When you look at the front of the car do the tires point toward each other / \ or do they point out \ / I suck at art but I think you get what I am saying..First one would be toed out the second would be toed in....

 

I think I'm toe out.. it's very little though

 

The tire wear can be from both but I'd bet that it is coming from the negative camber from the car being lowered. I bet if you get it aligned it will help tire wear..

 

yeah i know... it was aligned right after I lowered the car... I had them do everything from mount and balance my tires, install camber bolts, alignment.. all in the same day and shop...

is it common for an alignment to go out after it's been done?

It could be the ****ed up streets I've gotta drive on all the time

Jon

 

How long ago was it done?? I suppose if you drive on enough bumpy roads it could throw it off....

 

about a year

 

I know you know this already but if you need new tires are you going to wait to get a alingment when or get one around the time you get tires??? Personally I would get one rigth before or right after so the tires won't be worn ...

 

I've had some strange experience with Island Brake. They told me that they couldn't give me -1.5 camber, the best they could do was 0. The good part, (I guess) is that I've got even tire wear. Toe on my car was set to very near 0 all around. I'm gonna try and go to Pacific soon to get a more agressive alignment. One other factor you might want to look at is tire pressure, too low and you'll get excessive wear on the inner and outer parts of your tire.

 

Pacific Automotive and Performance Center,765 Queen st. Ken Tamashiro, owner. Had my noltec steering rack bushings installed and 4 wheel alignment done for about $130. Been going to Pacific Automotive for all suspension and some brake work for at least 4 years, I'm very satisfied.

 

I vouch for Pacific Automotive also. Ken & crew have aligned all of my cars more than once. Be specific with your requested specs & ask for a printout. They will also align with driver on board if you request. With my 250+ lbs of driver, it makes a difference! LOL!

I also went to Island Brake until they stopped opening on Saturdays. Had a couple of cars done there. Only in one instance did the tech forget to tighten down the rear strut bolts on my Miata. I drove down Kam Highway and felt the rear drop and CLUNK. It didn't fall very far because I was riding on 3 degrees negative camber anyways!

With camber plates, you shouldn't have any problem getting your desired settings...my WRX carried a -1.1, -1.2 front negative with my Cusco set-up. The camber plates were set to "0".

Jon, have you checked with Ed at Schuman Waipahu. He hinted in another thread that they can do performance alignments too.

 

Jon, I was told by a shop once that springs need to settle for a week before alignment. Not sure how true that is, but maybe your settings (camber) changed when the springs settled? One year of island driving could throw off your alignment also!

 

I thought it was the other way around?

This is just something I found real quick.
http://www.auto-ware.com/setup/toe_hand.

I don't think it would be surprising if your alignment is off due to the conditions of the roads the last couple months. Lots of bumps and HUGE potholes

 

acarguy, you are right, toe in is / \ and toe out is \ /. Just image if you are looking down at your feet. Cars toe out on compression so when you lower your car, the suspension geometry is such that the wheels toe out. Toe out will give excellent low speed turning ability but poor high speed stability. Toe in will give good high speed stability but poor low speed turn in. My WRX is set up with a hair of toe out (0.5 degree) in the front and rear for auto-x. It is ok for track days since it is not that aggressive. If I didn't track the car and daily drive it, I would have even more toe out.

 

My bad I knew what I wanted to say I'm a little azz backwards sometimes.....Thanks...

 

anyway... I think I'm / \ toe in!