buZy Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 What about your ride height balance. Is your front higher than the rear? It looks like it in your sig pic. If so lowering the front compared to the rear may help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Align It!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Posted February 8, 2007 Author Share Posted February 8, 2007 I hear ya bjhines dont worry!! Next week im going to install the camber plates, swap the bushings, and then take it straight to a shop. Could anybody give me some good numbers that I should have my car aligned to? Im not even sure what exactly is adjustable on this car from the factory. Cant lower the front beacuse I dont have adjustable spring perches. Some day... Its not high in the front I think the shadow makes it look that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 You can't really do much with the stock 240Z parts.... but we need to see the alignment numbers for all 4 wheels to move on from there... You want to get a little toe out in front... just a hair.. or neutral... Beyond that.. you need aftermarket parts to do anything else... Once you get the numbers for your alignment.. then post em here and we can give you some ideas for getting it sorted out... a lot of improvements can be made without a lot of expensive parts... but we need to see the state of things to start off with... In addition... shifting some weight to the rear ~can~ improve things greatly... Removing weight from the front end can make noticable improvements as well... Optima makes a GROUP-24 sized battery that can knock 20lbs off the high front(moving the battery to the rear is stage II)... removing the air pump and anything emission related in the engine compartment, aluminum radiator, lightweight headers, basically remove anything that isn't needed to run the car will help a great deal with handling... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Posted February 9, 2007 Author Share Posted February 9, 2007 Not much left to remove in front I'm afraid, asside from the battery. Did the earlier Zs come with an air pump? Wish mine did, I'd throw it on the 8CI B&S motor I'm MegaSquirting Didn't think much could be adjusted. I'll have the readout by the end of next week. But where do I want my rear camber? Since I may as well do that at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 You won't likely need any more rear camber... and rear toe would require the G-machine offset bushings.. If you buy into the G-machine bushings then you might as well do all 4 corners... then you can get ~some camber in the front end as well... caster in front is tough to get enough of without modifying the front suspension... but you can sometimes balance it out with a few well placed washers... A lot of the problems you run into are realated to past accidents... Camber: Camber is usually way off left to right on the front end... Camber problems can be due to the strut bottom castings getting knocked crooked on the strut tubes... That can sometimes be fixed(check for cracked welds on the bottom of the castings too)... You can check each strut by measuring the distance between the rim and the strut tube... they should be the same left to right... an old cheater set up was to purposely bend them to gain more camber(especially on front)... Camber problems can also be the result of the frame rails getting knocked out of square with the strut towers... they can be moved one way a half an inch and it can wreak havoc with camber settings... One way to fix this is by slotting the crossmember mounting holes enough to move it slightly left or right... you can usually get camber even left to right with this simple fix(one side is slotted from the factory)... In general the front ends have the most pronounced problems... Ohhh... a note worthy of looking into: Many people have replaced the Tension-compression Rod (TC-rod) BUSHINGS with harder ones... This can lead to bending and eventual failure of the factory TC rod(right where it is necked down)... many TC rods are bent already(check it by rolling it on the edge of a table)... You may need to asses the condition of your TC rods before you go slamming it around the racetrack... Motorsport Auto sells a ball and cup TC rod kit that allows freedom of movement with a stiff support... You should always use a factory-soft-rubber bushing for the inside(rear) bushing on ANY TC bushing SET UP...(this is where the leverage to break the TC rods comes from)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 An easy way to get some redneck camber is to purposely reset the angle of the castings on the strut tubes... you have to grind the welds on the bottom of the strut casting(that hold the tube in).... Then heat the assembly hot enough to loosen the brazing(they did this at the factory to hold it in position until it was welded)... Set the new angle and weld it up... Violla... free camber with original parts... Though...This takes 2 people and some teamwork with the torch and leverage... It takes a lot of grunt to get any results... and you can warp the tube to the point the cartridge wont fit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Posted February 19, 2007 Author Share Posted February 19, 2007 OK so sounds like my problems are mostly fixable. What do you make of this: Front: Caster (L/R): +2.84/+2.83 K.P.I.: +12.75/+16.66 Camber: -.06/-.12 Toe: +.12/+.19 Setback: +.20 Rear: Camber: -.71/-.23 Toe: +.51/-.28 Geom. Driving Axis: -.39 I did not install the rear camber plates yet. I DID switch the swaybar end link bushings between front and rear