4 wheel/ Rear suspension Alignment

[Detenator]

Last time i went to the tire place to get a blown out tire fixed, the guy told me that these cars need 4 wheel alignment and that one of my rear tires had the camber incorectly set. I didn't even know that the rear suspension was adjustable. Can anyone confirm this? How do i go about adjusting it correctly? Or should i have a shop do it?

 

[sdpatt]

You should always have a 4-wheel alignment performed on a car. The rear suspension is not designed to be adjustable for camber, but can be adjusted for toe-in. There are kits to allow the rear to be adjusted for camber, but you may need to inspect the struts and upper strut mounts for wear as something must be non-standard to allow the rear camber to be greatly out of spec. It could be sagging rear springs, damaged struts or worn upper strut mount.

 

[Nook]

There is one company that makes the patented rear camber and toe kits for the rear control arms. These are offest bushing sfor the rear inside of the control arms, and are easily adjustable.

The item is a specialty products item 87330, go to their site at www.specprod.com search by item number and you will see pics and installation.

N

<small>[ May 31, 2003, 10:49 AM: Message edited by: Nook ]</small>

 

[projectSHO89]

Don't you just hate it when normally used punctuation, when used as convention requires, causes a link to be no good?

www.specprod.com

Nice find, Nook! Added that one to my Favorites.

Steve

<small>[ May 30, 2003, 08:29 AM: Message edited by: projectSHO89 ]</small>

 

[shojuan]

When you're done looking at the manufacturer's website buy them from Nook. He sells them and he forgot to make a shameless plug Here you go Nook http://www.prosuspension.com/ thumb

I got two books for my birthday that cover how to do an alignment at home. Plus I've found several websites that outline the process (there is more than one technique) and I've found a couple of tools that aren't too expensive and promise to speed up the measurements a bit (I place to spend a lot of time doing this, got more time than money right now. People with jobs who don't really want to learn how to do their own alignment should just pay a shop, painful as it is). I plan on checking my alignment at all four wheels after replacing all my bushings etc just so I can see whether I actually *need* some kind of rear camber adjustability to get things in spec.

<small>[ May 30, 2003, 10:57 PM: Message edited by: shojuan ]</small>

 

[Nook]

Awwww thanks.

That taurus rear kit is actually more popular than most of the Honda stuff I sell. Saggy springs and otherwise zero camber adjsutemnt make them ver useful.

Specialty products also sells (or their distributors do) a magnetic camber gauge, that you attach to the rotor, to get pretty darned near perfect camber readings as well. I use them plopped right on the rear disk when making adjustments instead of hooking the wheel up to an alignment head, then when I actually do a full computerized reading, it doesn't need any adjustment 9 times out of ten, could save you a trip to the alignment shop, and some money, and get the camber set up in the driveway when you change yer struts and such.

Here's the link to the pictures and the ebay store Item if interested. Not sure if it's OK to post this, moderators please feel free to edit and let me know:

N

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2914814125&category=20947

 

[Nook]

PS, that camber tool, and a tape measure, is all a good shadetree mechanic needs to get their alignment passable.

Use that gauge to check camber, and a tape measure to measure toe, boom, done. You use the tape measure from the front of the left and right rims, compare with a reading from the rear of the rims, you can at least see if your wheels are parallel. It won't show if they are centered compared to steering wheel position, or if they are trackign the same track as the rear wheels, but will at least let you know what your toe in and out is. Then adjust tie rod ends to correct, done.

My father in law, 25+ year experienced alignment man, uses that method, and has yet to have a computerized alignment system prove him wrong, no matter how many times I challenge him on it.

N