ok guys i am putting my stock wheels on the car for the winter and i have a question... first would you guys recommend me to raise the car back up to stock height for winter? i am on the tain basic damper kit and i have the fronts 3/4 of the way down... winters aren't to real bad here just curious. and 2 would you guys recommend me to get a alignment after i put the stockers back on even if i raise it or not? thanks guys... i know these question sound newbish but this is the first year i have had my car dropped and i am curious.

Unless you think you will be driving in deeper snow than you have ground clearance, don't worry about raising it back up. If you just swap your rims out, you should not need an alignment. Only if you raise it back up should you need to get it aligned again.

as long as you are not unbolting suspension parts you don't need an alignment, you can raise the car and or swap the wheels without needing an alignment

Darkstars wrote:as long as you are not unbolting suspension parts you don't need an alignment, you can raise the car and or swap the wheels without needing an alignment

So much as changing the air pressures in your tire can change your alignment, having different tread depths can change your alignment, I say get it aligned unless you plan on running the tires for just a couple months and then putting your other ones back on. If you plan on having them on for a while, get it aligned so you don't ruin the tires. And then have it re-aligned when you put your other wheels back on, Might be a slight hassle, and a little money spent, but it would be worth it.



1983 Camaro Z28

sitting in the car changes the damn alignment, are you gonna go an get one every time a passenger gets in and out?

as long as your not actually taking the suspension apart don't worry about, if the car steering wheel isn't straight and or the car pulls one dirrection then get one, but raising the car and swapping wheels does not warrant an alignment

Raising the car sure does warrant an alignment. It changes all of the angles of the suspension when you raise it. Just as it changes all of the angles when you lower it. Seriously man, come on.

Don't be an ass about this either, the passenger comment was just stupid. And sitting in the car would not throw the alignment off so much that it would cause bad wear on your tires.



1983 Camaro Z28

Changing the wheels and tires will not effect the alignment end of story. Raising the car causes you to need an alignment. The reason behind needing an alignment after you raise it is...

When you lowered your car you got an alignment because you had slight negative camber, right? When you got your alignment it was put back to stock specs I am sure. So if lowering your car causes negative camber.... then raising it causes positive camber. So if your car is set within spec now it will have positive camber when you are done raising it causing the outside edge of the tire to wear at a faster pace.

Also altered tire pressure does not really effect your alignment. It effects the wearing point on the tires. Low pressure causes the outside edges of your tires to wear. High pressure causes the center patch to wear. Yes it looks like alignment issues, but it is not.


-Brandon

redecocav wrote:Changing the wheels and tires will not effect the alignment end of story. Raising the car causes you to need an alignment. The reason behind needing an alignment after you raise it is...

When you lowered your car you got an alignment because you had slight negative camber, right? When you got your alignment it was put back to stock specs I am sure. So if lowering your car causes negative camber.... then raising it causes positive camber. So if your car is set within spec now it will have positive camber when you are done raising it causing the outside edge of the tire to wear at a faster pace.

Also altered tire pressure does not really effect your alignment. It effects the wearing point on the tires. Low pressure causes the outside edges of your tires to wear. High pressure causes the center patch to wear. Yes it looks like alignment issues, but it is not.

Not true. Lowering and raising our cars within the drivable range of a proper coilover kit does not adversely affect the camber.

our cars are not that bad.

depending on how much you are raising and or lowering the car, you may need an alignment or you may not.

dropping the car can cause the alignment to be out, and then raising it again can aswell. when ever changing anything to do with suspension its is a GOOD IDEA to get the alignment done, but not nesecary. you can raise it up and then check and see if it drives weired, but usually if it is a camber issue the car should still drive straight, but the the car will be riding on the outside edges of the tires (in this case with a positive camber).

the car will usually only pull when either only one wheel has a camber or caster problem or if you have a toe problem on any of the wheels. i would assume if the camber is messed up on both front wheels the same that there wouldnt be much of a change in steering response but there would be excessive tire wear.

regardless, your probably able to raise it about 0.5"s before your going to have a serious problem.



Injection is nice but id rather be BLOWN!

I know that my alignment was perfect after I dropped it on Tein S-Techs (1.7"F 1.5"R). my camber was -.3*Left and -.4*Right before, and -.5*Both after, J-bodies are not Hondas, J-body suspension has horrible geometry so as you go lower, camber does not go very negative (hence crap handling compared to better strut-type designs) and the rear does not go negative at all without a shim kit.

You should be okay if you're not dropped more than 2.5"... which you don't look like you are. Just make sure you don't go through any high snow.

Also, redecocav, tire pressure can affect camber +/-.1* I've seen it in my shop many times. It's only really pronouned with higher profile tires (like a 205/60 or taller).

you also don't see a bagged cavi going in for an alignment every time her or she hits the switch!

chad spender wrote:you also don't see a bagged cavi going in for an alignment every time her or she hits the switch!

Wouldn't matter anyway, most alignment men would turn away a bagged or hydroed car simply because of the fact that they are constantly changing the height.



1983 Camaro Z28

ling427ttvette wrote:

chad spender wrote:you also don't see a bagged cavi going in for an alignment every time her or she hits the switch!

Wouldn't matter anyway, most alignment men would turn away a bagged or hydroed car simply because of the fact that they are constantly changing the height.

taken the car to 4 diff shops, and never had an issue getting an alignment, drive on rack set height via PSI in each corner... and voilla! align @ set psi.


1st 1st gen on air.....