OK I think I have a serious alignment problem - Suspension and Brake Forum

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OK I think I have a serious alignment problem
Thursday, March 10, 2005 1:41 PM
Summer 2003, I got ground controls and koni reds. They're sweet. After I got them on, I had the car aligned and everything went great. Front camber was off so i got a camber kit and it fixed it. Rear toe was never a problem. My car was never in an accident.

Yesterday, I had two new front tires put in, and I felt that I went through them really fast (20,000 or so miles) so today I had my alignment done again. Well, in April 2004, I had shims installed in the rear because supposedly the toe was so out of whack from a 1.7" ish drop. SO whatever, I paid for it. no big deal. Back to the story, I had my alignment done today and my front end is perfect. However my rear end is like this:

LR + .1deg camber = bad
LR +.16 deg toe = good
RR -.5 deg camber = good
RR -.18 deg toe = bad

Total toe = -.03 degrees = bad
Thrust angle = .17 degrees = good

The shop that I trust with my alignments did this alignment, and they told me that the rear could not be adjusted because of the shims. So now I'm thinking, why the hell would I need shims anyways? Solid rear end (terminology is wrong I believe)? I went over to the shop that installed my shims, and I asked them how much it would cost to re-align my rear end? The same price that it cost to put them in. So I am looking at a $200 alignment every time I adjust my coilovers for Winter/Summer?

I'm going to try to get my money back for the shims and have them removed. I only had them installed because my father knew the place, and he said they would do a good job. Now I need some input whether my car even needed the shims or not. If its really going to cost me $400 in alignments every year, I'm going to sell my car because that is rediculous. BTW, the rear coilovers are set at their setting on the sleeve with those measurements.



Vice President - NEJBody
2007 Cobalt SS
2001 Sunfire (retired)

Re: OK I think I have a serious alignment problem
Thursday, March 10, 2005 9:22 PM
man all you need is a camber kit for the front (bolts) and EZ-shim rear shims they correct camber and toe with one shim and you don't need to realign the car every time you adjust from winter mode to summer.
What tires are you running? and do you rotate them?



see ya!

Re: OK I think I have a serious alignment problem
Friday, March 11, 2005 6:38 AM
First of all, you do not need an alignment every time you adjust your coilovers. The coilovers adjust the suspension geometry in a strictly linear manner and will not bring you out of spec if you're adjusting within drivable ranges.

Secondly, you do not need any alignment adjustment in the back, ever, unless something is damaged. Regardless of how much you lower or raise it, the rear suspension moves up and down in an arc that has no range of movement whatsoever in the side-to-side realm affecting either camber or toe.

So unless there was damage to the axle, there should be no shims. If there are shims, they should never need adjusting unless you get further damage or something. They should not have anything at all with your lowering.







Re: OK I think I have a serious alignment problem
Friday, March 11, 2005 7:54 AM
is there anywhere i can get proof for that? Any kind of reputable source I can look up, possibly a book? I told the guy that on our cars there shouldnt be a need for shims, but whatever, he managed to convince me last year. And if I look at the alignment reading, the camber and toe is off in the rear by those degree increments. Would removing the shims bring my rear end back into alignment? If so, Sullivan Tire will be in small claims court My dad already beat them when he brought his Tahoe in there...they messed up the brakes royally.



Vice President - NEJBody
2007 Cobalt SS
2001 Sunfire (retired)
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