowering the car causes the camber to go more negative.

The best alignment for maximum tire life would be 0 toe and -1 deg camber front and rear. If you drive almost all highway miles you may want to reduce that camber setting to -0.5 degrees.

I prefer the following for maximum traction autocross setting:

Front:
-2 deg camber
1/8" toe out
Max caster
Tire pressure: 42psi

Rear:
-1.3 deg camber
1/16" toe out
Tire pressure:38 psi

Rear sway on med or tight depending on the course

[makofoto]

thanks ... any other recomendations?

[ResQDawg3]

I'm personally going to use the Whiteline Sport Settings......you can find them at Whiteline's website.

[makofoto]

WOW ... what a great collection of WRX handling articles!!! thanks ...

here is the Whiteline home page: http://www.whiteline.com.au/

a couple more resources for you...

http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/showth...threadid=10040

http://www.spdusa.com/wrx_intro.htm

[WR xplosive]

had my alignment two days ago. I thought when it's negative it's supposed to be bad, I guess I was wrong.

Here are my settings...

Left Front:
Camber: -1.5 deg *
Caster: ...........
Toe: -0.02

Right Front:
Camber: -1.8deg *
Caster: ...........
Toe: -0.02

Front total Toe: -0.04

Left Rear:
Camber: -1.1
Toe: 0.13

Right Rear:
Camber: -1.0
Toe: 0.00

Rear Total toe: -0.9
Rear Thrust Angle: -0.04

Wheels/ Tires: 17x5 215/45/17
Daily driver both highway and city.

[makofoto]

I don't understand how your total front toe can equal -1.61

It would help if the numbers had units like... degrees, inches, mm, etc...

I'm not convinced that negative toe means toe out. You should call your alignment shop to be sure.

In my opinion... toe IN is bad. Your camber settings up front may be a bit too much for a daily driver.

The camber and toe settings should be equall from side to side also. IE... Front Left toe = Front right toe... etc...

[savka]

Originally posted by Tshulthise

The camber settings should be equall from side to side.

Is the above correct?

I am a newb in suspention/chasy set up but have been thinking about it this way -
1. lowering the car increases negative camber.
2. When the driver gets in there is a dispraportinate increase in the weight on the left side of the car - thuis lowering the left side slightly more then the right.
3. Due to this dispraportinate lowering, the left camber settings increase a little bit more compared to the right side.
4. Therefore if the left-front camber is slightly less then right-front, when the weight of the driver lowers the left side of the car the camber setings should become equal

Unless of course you have your alignment done with you IN the car.


sav

[WR xplosive]

Originally posted by makofoto
I don't understand how your total front toe can equal -1.61

may fault, it was before and now it's -0.04


Tshulthise those are all degrees. Alignment shop said I need to break in the suspension, I only had it for a week. They asked me to come back after 3k miles then they will do more adjustments. I'm gonna edit my first post.

TEIN USA said the SS coil-over for sedan will have a bit of negative camber when installed on a WAGON.

*this value is not within specification. Tire wear, handling and safety problems may occur.*

savka... ideally you would have your car aligned with a weight in the front seat to simulate you sitting there. I've never heard of this being done at a standard alignment shop.

If you have adjustable spring perches on your car which allow you to raise and lower each corner independently then, ideally, you would corner weight and align the car with a weight in the driver's seat. With corner weighting or cross weighting the goal is to weigh each corner, then calculate your cross weights... For instance,
LF + RR = X
RF + LR = Y
You will want to adjust the springs so that X = Y.

You would align the car at the same time. This gives you the maximum performance.

WR xplosive... It looks like you are essentially at 0 toe if that number is in degrees so you should be fine for now. They are right that your springs will settle after you drive the car for a while. That will give you more negative camber and toe out in the front. I don't know how much and I don't know how it will affect the rear toe.

I think you have everything else you need to set your alignment up in previous posts in this thread. You should like all that negative camber. It really makes the car handle better. You may want to dial some of it out in the front to improve tire longevity though. I hope you like your new setup.

[WR xplosive]

Tshulthise, thanx for the input man, makes me more comfortable feeling with my set-up.