Volhv_944

Attempted aligning the rear wheels on my 86 NA, but could not get the toe to spec. adjusted it in the maximum toed in position, yet I am still toed out 0.4 degrees per side.The bushings, while original, look to be in decent shape.

Would an improperly set ride height be the issue?
Don't have any pictures of the car from the side, but these might do.
Does the rear look unusually high?


What's the best way to measure ride height?

Speed Metal 951

She looks awful high! You could hit the logging roads if need be!

Volhv_944

I guess I could since I'm just outside Mission BC. There's a logging road just minutes away!

So... how high should my rear end be? where do I measure from?

Van

It looks like you still have some room in those slots... And, to achieve toe-in, you want them at the front-most position in the slots.

Volhv_944

I do have them all the way in the front position, but I did not when I took the picture.

Volhv_944

Anyone.... anyone?
Damn. My tires are getting pretty worn.

V2Rocket

The thing with the torsion-bar suspension is that as it cycles up and down (or is set to different ride heights) everything about the alignment changes because of the bushings and how its all put together. Are you at stock ride height, or lowered, or raised?

Volhv_944

I honestly don't know what my ride height should be. The front is all stock on Sachs struts with steel control arms. In the rear all I did was max out toe in, and changed the shocks to Bilsteins.
What's a good way to measure ride height? Will have to do this in a parking lot, since my yard is gravel and dirt...

V2Rocket

measure across the center of the wheel, ground to middle of wheel opening

Elephant Chuck

The spring plate bushings may look okay, but on an 86 they are toast. That may not be related to the toe issue though.

What is your camber set at? Aggressive camber will limit your toe range.

You can elongate those slotted holes for a bit more range. If you want to test this before committing, temporarily replace that M12 bolt with M10 to simulate added range.

kev951

would an improperly set ride height be an issue. ... yes

Volhv_944

Measured the heights.
The rear is 1/2 inch higher on both sides compared to the front.
Also the right (driver) side is 1/4 in higher than the left, on both front and back.
Is that to compensate for the weight of the driver?

Here are the measurements:
Left Rear: 26 1/8
Left Front: 25 5/8
Right Rear: 25 7/8
Right Front: 25 3/8

I'm on stock 215/60/15 Fuchs.

Hopefully Lowering my rear end will brink my toe in to spec. If not, I may just have to elongate those holes to achieve proper toe.

As far as Camber, it was within factory spec.

kev951

left side is most of the time 1/8 to a 1/4 " higher for driver weight compensation.

Speed Metal 951

So that was me! Nice talking today!

turboS_swede

I would set the ride height to be fairly even front/rear when measured at the frame rails under the car. So you need to come down an inch or so it looks like.

If you need to reindex the torsion bars to accomplish this, you can follow these instructions:

http://944spec.org/944SPEC/technical...ar-re-indexing

It makes the job much easier and using it I was able to get mine correct on the first try when I upgraded to larger torsion bars.