Alignment Kits

[robert 'bob' paulson]

i tried to get an alignment today and the guy told me that it was so bad that the machine couldn't even see the rear end. he gave me a quote of over $700 for some mystery parts that would make it possible to bring my camber back. that included installation, but the parts were $120 per corner. i've learned over the years to not pay much attention to what mechanics tell me, so i didn't catch exactly what the gold plated parts were.
online, i've found an Eibach Pro-Alignment Kit. would getting these make it possible to not have to replace tires twice a year on the front end? and if so, how many sets should i order? i also found Eibach Alignment Kits, would those be better? or do i just have to suck it up, replace tires often, or just swap back to stock springs?

[DOHCRT]

The bottom bolt hole on the struts can be slotted for free. This will give all 4 wheels camber adjustment. That is how camber is adjusted on neons equipped with Koni struts (Koni slots them). You can do this yourself for nothing or pay a shop to do it with an alignment. The Eibach camber kit works on the same principal, only it uses eccentric bolts instead of the slotted hole. Toe is adjustable at all for wheels from the factory.

It sounds like the tech who tried to align your car has no clue what he is doing. You should take it somewhere else.

BTW, I bought a cheap $50 strut for my beater that had a slotted hole.

On a side note, I run 1.25 degrees of negative camber on the front and have no uneven tire wear. Toe is the major tire-wearing angle.

[Lackof]

yah def. do not go to him.
You can buy small sensors that tell you what your camber is set at.
Helsp with people that do it own on alignments.
I wil be probably buying me a set here soon.
I doubt that your rear end is so bad the machine couldn't see it.
Camber is only adjustable if you have a camber kit (bolts) or aftermarket struts that allow for adjustments (slotted).
I also doubt your toe (the only setting adjustable from the factory) was so far out or in that the machine couldn't see it. (if so you would feel terrible pull to one side or another and you would see it on your tires A LOTTTT)
Camber won't wear tires down that much if at all.
It improves your contact patch in turns.
It can scuff the tires to an angle, but it takes a long time for that to happen by any means.
And i know your caster isn't out of whack because that's not adjustable at all on our cars.

I just recently got my konis and mopars aligned the other day after going to 4 different shops.
It cost me 199.99 to get it done.
I first had sears do it and they FUCKED my settings up and stripped my right front camber bolts so i got that for free.
Went to a couple more one said they wouldn't do it cause it's to low (stupid considering it's only 1 inch lower than a stock neon )

Finally got tire barn to get me one on tuesday and give me a free camber bolt with it since sears fucked mine up.
I wanted him to set it at ...
Front - -2 camber 1/16th toe in (.06 toe)
Rear - -1 camber 1/16th toe in (.06 toe)

Here is close as he could get it after and hour or so.
Front Left - -2.1 camber .06 toe in
Front right - -1.8 camber .07 toe in
Back left - -1.1 camber .06 toe in
Back right - -1.2 camber .01 toe

Close enough to what i wanted so i said hell with it ... al ot better then what sears had mine set at
-.5 camber on fronts and .15 toe in and rear at -2.5 camber and .15 toe in.

SCREW THAT and stripped my bolts.
Hell if i'll pay them for making my alignment worse than when i went in there for.

[robert 'bob' paulson]

yeah, i didn't go to the place i usually take my cars for alignments. the wife made the phone call after i called the usual place and they told me it would be a week from Thursday to get in. (that was Monday, 10 days was too long of a wait for her) i don't know about slotting the struts, that would mean i have to take them all the way off and i also wouldn't know how far to go. i'll probably just call my usual place in the morning and see how long until i can get in now. i'll see what they say, and if they tell me something close to what the other guys told me, i'll just pick up the bolts. either way, i gotta do some reading up on suspensions.

Ryan, the guy also mentioned that my car was pretty low and that he had a hard time getting it on the lift. i knew some of his story was BS but i knew that part was true. when i had the 2.5" exhaust welded up, two guys had to lift up on the front end to get it on their lift. if i remember correctly, i'm 1.75" in the front and just a hair under 2" in the back lower. there are two places i would never take a car of mine to be worked on. Sears and Firestone.

[BlueR/T]

isn't the Nitto NEO-Gen designed for cars with negative camber, there are a few other tires out that are designed for this as well, you could just get a set of those

[Lackof]

i'll see what they say, and if they tell me something close to what the other guys told me, i'll just pick up the bolts. either way, i gotta do some reading up on suspensions.

Ryan, the guy also mentioned that my car was pretty low and that he had a hard time getting it on the lift. i knew some of his story was BS but i knew that part was true. when i had the 2.5" exhaust welded up, two guys had to lift up on the front end to get it on their lift. if i remember correctly, i'm 1.75" in the front and just a hair under 2" in the back lower. there are two places i would never take a car of mine to be worked on. Sears and Firestone.

If you need any help you got my aim hit me up.

About it being to low; it's a good possibility yours is.
The difference in what you have to look for is if the person you're taking it to has a drive on lift or a lift with ramps.
If they have ramps they more than likely will turn you down.
But don't let them turn you down without trying to get it up there.
That was my mistake i settled for the guy to just glance at my car from the door from the side and he said no.
Just ask him nicely to please try and see if you can.

[infil]

where in the hell is elmira heights lol, if your not on the other end of the state bring it to me, i'll do it

[robert 'bob' paulson]

where in the hell is elmira heights lol, if your not on the other end of the state bring it to me, i'll do it

never heard of google kiddo?
i'm about 30 minutes south of Watkins Glen, you might have heard of that. they've got Watkins Glen International, a road coarse. sadly, they don't have a drag strip and when i mentioned to the president of WGI about the need for one, he looked at me like i was raping Mother Theresa's corpse.

if you've never heard of there, i'm about two hours south from both Syracuse and Rochester. to make a short story longer, i'm about 4.5 hours away from you. bringing it to you might be a little extreme.

[infil]

yeah, you said watkins glen, knew whereya were hehe. Damn, i think i paid like 30 bucks retail for my alignment kits....in colorado didn't have an alignment rack in my shop and the idiot that aligned it insisted that my struts were not camber adjustable and the big slot in the lower bolthole was a manufacturing error...after he got it aligned i just replaced the crash bolts with stockers....problem solved lol.

[hotrod]

I know this Is an old thread, but I need a questioned answered about Camber Adjustment.
My car is stock ride height, I have two front KYB GR2 Slotted Struts,
my question do I need to buy a Camber Kit since the Struts are already slotted? and will it even benifitt my cars camber adjustment? Reason I ask Is because, two sets of my front tires went bald In less than a month, after lifting my car back to oem ride height, from lowered height with oem springs.
I dont want to pay a shop 65$ If I can do It myself, If you know what I mean.