So I just got my car aligned after installing my Cusco Zero 2's. I lowered the car minimally like about a 1/4" all around. After researching around this forum I had a goal target for my alignment.

Target

F: -1.5 Camber, 0 Toe
R: -1.6 Camber, .06 Toe-in

The actual numbers are below. The tech said that -2 was the most positive they could go with the rear camber and still attain .06 Toe-in. The most concering thing was the differential between the caster in the front.

My question is should I buy the SPC rear camber arm and toe bolt to reign in the rear camber a bit more to the postive side? And should I get a front upper-arm to correct that front caster? Or should it be okay where I'm at. I track my car 2-3 times a year at road courses and put about 10k street miles. Any opinions are welcome.

Actual

F: -1.3 Camber, -.01 Toe-out
FL: 8.4 Caster
FR: 9.3 Caster
R: -2.0 Camber, .06 Toe-in

 

-2.0 Camber in the rear is ok. It won't wear excessively fast. I've had that amount for a long time until i changed it to -1.5 with some 1/16 toe out to get the rear end a bit more "alive"

The difference in front caster is puzzling tho. Are you sure nothing is bent in there? OEM is 8.0 degrees. I ran 9.0 degrees with the SPL arms. Front camber of -1.0 for street and -3.0 for the track.

 

That's the thing. I don't know if anything is bent or not bent. I got the car used about 3 months ago for a pretty good deal. The owner said it was in two minor fender benders where one of the front wheels had to be refinished. So I'm probably assuming yes, one of the control arms or supension links is slightly bent. The techs at the alignment shop said they didn't notice any obvious damage and I didn't either when I was installing my suspension. But then again, if there was any damage it's probably too slight to be detected by the human eye.

 

Why did you target more rear camber (-1.6) vs front camber (-1.5)? I'd think you could get those numbers from the stock suspension...

 

Front camber is NOT adjustable on the 350Z.
Nominal is around -1.0 degrees.

 

Exactly, the front camber was going to land wherever it was going to be depending on how much I was lowering the car. My guess was it was going to land somewhere near -1.5. Happens to be that the edge of factory spec is -1.3. I was more worried about getting the rear camber to my target but seems that -2.0 is at the edge and okay in terms of tire wear. I'm going to be running an auto-x school this Sat so I'll get a good idea of how my car handles with this alignment setting. If I dont' like it I may have to buy some camber and toe correction for the rear.

 

Hi guys, also looking for some experienced based input with my setup.

My car is also dual purpose. I've just spent a week of evenings installing Cusco Zero-2's, Cusco front camber arms, hotchkis bars, powergrid endlinks, spc rear camber arms and toe bolts.

Bit of a toss up on where to start with the alignment. Initially I have dropped it approx 1.5 inch from stock, corner weighted it with half a tank of gas and drivers weight, and set rear cambers to 1.5, rear toe to 1/16th in. Front cambers ended up at 1.6L,1.4R with the height set and the bolts in the second holes.I set the front toe to about 1/16th out.

(As far as I can figure from the design and Japanese instructions only four settings on the Cusco front arms means that I only have 4 camber choices for any given ride height and can't do fine adjustment apart from playing with ride height combinations.I'd be happy to be wrong if anyone can correct me!)

Car feels good but with so many adjustable features I think it will take a while to find a sweet set up. I will run 3+ camber on the front at next track day and experiment with tyre temps, bar settings etc.

My main questions at the moment relates to ride height. From experience of those of you with dual purpose cars are there any definite ride height preferences for good handling with the 350Z? I know there isn't one perfect setting and all components work together, but I understand roll centres can get screwed up if you go too low. 1.5 is about as much as I can live with on my streets anyway. Maybe I don't need that much? Wondering about front to rear height differential?

 

You're right that the cusco front a-arms only have 4 presets. The one furtherest away from the car is obviously positive adjustment, the second hole is oem or neutral, and the last two are for negative adjustment. I'm suprised you were able to maintain the front camber numbers you did considering you dropped almost 1.5" from stock and also left the front a-arms in the oem position. Your numbers look real good though for a street/track compromise.

 

I've been thinking about getting the Cusco front cambers and SPC rear camber/toe setup whenever I order up the Koni/Nismo T2/hotchkis sway setup. with the 1" drop whats the maximum ammount of camber I could run during track/autocross days with the SPC rear setup and Cusco front setup?