and that made things much much better. - Oh and also the shop pointed out to me that I have some play in my steering rack, so that would mess with the front toe numbers a bit. Any recommendations on where to get a new one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 One words: bumpsteer. the auto manufacturers (even back then) engineered most of their cars to understeer from my understanding. Due to the predictability of a understeering slide. One way they did this is with dynamic camber angle (don't know if thats the correct term). Where the camber changes with the compresion of the suspension. With bigger wheels and/or lowering, a bumpsteer spacer and/or camber kit will correct this. search bumpsteer. Subject has been beaten to death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Posted February 19, 2007 Author Share Posted February 19, 2007 I have bump steer spacers. I like your Corolla. Its pretty good now, with the bushings switched around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Posted February 20, 2007 Author Share Posted February 20, 2007 No thoughts on my alignment figures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_82_ZXT Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 The only thing I can remember is that I'm running -2 deg of camber on all 4 wheels with no bad tire wear. Full spec sheet is back at home (in Flagstaff) but I'm going to get my dad to scan it since I need to have it double checked once I get the new wheels and tires. Car handles awesome. This was done using camber bushings in the front, slotted towers in the rear. Running a little bit of tow out in the front makes it a little twichy but it sure does bite on turn in. Oh yea, car is also 3in off the ground and has Tokico Illuminas on all 4. Mario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Posted February 21, 2007 Author Share Posted February 21, 2007 OK so there are some bushings available to adjust toe and others for camber? Could someone direct me to where I could find these? MSA has these, but they are for camber. I need a way of adjusting my rear toe. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/CTGY/PSDC07A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Those bushings adjust both camber and toe in the rear. They do camber only in the front, but every time you move the fronts you have to adjust the toe separately with the tie rod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Posted February 21, 2007 Author Share Posted February 21, 2007 Niice ok thanks! So it looks like I'll be using these bushings all arround as well as camber plates in the rear. Should I not bother installing the camber plates? Or would it make any difference making the camber adjustments from either location? Aside from that, since I'm going to be able to make real adjustments to my alignment with these parts, what are some good specs that I should align my car to, for starters? This is for AutoX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 You can make some improvements with the G-machine bushings... They will allow adjustment in that range... I can't believe you dont have more negative camber in the rear... It must not be lowered all that much... Set the front Toe to Zero... Get a little toe IN at the rear.... Get a little more caster with some extra washers in the TC rod stack... Slot the upper mount holes in the towers... get a little more negative camber there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Niice ok thanks! So it looks like I'll be using these bushings all arround as well as camber plates in the rear. Should I not bother installing the camber plates? Or would it make any difference making the camber adjustments from either location? Aside from that, since I'm going to be able to make real adjustments to my alignment with these parts, what are some good specs that I should align my car to, for starters? This is for AutoX. You can only run so much camber on the street and not kill your tires. You could run more than you are but IMO it's not really worth it to run alot on the street. If you are going to autoX often and want the best of both, I would run camber plates. It takes about 2 minutes for me to go from street camber to track camber. I have a bit of body roll so my camber may be more than what some others run but it works for me and the temps are good. 3* front, 1* rear, could run more rear but it's pretty neutral. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Posted February 24, 2007 Author Share Posted February 24, 2007 Damn, wish I had baught the camber plates for the front... I actually have a Corolla wagon which would ideally be my driver, but its slowly been getting a turbo installed for the past six months or so. So the tire wear thing wont be too big a concern soon enough. Why would I want to slot the front towers over adjusting the camber at the bushings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 Why would I want to slot the front towers over adjusting the camber at the bushings? You need to adjust toe when moving the lca pivot point. You also have alot more camber available with camber plates than eccentric LCA bushings and it takes alot less time to do it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 It is a cumulative thing... There are dozens of little things you can do to get what you need as far as alignment... There are quite a few things that can cause problems if all the adjustment is made at one point.... You get a little adjustment here and a little there with the big picture in mind at all times.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.