Anyway, does anyone have a suggestion for a place to go for an alignment?
Also, the Monroe struts are stupid. I should’ve bought the Tokico’s. The Monroes don’t come with the top perch/hat part of the strut, so I have to reuse the old stuff and that means I have to use the spring compressor on all the old struts and springs. If you read my post in the thread below http://www.n-e-c-c.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1419&highlight=#1419, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to use the spring compressors 8 times.
Also, can anyone answer my question in the first link above concerning the hole in the strut for the top 17mm mounting bolt that goes through the knuckle. I took pictures of the hole so you know what I mean. Is the purpose of the slotted style hole intended for an alignment shop to adjust camber? How do u think I should locate the bolt within the slot? I need a good alignment shop that will understand my needs
IF it is anything like the 240’s suspension, you can get both those bolts in first, tighten them up a bit, and then just adjust the camber as needed by just pushing in or out the strut and then sinching in the nut/bolt. Hard to explain on the internet.
Did you mark all your parts and locations and positions of things as you took them off? If not, you should have, then you could set that camber exactly as it was before. No biggie, just put everything back together and take it to the alignment shop.
Now that I have to resort to drilling out the bolt, does anyone have extra camber bolts for sale? I assume they’re practically universal and I might need them for that slotted style top bolt hole anyway…
Thanks, but I just realized how camber bolts work and since my top bolt hole is slotted style I should just use stock bolts.
Since the camber bolts are slightly thinner with the lobe sticking out in a section, I’d rather not use them because I’m sure I’d just get even more water, debris, and rust inside the knuckle than I have now with the thicker bolt. I foresee another frozen bolt if I use the camber bolts. Any ideas on preventing the bolt from rusting into the knuckle in the future? I was thinking cleaning the knuckle and bolt of course, maybe using a paper washer to cover the hole, maybe lots of white lithium grease or anti-sieze compound…
You’re on the right track. I would setup the suspension with MAX negative camber, but alignment will depend on car’s usage. Keep 0 mm toe. A little grease on the bolts, none on the threads should be safe.
Yay!!! I’m finally done installing my struts and lowering springs. That means I can make it to the meet today.
I hate rust so much! If it weren’t for rust I could’ve been done like a week ago. Check my updated thread to see why I hate rust: http://www.altimas.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=156581
Do you guys here also have as much trouble with rust as I do?
Anyway, does anyone have a suggestion for a place to go for an alignment?
Also, the Monroe struts are stupid. I should’ve bought the Tokico’s. The Monroes don’t come with the top perch/hat part of the strut, so I have to reuse the old stuff and that means I have to use the spring compressor on all the old struts and springs. If you read my post in the thread below http://www.n-e-c-c.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1419&highlight=#1419, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to use the spring compressors 8 times.
Also, can anyone answer my question in the first link above concerning the hole in the strut for the top 17mm mounting bolt that goes through the knuckle. I took pictures of the hole so you know what I mean. Is the purpose of the slotted style hole intended for an alignment shop to adjust camber? How do u think I should locate the bolt within the slot? I need a good alignment shop that will understand my needs
IF it is anything like the 240’s suspension, you can get both those bolts in first, tighten them up a bit, and then just adjust the camber as needed by just pushing in or out the strut and then sinching in the nut/bolt. Hard to explain on the internet.
Did you mark all your parts and locations and positions of things as you took them off? If not, you should have, then you could set that camber exactly as it was before. No biggie, just put everything back together and take it to the alignment shop.
Now that I have to resort to drilling out the bolt, does anyone have extra camber bolts for sale? I assume they’re practically universal and I might need them for that slotted style top bolt hole anyway…
Thanks, but I just realized how camber bolts work and since my top bolt hole is slotted style I should just use stock bolts.
Since the camber bolts are slightly thinner with the lobe sticking out in a section, I’d rather not use them because I’m sure I’d just get even more water, debris, and rust inside the knuckle than I have now with the thicker bolt. I foresee another frozen bolt if I use the camber bolts. Any ideas on preventing the bolt from rusting into the knuckle in the future? I was thinking cleaning the knuckle and bolt of course, maybe using a paper washer to cover the hole, maybe lots of white lithium grease or anti-sieze compound…
You’re on the right track. I would setup the suspension with MAX negative camber, but alignment will depend on car’s usage. Keep 0 mm toe. A little grease on the bolts, none on the threads should be safe.
Yay!!! I’m finally done installing my struts and lowering springs. That means I can make it to the meet today.
I hate rust so much! If it weren’t for rust I could’ve been done like a week ago. Check my updated thread to see why I hate rust: http://www.altimas.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=156581
Do you guys here also have as much trouble with rust as I do?
Not true. You want an alignment done everytime you screw around with angles, especially a tire wearing angle such as camber. The Mcpherson Strut (The set up in the 240SX’s, Altimas, pretty much on most modern cars as well) is a simple set up. However, I did an alignment on an Altima and it told me the camber wasn’t adjustable, only toe. But I did my best to get it as close as possible for the guy. But anyways, some manfacturers have taken this into consideration with the Mcpherson Strut and made it none adjustable, but there are ways if your really picky.
Not true. You want an alignment done everytime you screw around with angles, especially a tire wearing angle such as camber. The Mcpherson Strut (The set up in the 240SX’s, Altimas, pretty much on most modern cars as well) is a simple set up. However, I did an alignment on an Altima and it told me the camber wasn’t adjustable, only toe. But I did my best to get it as close as possible for the guy. But anyways, some manfacturers have taken this into consideration with the Mcpherson Strut and made it none adjustable, but there are ways if your really picky.[/quote]
Actually abnormal tire wear is usually due to Toe not camber. And the struts that he installed are monroe which have slotted hole to allow for camber adjustment. if you dont get monroe struts then just get some eccentric bolts and voila camber adjustment.
Actually abnormal tire wear is usually due to Toe not camber.[/quote]
Toe and camber are both tire wearing angles. Camber will wear tire just as fast as any other tire wearing angle. Excessive negative camber (inward tilt of the tire as viewed from the front) will cause excessive wear on the inside edge of the tire. Excessive positive camber (Outward tilt of the tire as viewed from the front) will cause tire wearing on the outside edge of the tire.
Toe will give you different wear indications though. Excessive negative toe (outward facing as viewed from the top) will cause feathering of the tire. These “feathers” feel like ridges or needle type feel when you rub your hand across it back and forth. Excessive postive toe (inward facing as viewed from the top) has the exact same effect BUT the “feathering” is facing the opposite way.
Both are live working, tire wearing angles. Both are important for the life of your tire. Caster is not a tire wearing angle.
