Camber Adjustments

[todd4566]

Last weekend I finished up my spring install, which lowered the car approx 1" all around. Knowing I needed an allignment, I took my car to the same shop that alligned my slammed 00'Gt twice equipped with the stock CC plates; the GT was brought to something like -1.1 & -1.3. So after being quoted $69 for a thrust allignment, I went over to that same shop. Long story short:
Shop guy: "Well can you leave the car here all day? It's going to take until around 6pm to get it done, and even that is pushing it."
Me: Um..
Shop guy:" ..$450 with all the labor."
Me: "Riiight.. BYE."

*The invoice listed a four wheel allignment, and three lines of misc labor. Pathetic! I made it clear a four wheel is not possible, and I don't want my towers slotted when no measurements have even been taken yet.

***Skip to here if you want to offer help w/o reading the BS***

I'm thinking of trying out a driveway allignment per an article I found on the corral. With the car on the ground, I just remove the rivets, loosen the three CC bolts, and I can make adjustments? Do you have to 'fight' with the struts pressure at all during this? I intend on marking the current plate position, and just moving the plate a little outward to remove some camber from each side. I will probably end up letting the local Ford dealer do the job, but I thought I'd try to fix the camber and give myself more time to by struts or something.

 

[GDawg]

I have MM C/C plates but that being said, it's real easy to push the struts around. I take my lowered car to Brakes Plus which does an alignment for me for $35 with a computer printout of the before and after. I think you can do a driveway alignment. There are "How To"s on the internet. Just search. It's not rocket science. And it's not that hard to redo your stock C/C plates.

Btw, I would report that guy to a State Fraud Division. He was trying to rip you off majorly or else he was a real dumb ass... or both.

 

[todd4566]

Thanks. I may even end up just getting CC plates, but for now I would like to just move the stockers outward a tad. Had I known that tire shop intended pull a rape, I would have adjusted the plates when I had the springs/struts out. So just loosen the CC bolts a tad, and the loaded suspension won't fight me too much as I attempt to move the plate outward 3mm or so?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I think you should get MM c/c plates. But I also think you should have it professionally aligned on an expensive machine by skilled technicians.

 

[DTNODYA]

Thanks. I may even end up just getting CC plates, but for now I would like to just move the stockers outward a tad. Had I known that tire shop intended pull a rape, I would have adjusted the plates when I had the springs/struts out. So just loosen the CC bolts a tad, and the loaded suspension won't fight me too much as I attempt to move the plate outward 3mm or so?

I'm in the same boat as you, basically. Once you jack it up and have it on stands, jack the control arm a little bit ... Loosen the two nuts and 1 bolt ("CC Bolts") and drill out the rivets. The strut will move pretty easily .. mine did anyway. I don't have any way of measuring really so for now I just have the tire straight up, visually ... There's no need to put new rivets in, just tighten the nuts to 25-34 ft-lbs. (I am pretty sure).

If you have any info on "driveway alignments" please post em'!! I am tired of people not wanting to align my damn lowered mustang that "can't be aligned" ..

 

[GDawg]

Note: Speak to guys in your local car clubs and they will direct you to "lowered car friendly" alignment places.

Goodyear couldn't align my car after mounting my expensive ass Eagle F1 tires... so I took it to a Brakes Plus where I was recommended and has a General Manager that is a Ponyboy.

 

[SaleenGT2001]

drive way alignments????? there is no way in hell you can set your toe in a driveway. maybe a camber adjustment if you have a magnetic gauge and can load the suspension and get a base reading and go from there. the stock plates on our cars are total crap. i have had problems with stock stangs that wouldnt go into spec with the stock plates. just get a pair of 18mm cam bolts that intsall in place of one of your strut bolts. much easier and cheaper than new plates.but back to the point dont try to do some BS alignment in your driveway. if you did them everyday like i do, you would realize how just a TINY adjustment can make everything all f'ed up. just get it to a shop that knows what the hell they are doing. you CAN NOT do it yourself and make it so it doesnt wear the tires. if you move your strut out to attempt to fix your camber you will in turn mess up the toe, so you are in a lose lose situation. i will recomend M/M plates to anyone. they are by far the best out there.

 

[GitDat]

My front tires are pigeon-toed and causes the tread to wear on the insides. I was about to let Tire Barn align it for $65. Is this a bad idea? lol

 

[todd4566]

If the Corral's Website was working right now I'd post a link.. they have a good writeup on their page illustrating a driveway allignment.

As for me, I will be taking my car to the local Ford dealer Friday for my allignment to get corrected. If getting within the stock specs is not possible, I'll whip out the credit card and buy something.

 

[bdcardinal]

you can get close, but you will definately be fighting the struts unless you have the front lifted up. at my work i have a Hunter DSP400 alignment rack. with that i can freeze the measurements and lift the front of a stang to adjsut camber and caster. i love it when a car comes in with CC plates, especially the MM ones, it makes the job so much easier. i always do a printout with before and after showing the bar graphs. i usually put everything into the stock range, unless a customer requests something different.

 

[Pughman]

i did mine in the drive way with a level and it has not ate my tires with 1200 miles on the lowering.... just jack it up move the plates in tord the motor a tad at a time lower the jack and put the level on the tire, do that till it sits level on the ground...

 

[bullitt_2620]

If the Corral's Website was working right now I'd post a link.. they have a good writeup on their page illustrating a driveway allignment.

As for me, I will be taking my car to the local Ford dealer Friday for my allignment to get corrected. If getting within the stock specs is not possible, I'll whip out the credit card and buy something.

Watch them ford dealers, the local one I took my car to told me that I needed a new head gasket, which was not true, returned it with gross "stuff" god knows what all over my door pannel, and not to mention...THEY SCRATCHED MY CAR!! I hate mechanics..

 

[DTNODYA]

I've been reading some different write ups and it's definitely something I'm going to try out. It seems somewhat time consuming but from what I've been reading, it's possible to get your camber and toe extremely close. I wish I could find a write up for someone that did a Mustang specifically .....