Lowering the SHO, can I align without a caster/camber kit?

[It's_SHO_Simple]

Hi I am awaiting my Intrax lowering springs and I was wondering if I could align it without a caster camber kit. I plan to cut off the top dead coil of the 2 front springs and leaving the rear ones alone. I know I would need a caster/camber kit if I used the stock tires size but I am going to used 225/45/17 tires will I be able to align everything without a caster/camber kit? I search the forum but couldn't find too many things but I see alot of ya'lls have intrax and 17" wheel combo and it looks nice and aligned, so thanks for your help and I hope my springs come in soon.

 

[greenbeanmtx]

The only way you can get it to align right without the camber kit is to drill the spotwelds out on the factory plates on top of the strut towers. This will make them break free and then they can be aligned that way. Some guys dont like this idea but its been done by many of us without any ill effects. Thats the cheapest way if your on a budget.

 

[LOUDSHO92]

We have everything you need for an alignment: Suspension

The rear you must get control arms for adjustment.

For the front you can drill out the welds as mentioned.

 

[SHO-NUF93]

Sorry to threadjack, but do I understand this correctly: You cannot adjust the rear camber without aftermarket control arms?

 

[LOUDSHO92]

You can but it is not enough to account for springs. There are just eccentric bushings and they dont allow for very much. We offer an additonal set of eccentric bushings but it might not be enough for most applications.

 

[SHO-NUF93]

Yeah, my driver's rear is noticeably kicked out, probably something like 4 degrees. I can only wonder why or how, and the car isn't lowered.

 

[stoessjc]

LoudSho92:

Please return my email inquiries to ShoBros Garage. John Stoessel [email protected]

 

[redshoman]

you can use a drimmel or somthing simalar to move the wholes in the rear inward, thats what I did to mine two years ago and its dead nuts

 

[shobote]

Also, before cutting the Intrax's down even further, keep in mind that the driveshafts will be increasingly offset from the horizontal the more you lower, which will lead to a dramatic increase in torque steer.
....even 1/2 inch angle will make a huge difference as the Nissan engineers found out when they modified the '07 Altima 3.5 and lowered the engine cradle by 0.6 in. to even the geometery out. According to the reviews I just read last night, evening up the geometry got rid of all the torque steer problems the previous years exhibited.

 

[DemonNeno]

Definitely don't want the nose too low, IMO. You'll get much more bump and torque steer for reasons mentioned above.

Here's the thing about the front strut plates. Ideally, you'd want them to be zeroed out from the factory. If you look at the strut caps, you'll notice a notched edge w/ a line on the cap that's riveted on as well as a few more linees on the strut tower itself. this indicates how much adjustment the vehicle has left for camber AND caster (caster is seen the length of the vehicle and camber is seen the width of the vehicle).

Ford, for some ******** reason, set most of these adjustments further positive. Instead of designing it right, they band-aided it. Now this is were you get screwed. The SHO's generally sit at about 3/4 to 1 degree NEGATIVE from the factory. If you lower your car 1 1/2" - 2", you'll run out of positive adjustment to make the car track straight and/or prevent tire wear.

The rear has a metal eccentric (about a 1 1/2" large) to adjust rear TOE. No Camber adjustment is available from the factory. This toe adjustment is also very lame, as mentioned. About a 1/4" MAX adjustment is available on the typical setup, which might be just enough, but won't fix your rear negative camber issues.

You have a few choices about the bump steer. First, you can space the rack on the subframe with some stout washers. If this isn't enough, you may need to modify the firewall/floorboards which can be dangerous (structural weakness). I've also seen some spacer the rack AND the outer tie rods by welding on a spacer to lower the outer on the spindles.

Either way you go with the mods (for the rack), make sure you do it with your own safety in mind. Losing your steering is NOT a fun time.

As for the axles, it'd be possible to cut the ears down a bit on the motor mounts and have them rewelded to lower the engine, but now your oil pan is lower than your subframe... I'd just rather not lower the SHO that much!