Allignment Issues... What to do???
#1
Racer
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The story begins one month ago...
I swapped the old phonies with the PO for the two piece five spoke rims that are on the car now. The phonies were from an earlier car and were the wrong offset which when turning or going over bumps would cause the tires to rub the fenders.
Swap Successful!
What we notice when we removed the old wheels was that on the front there was massive wear to the inside of the tire... to much negative camber. An allignment was now a must do... but the PO had done an alignment just 6 months before and was not happy to see the condition of the tires that I had just returned to him... blaming me for hitting something. But the wear was identical on both sides.
A day later (so i wouldn't ruin these tires) I went for an allignment. $70 later and I was out the door with only a hint from the mechanic that new eccentric bolts might be needed next time. I didn't feel too worried.
Fast foward to one week ago...
I was doing an oil change and looking over the car as general preventative maitenence and I notice that my right front tire had worn poorly on the inside... too much negative camber. The driver side looked OK, but had some of the same wear issues just not as bad.
Today,
After 2 reschedules I make it in for a new alignment that was under warrenty. 1 hour later the mechanic comes to me and says "Hey, I need to show you something on your Porsche."
As he brought me over to the rack he showed me the screen, explaned what everything was and then we proceeded under the car.
The problem...
Too much negative camber and the eccentric bolts were maxed out! The alignment was at -2.0 camber! How can this be?!?
The car does have bilstein struts and springs up front curtosy of the PO. I also have Koni adjustable rears bought by me myself and I. The car was lowered in the rear by the PO's PO and then her added the lowering suspension up front to even things out... I think this lowered the car 1.5-2.0 Inches. The mechanic also stated that the eccentric bolts looked pretty small already and does not know what to do to help with the situation...
What can i do to fix the camber when the eccentric bolts are already maxxed out? I don't know if I can get smaller bolts to make room for more adjustment because they are pretty small already...
HELP!
I swapped the old phonies with the PO for the two piece five spoke rims that are on the car now. The phonies were from an earlier car and were the wrong offset which when turning or going over bumps would cause the tires to rub the fenders.
Swap Successful!
What we notice when we removed the old wheels was that on the front there was massive wear to the inside of the tire... to much negative camber. An allignment was now a must do... but the PO had done an alignment just 6 months before and was not happy to see the condition of the tires that I had just returned to him... blaming me for hitting something. But the wear was identical on both sides.
A day later (so i wouldn't ruin these tires) I went for an allignment. $70 later and I was out the door with only a hint from the mechanic that new eccentric bolts might be needed next time. I didn't feel too worried.
Fast foward to one week ago...
I was doing an oil change and looking over the car as general preventative maitenence and I notice that my right front tire had worn poorly on the inside... too much negative camber. The driver side looked OK, but had some of the same wear issues just not as bad.
Today,
After 2 reschedules I make it in for a new alignment that was under warrenty. 1 hour later the mechanic comes to me and says "Hey, I need to show you something on your Porsche."
As he brought me over to the rack he showed me the screen, explaned what everything was and then we proceeded under the car.
The problem...
Too much negative camber and the eccentric bolts were maxed out! The alignment was at -2.0 camber! How can this be?!?
The car does have bilstein struts and springs up front curtosy of the PO. I also have Koni adjustable rears bought by me myself and I. The car was lowered in the rear by the PO's PO and then her added the lowering suspension up front to even things out... I think this lowered the car 1.5-2.0 Inches. The mechanic also stated that the eccentric bolts looked pretty small already and does not know what to do to help with the situation...
What can i do to fix the camber when the eccentric bolts are already maxxed out? I don't know if I can get smaller bolts to make room for more adjustment because they are pretty small already...
HELP!
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#3
Racer
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I can't believe I didn't think of that while I was there...
Why wouldn't the mechanic notice that? What specs are you running?
Anyone else have certain specs that work for a setup similar to mine?
THANKS!
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Why wouldn't the mechanic notice that? What specs are you running?
Anyone else have certain specs that work for a setup similar to mine?
THANKS!
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#4
Nordschleife Master
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-2 is a little agressive for street, but wear should not be too bad, I'd be more suspicious of toe in (but the shop should have set this correctly). Do you have alignment specs from the shop?
Adjustable camber plates will help you get back to less negative camber.
Adjustable camber plates will help you get back to less negative camber.
#5
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Still, the car should do less (closer to 0) camber than that stock. My brother could hit -2.8 with mine on a stock suspension (he was messing with it to see what he could do). Could you see anything that looked bent (tie rods) or can you jack up the front and see the inner tie rod end moving when you push the tire to the inside? Blown/bent tie rods can cause a huge mess of trouble.
#7
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I think I'm gonna have to take it to a dedicated alignment shop. The shop I went to originally was a local sears recommended by the PO... I am ashamed and embarassed!
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#8
Burning Brakes
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I let a Firestone do mine and got the lifetime warranty on it. That said however, I stood next to the mechanic and helped him do the whole thing so I know its right, and I also broght him the tool to do the rear alignment, as Firestone did not own one. It took him awhile but I helped, and we eventually got everything reading to spec. It cost me like $100, and now I can get my tires re-balanced an infinite # of times and I can change my suspension settings and infinite # of times - for free.
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#9
Burning Brakes
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I have the Firestone lifetime alignment on mine, too. They didn't know how to do the back though. What is the special tool that is needed? I've heard before that there is one, but I haven't been able to find it.
#10
Burning Brakes
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Ahh I have the Porsche tool #- ill post it tomorrow - but if you walk into the dealership and ask them to order you the tool to adjust the toe/camber on the back of the 944/968 they will know what you are talking about and it only costs 20 bucks. Usually takes a couple days for it to ship in.