[Lear35A]

Tomorrow I'll get some batteries in my camber gauge and see where I'm at. Wish I could figure out how to accurately measure/set toe.

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[flash]

lol - you should be in my shoes - no chance of a home alignment ever getting close enough - now that i have all spherical bearings in there, the gushy rubber forgiveness is gone, and things have to be within a tenth of a degree - those DIY gadgets aren't accurate enough to do that

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[rxter]

Now that I have the lower brace on I am going to get it aligned using the first non-stock setting. What other mods would require an alignment (I only want to do this once if possible).

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[flash]

strut change, ride height change, change for the sake of change

i was supposed to get an alignment today - the guy didn't show up

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[Lear35A]

For corner weights and ride heights I think I'm done. Yeah.

I ended up with ride heights within a millimeter of factory specs for RoW M030 Cpe. Corner weights are (with driver): LF 797, RF 779, LR 822 and RR 806. That's only 18# diff L to R in front and 16# diff in rear. Porsche says less than 44#. Front to back is only a 25# diff, and the additional weight is in the rear where I want it giving a better than 49/51 distribution.

When (if?) the car runs, I'll get it aligned and then buy the lower brace from RSB. What fun.

edit. For full disclosure the lower pans aren't on under the engine. I weighed them at 9# and that should go equally to both front wheels. So no significant change.

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[bombfactory]

Flash, sorry in advance if the numbers are here and I've missed them. I'm going to get my car aligned soon - what ride height should I be shooting for (measuring from the ground to the middle of the fender lips)? And yes I do have ride-height-adjustable front struts.



Thanks!

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[flash]

i would not go below 25.25", but it will really depend on what your rear camber setting is - negative camber increases as you lower the car, and you may not be able to go that low without really high negative camber - you really want to keep it below -1.5 degrees on a street car, and hopefully somewhere around -1

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[bombfactory]

Thanks Bob. I'm definitely not looking to push the limits on lowering the car. As you've mentioned before, it is possible to go too low, which can upset the handling dynamics (for a street car anyway). I'm looking to keep negative camber to a reasonable minimum as well, probably -1˚ max. We'll see shortly how this all turns out.

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[flash]

i would target 25.5 - that would put you at ROW M030 height

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[RS Barn]

I don't want to disagree with Bob but I'm not in agreement with his specs. There are other factors you need to take in consideration.

Each car has different suspension, wheel/tire combo and desired use.

Pete

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[flash]

of course there are - those are for a street car

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[bombfactory]

Car is in right now for a 'medium aggressive street' alignment. Going to try -.75˚ rear camber, -1˚ front camber, 1/16" total front toe in, 1/8" rear. My ride height is already in the 25.5" ballpark and we're going to stick with that.



So tonight will be the first time I've driven my car in many months (except for limping it around between repairs) since I installed a rebuilt steering rack, front and rear M030 swaybars with all new bushings, rebuilt M030 front struts and the D1R lower chassis brace. Can't wait!

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[flash]

the toe should be measured in degrees, not inches - i'm not sure what those figures calculate out to in degrees, but they might be close - that would be good to know

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[bombfactory]

I think these guys align cars manually, tho I'm sure they must have digital equipment as well. I didn't see any laser gizmos or mirrors attached to the rack my car was sitting on. They have experience with 944s and showed me the adjustment tool for the rear (other places have just nodded and said 'oh yes, we have it'). I feel pretty good they know what they're doing - I used them about 15 years ago on my first BMW and had forgotten about them!



My last 'computer alignment' on the 968 at a different place was so far off it wasn't funny.

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[pure&simple]

Got scammed really bad 5 years back at a "reputable" BMW shop near Philly. I needed an alignment in a pinch and they took the job. Didn't know they'd be doing it by hand. They never bothered to mention that they didn't have the equipment to set total toe. Nor did they bother to mention they would charge me by the hour. So I had to pay $600 for what I later found out was a botched alignment. One side toe in and the other side toe out because they didn't have the equipment to find center. They paid for another shop to re-align it, but I'll never do business with them again. Nor will I go to a shop that doesn't have top-of-the-line, recently-calibrated, computerized equipment. Preferably one that sets up race cars.

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[bombfactory]

I approach alignments (doubly so now with this car) with the same inner panic that I contemplate a windshield replacement - going in, I pretty much expect the job to not meet my expectations. I've never had good luck with 'computerized alignment'. The equipment is only as good as its calibration, and if that's off, it'll tell you your car is perfect when in fact it's not. And how often do those things get calibrated anyway? Would they even tell you if it hadn't recently? Doubtful.



My car just had a full manual alignment today - I pick it up tonight after work. On the phone, the owner of the shop, who did the work, just told me that one of my rear trailing arms is slightly bent, so he couldn't get quite as much negative camber as he wanted. Previous 'computerized alignments' didn't catch this. He also said the springs (stock - for now) were a little soft for his taste, but that dialing up the shocks a little might help. Sure, a 'regular' shop will test drive your car after an alignment, but that's just to make sure the wheels don't fall off. They're not evaluating handling characteristics based on years of experience.



I guess the moral of the story is, either manual or computerized, any alignment is only as good as the experience and expertise of the guy doing the job. Which is why good alignment shops are so damn hard to come by!

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[pure&simple]

You're probably right - in the end, people are more important than equipment. I am fortunate to have found a shop near me that has both.

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[flash]

i may finally have found a decent shop fairly close - i had one when i was up in los angeles, but here in orange county i have been drawing a blank



i hope to get rid of some more rear negative camber in the next round - i'm currently stuck at -1.7 and that's just too much

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[bombfactory]

Got the car back from the alignment shop last night and took a test drive down to Flash's to deliver some parts. Still have some fiddling to do with the Koni shocks, but the car has been transformed! It rides so much smoother, turns effortlessly, tramlines less. It's feeling like I always knew this car should feel. Still have to get into some curves - they're hard to come by in socal, seriously - and get a feel for the handling, but so far I am a happy boy.



I noticed a slight pull to the left while I was on the freeway, so it's going back for an adjustment today. But I can now say I highly recommend Dave's Frame & Alignment in Huntington Beach. They know their stuff. Talk to Dale.

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[flash]

yeah - when you back off those rear shocks, you'll be a lot happier



if it's only a slight pull, i'd wait until you change your tires to make any alignment adjustments - it could easily be a wear pattern issue, and you would only have to go back in again when you change them

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