whats the best place that doesn’t charge up the ass for an alignment.
i need my car aligned because im instaling coilovers this week.
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In order to fully benefit from coilovers you have to get the car cornerweighted. Phone Als Auto i hear they get their race car corner weighted all the time. Then get an alignment.
dude its a street car
If your car is lowered, jsut make sure the place can handle the lowered car.
Fastec Tires on the south or hi-tech allignment on the north can handle lowered cars.
also you may want to look at a similar topic we discused awhile ago regarding corner scales.
http://www.n-e-c-c.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=906
Let me know if i can help as some allignment shops will only set things to stock specs unless you request otherwise. I have a few i deal with that will set them to my predetermined specs for your cars particular setup.
- Neil.
Or… you could just point them to the person(s) you recommend and let them give their own specs to the alignment tech.
Or… you could just point them to the person(s) you recommend and let them give their own specs to the alignment tech.[/quote]
That would just be to simple. :lol:
Or… you could just point them to the person(s) you recommend and let them give their own specs to the alignment tech.[/quote]
Because everyone KNOWS what specs their car should be at? Or what they want it at? I think not. :huh:
I’d rather have someone who knows that they are talking about to show me the way, or just do it for me. Or, do some research on it and then do it myself. But may people won’t do that.
The machine tells you what the stock settings should be at.
Yes it does. And that means absolute squat to someone who knows nothing about those numbers or what they mean.
Yes it does. And that means absolute squat to someone who knows nothing about those numbers or what they mean.[/quote]
What are you trying to align your car at home with a ruler or something?? If you take your car to an alignment shop they will set everything to the factory specs. If you know about Toe Caster Camber than you could probably get them to set it to your specs.
Aaron, are you telling me you DON’T know what alignment specs you’d want on your car? :huh Its not rocket science. I would’ve thought most enthusiasts DO do the research and know exactly what they want before they step into the alignment shop.
I will gladly admit that I wouldn’t have a clue what you are talking about if you told me about some alignment spec numbers. I know it’s not rocket science, absolutely nothing on the car is. I just don’t know anything about suspension and/or numbers.
Where this topic started from, was that Neil suggested that with a cars particular setup (i.e. lowered), then your stock numbers mean nothing, and that if they wanted some information ask him and he’ll give it to you, so that you could go to a shop and tell them what those numbers may be. I’m also saying that not many people do know about these numbers. Jason, you may know, but I’m willing to bet 95% of people out there do not.
Yes it does. And that means absolute squat to someone who knows nothing about those numbers or what they mean.[/quote]
What are you trying to align your car at home with a ruler or something?? If you take your car to an alignment shop they will set everything to the factory specs. If you know about Toe Caster Camber than you could probably get them to set it to your specs.[/quote]
No, not at home. But if your car is lowered, your stock specs mean dick. The alignment shop (unless they know better) will just set them to stock, which will be off now, and send you on your way.
If you know about the Toe, Caster, and Camber numbers, then they wouldn’t need to know this shit. But for those that don’t, like Neil said, can ask him for numbers for those that have aftermarket whatever on their suspension.
Wow, someone offers help, and two people say to do it on their own, or skip the person helping… Go figure. 
the specs suggested by whiteline for S13 are a good to go with.
What you just said is not exactly true. Here’s an example: Camber is camber… no matter what your ride height is. Yes when you lower a car the suspension geometry changes, but the basic principles of camber, caster and toe all still apply. The settings may have to be different relative to each other after lowering, but if you are doing the same kind of driving you are still targeting for the same approximate numbers as before. Where you may have the impression that factory specs no longer applies: Nissans tend not to be very adjustable from the factory. Z32s definately aren’t, 240SXs are probably similar. If you lower a Z32, you often can’t GET back to factory specs on camber… UNLESS you add adjustable arms to your suspension. Then you can get back to within factory camber specs. -1.5 camber is -1.5 camber. The alignment rack doesn’t care what springs you have on the car. You’re only limited by the range of adjustability you currently have on your car. That’s one example.
Wow, someone offers help, and two people say to do it on their own, or skip the person helping… Go figure.
Umm… look at the author’s original post at the top of page 1. All he asked was WHERE to go for an alignment (that wasn’t too expensive). He DIDN’T say “I know nothing about my alignment specs or how I want to set up my car, please HELP!”.
Neil’s post was helpful, absolutely. I was just pointing out he didn’t leave someone the open-ended option of providing their own specs. It sounded like he was implying you should use HIS specs. That’s all I was getting at.
The problem here boys is that most allignment shops do not spend the time and effort to optimize specs for a specific application. I just assumed that people who spend $1000+ on coilover suspension would want to achieve this and was offering to help them achieve this. Camber, caster, toe can be manipulated to do many different things. Lowering, rim size/offest, tire width and compound, roll center and bump steer are all factors that need special attention. also it is important to be clear about how you intend to use your car.
And, I did refer allignment shops that i think are capible.
If you guys think it is that easy you should be posting up your sugested specs for this guy.
I though i was offering my experience in this area if he is unsure of what to do or does not have the time to research it for himself. I did not think i was taking away his “open minded option of providing his own specs”. I don’t control allignment shops i thought that it would be OBVIOUS to people that - You don’t HAVE to take my advise or anyone elses.
The settings may have to be different relative to each other after lowering, but if you are doing the same kind of driving you are still targeting for the same approximate numbers as before.
This is not necessarily true because the “before numbers” and especially factory specs change the suspensions reactions to driver inputs and thus, the driving experience changes with suspension changes even if the drivers style does not. So you would usually want to alter your “before settings” significatly for this reason. and isn’t the point of an “adjustable suspension” like coilovers to alter the settings to improve vehicle reactions.
Sorry Neil. My bad…