Alignment confusion....

[Angelo]

Well, I finally got my new tires ( Yoko AVS Interm.) and it's time to align my Celica. I already bought two bolts from Toyota with 3 dots, and will be putting them on today. The question is, how the alignment guy will adjust camber? Will they have to take wheels off every time they want to make adjustment? That meant they have to drive off from alignment rack, jack up the car, etc. It's major pain on the ass. Or i just set my susp. to max negative camber while installing the bolts? Thsnks guys!

Angelo

GTS Challenge

[silver2001gts]

You should have bought 6 crash bolts: 2 one-dot, 2 two-dot, and 2 three-dot bolts. The tech should use the bolts that give you the alignment you want. The more dots, the skinnier the bolt and the more camber adjustment can be made.

One each front strut, you can replace the upper and lower bold with a crash bolt. I used a 2-dot and a 3-dot crash bolt on each front strut. I can't remember which bolt was on top. I have -2.1° camber at both front wheels now. You should try for -1 to -2° of camber. Any more negative and you will cause uneven tire wear.

Anyhoo, you can try it with just the 2 3-dot bolts. Just make sure the tech torques the bolts to spec (somewhere around 120 ft-lbs.)

He might need to remove the wheels during each bolt adjustment. But the alignment rack might make that easy.

[preparedcivic]

The ez thing to do is just do the 3 dot in the upper hole of the strut mounting flange. This will net around 2 degrees per side at the maximum camber setting, for this bolt on top with the original one on the bottom. Once bolts are set with camber knocked in, just reset the toe.

Because most alignment racks are raised, the tech can do all of this without taking the tires off. I've done all my own front end alignments. All it takes is a flat surface, some good measuring tools, a scientific calculator and knowing basic trigonometry.

[silver2001gts]

Originally posted by preparedcivic
The ez thing to do is just do the 3 dot in the upper hole of the strut mounting flange. This will net around 2 degrees per side at the maximum camber setting, for this bolt on top with the original one on the bottom.

True, but the "ez thing" is not always the best. Actually, the only downside is that a loose 3-dot bolt will have more slack than a loose 1-dot bolt. As long as the bolts are tight, this does not matter. What front camber are you running, preparedcivic?

Just so that the newbies know, rear camber is adjustable from the factory and does not require crash bolts or camber kits.

[preparedcivic]

Like I said, I replaced the top bolt with a 3 dot pushed all the way in. The same bolts have been in the car since June of 2000, even re-using them last August when the Koni's went in, which is technically a no-no as bolts like these in this type of application usually only like to be torqued once. I have a little over 2 degrees per side. They have never ever slipped, even while running Pro Solo's, Solo II Nationals on concrete surfaces, besides 30,000+ miles on the crappy roads of greater Gotham City. Nobody who has ever seen me drive could call me "underdriven" either......:wiggle:

[scapamouche]

Ahhhh... that explains things.

I thought the crash bolts should go on the bottom if you only replaced two with 3dots.....
That's part of the reason I could only get -1.5 deg on the front (well, front right, anyway- he could get -2 on the front left, but I decided to keep it even.)

[Angelo]

Thanks for suggestions! What is the best compromise between tire wear and good handling? I was thinking about -2deg, however my tires have 160 Treadwear, so I'm afraid they won't last...;( I got time until tomorrow....

Angelo

[Raymund]

i have -2.3 at the front and -1.3 in the back. front tire wear has begun to be an issue for me. unless you commute back and forth in the twisties then you should have no wear problems. unfortunately, for me, I commute on a daily basis of congested city blocks where turns are few and slow. I have decided to buy a set of cheap low threadwear nitto 450s. they are an excellent buy if you want long tire life. grip is not as good as stock yoks, but who needs good tires in traffic.