Alignment Question
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From: Travelin' Man
Alignment Question
Hi. I am getting ready to get my car aligned. I searched and read all about not lifting it up. My question is this. The specs from the factory for the alignment is at stock ride height. If I were to change that height, would the numbers change? Would the operator of the alignment machine automatically know to compensate for this? Thanks.
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From: saratoga, ca
the alignment will change slightly if the ride hight changes. generally, a little more tow and camber as the car is lowered. the toe is usually the issue. otherwise, the same settings are used regardless of ride hight. (generally)
mk
mk
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From: Bend, Oregon
McLovin--
Just to be clear on what Mark suggests, just have the alignment guy use the stoock settings. The car will change toe in towards toe out if the car sags from the height at which it is aligned. You may want to measure and record that height when it's aligned, and keep an eye on that height to see if it droops much. If it does droop, either raise it back to the at-alignment height, or get the car aligned again at the new height. A change of 10mm is probably a good limit if you start at original height (170-180 actual). As the car sags from that original measurement, the toe will change more for any given change in height, so by the time you down to 160, you should be sensitive to changes in the 6mm range I'll guess. As you go lower than that the car becomes even more sensitive to height changes.
Just to be clear on what Mark suggests, just have the alignment guy use the stoock settings. The car will change toe in towards toe out if the car sags from the height at which it is aligned. You may want to measure and record that height when it's aligned, and keep an eye on that height to see if it droops much. If it does droop, either raise it back to the at-alignment height, or get the car aligned again at the new height. A change of 10mm is probably a good limit if you start at original height (170-180 actual). As the car sags from that original measurement, the toe will change more for any given change in height, so by the time you down to 160, you should be sensitive to changes in the 6mm range I'll guess. As you go lower than that the car becomes even more sensitive to height changes.
