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Do I need an alignment?

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:29 am
by Jamie Lessie
I aligned my car a few months ago. Nothing crazy, 0 toe all the way around, -.9 camber front, -.3 camber rear, +6 caster (front) 0 caster rear

After my car was aligned I got coilovers. The coilovers lowered the car about an inch.

I just raised my car, about an inch. The taller tires on top of that raise it another 3/4 of an inch.

Do I need an alignment? Some say yes, some say "meh" so I thought I would ask you all.

Re: Do I need an alignment?

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:35 am
by Jason Isley BS RX8
Jamie Lessie wrote:I aligned my car a few months ago. Nothing crazy, 0 toe all the way around, -.9 camber front, -.3 camber rear, +6 caster (front) 0 caster rear

After my car was aligned I got coilovers. The coilovers lowered the car about an inch.

I just raised my car, about an inch. The taller tires on top of that raise it another 3/4 of an inch.

Do I need an alignment? Some say yes, some say "meh" so I thought I would ask you all.
By autox standards you needed an alignment before you installed the coilovers. Without a proper race alignment every other mod you do will be compromised because you are not letting the car use all of the tire. And now with a significant change to the ride height the camber and toe will be even further out of whack.

Re: Do I need an alignment?

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:40 am
by Jonathan Lugod
Jamie Lessie wrote:I aligned my car a few months ago. Nothing crazy, 0 toe all the way around, -.9 camber front, -.3 camber rear, +6 caster (front) 0 caster rear

After my car was aligned I got coilovers. The coilovers lowered the car about an inch.

I just raised my car, about an inch. The taller tires on top of that raise it another 3/4 of an inch.

Do I need an alignment? Some say yes, some say "meh" so I thought I would ask you all.
my rule of thumb is "any change to the suspension requires at least a check of the alignment". Toe plates are awesome to have around when in a bind as it is the most tire wearing culprit when talking about alignments.

Re: Do I need an alignment?

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:49 am
by Mako Koiwai
Do 3rd Gen 7's require a bit of toe-in in the rear?

Re: Do I need an alignment?

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:51 am
by Q V
As soon as you unbolted something & bolted something else on suspension related, you already affected your alignment.

I'd personally get a more aggressive alignment depending on the tires you are running. It may not make a huge difference in your overall lap time right away, but will make a major difference in feel. It will also probably let your tires wear more even considering you affected all 4 corners when installing coilovers.