Spiffyjiff

i have to drop my passenger shock tower in order to change the top hat...will i need a new alignment? i cant remember if i have to loosen the eccentrics and/or the toe links. (or maybe i dont have to drop it so much where i need to clear the fender, maybe i can get the hat off while the assemby is simply pulled out into the wheel well? thus no need for any other loosening or clearance adjustments?)

thanks

utkinpol

up to you. usual approach if you want to avoid re-alignment is to use paint and mark all positions of nuts and bolts with crossmarks prior to undoing them.

Tito_gsx

For peace of mind i would realign....anyone know how often we should as part of routine maintenance?

Edgy01

I routinely go with a full alignment when I change out 4 tires. (Since I replace rears 2:1 fronts that's not that often).

Macster

There's no recommended alignment schedule.

As needed I think pretty much covers it.

Generally a new car comes with a mediocre alignment. But if the buyer doesn't complain that's that.

One trick is with a new car complain about the alignment and if the service manager objects to having the alignment done under warranty (generally alignment is not covered under new car warranty but is covered for say 90 days after you buy the car) offer to pay for the alignment if the current proves to require no adjustment. Odds are you'll get the alignment for free...

Even assuming the alignment is ok, I've been advised to have one done at some miles to account for the springs settling some, bushings taking a set, etc.

Some miles? How many is some miles? Well, if tire wear is ok, even and showing no signs of any alignment issues, a good time would be when all 4 tires are replaced which could be at in some cases around 40K miles. For some owners this can be a long time coming.

However, unless the car was aligned as part of the purchase agreement or you know the alignment to be good, at the end of break in might be a good time.

Get the oil/filter changed, and the car aligned. This gives a tech a chance to get up close and personal with the car and perhaps spot any leaks or other issues that can arise with a new car. Sure, the odds are slim there'll be anything wrong but at least you know.

'course how often to have the car aligned depends upon how the car is treated, driven.

I'm careful to avoid pulling too far into a parking space and running one or both front tires (or rear tires if I back into a space and I seldom do this) up against a curb stone or sidewalk curb. (I misjudged my parking on a road trip and bumped the front tires of my Turbo against a low sidewalk edge at a motel. This resulted in after a few hundred miles had the car making what I thought was a wheel bearing noise. What it turned out to be was noise from the front tires scuffing some. The tech spotted signs of tire scuffing (after I was told about it I felt the tires and could feel it too) and I was told this was from the front toe being out. That damn nudge into the curb was to blame, cause I can drive my cars through a set or more of tires with no alignment issues.)

Anyhow, also when I pull into or out of a driveway I'm careful to avoid cutting the corner to sharp and running one or both tires on one side up over or down a curb. This places a huge and sudden side loading on the car's suspension which can have the adjustment off a bit.

And it doesn't take much toe change (for example) to really increase tire wear.

Sincerely,

Macster.

San Rensho

Another trick for long tire life is to rotate the rears. Since the rears have so much negative camber, they will wear out on the insides first. Keep an eye on the wear on the inside of the tires. Once you see noticeable wear, have the tires dismounted and remounted on the other side. You will get many more miles out of the rears doing this. Note-it only works with directional tires, if you have assymetrics, you are out of luck.

aaks38

As someone else stated if you use paint marks on the plates relative to the chassis, you should be ok. If you remove the entire strut or toe links, youll have to align as there is far more slop in the bushings and mounting holes.

I would not align the car unless absolutely needed, reality is even the best technicians have a hard time centering the wheel and aligning it to the precision the factory does.

Alan C.

I've taken a single shock off in the past and not had the car aligned. If you move any of the eccentrics getting the shock off then I would get it aligned. Also, as noted if you have never had the car aligned it wouldn't be a bad idea to get one done.

Q8drill

I replaced all my shocks on my 1996 Targa, I installed Bilstein B8 shocks with stock springs, I'm sure that i need to align the front and rear suspension, Is there a basic way to do it, I will have to visit alignment shop but i need to know the basics, The rea suspension looks complicated, Is there a thread explaining how the camper and caster to be adjusted.

Cheers
Ahmad

Macster

Send me a private email with your email address to which I can send as an attachment a PDF document (1631Kb in size) which covers the alignment process to some level.

You'll still I believe have to have this done by some shop that has the right tools, equipment, know how but at least you'll know what's involved to some degree.

floatingkiwi

Any chance you can send that to me as well?

Cheers

Matt

Macster

If you'll send me a private email with your email address that will accept a PDF file as an attachment I'll send what I have.