Straight and to the point, with the level of drop you have, you will not achieve an alignment setting that will not destroy your tires without the rear kit.

 

I took my car in for an alignment yesterday and my rear toe is out of spec. My Z is running stock suspension with no drop, as I am trying to put my money towards seat time rather than upgrades. The technician told me I need front UCAs, rear camber arms, and the rear toe bolts to get the alignment in spec. He obviously wasn’t paying much attention since I already have adjustable front UCA’s (just recently installed, which would explain why my front camber is out of spec). I'm running stock wheels and stock tire sizes. I’m not too worried about the camber at this point, just the rear toe-in.
1) Any idea what bad bushing or part might cause this amount of inconsistency in the rear toe? Camber arm bushings, shock mount bushings, endlinks? In what manner do bad endlinks affect the alignment (camber, caster or toe?
2) If my right camber arm bushing is indeed bad, then could I buy SPL camber arms for my stock suspension and still make the same toe adjustments using the OEM eccentric bolts? I will be upgrading the suspension down the road and hate to buy new OEM arms, but I don't want to buy the pricey SPL Pro Midlinks at this time nor do I want to use the crappy SPC bolts that won't stay in place.

Here is my previous and my new alignment results:




Edit: I took this to a Nissan dealer and they corrected the rear toe without a problem. The tech at 'Tire Warehouse' just didn't know how or didn't care to fix the rear alignment. I still need to fix the front caster though (not sure how to do this with the Z1 adjustable front UCAs).

 

If you have all stock suspension arms then there should be no problem getting it to spec. But looking at those numbers probably means you have a bent camber arm on the right rear. As you increase negative rear camber on Z's they naturally get toe in. So since you have toe and and excessive negative camber it most likely means you need a camber arm. That's where I'd start since they're cheap. Adjusting rear camber and toe on Z's becomes very expensive if you want something specific because you can't just get adjustable camber arms. You'd need them along with SPL adjustable mid links and most likely adjustable traction arms.

 

Thanks for the tip. I just measured my camber arms and they are exactly the same length on both sides, so I don't think the right one is bent. While I was under there though, I noticed the right side eccentric bolt appears to be sunk way low while the left side is up high, so perhaps the solution is simply needing an alignment tech who isn't lazy and will actually attempt to make adjustments. I can see lines from when the eccentric used to be higher. Unfortunately I don't know of a good alignment shop nearby, so I will have to take my car to a Nissan dealer in spite of their horrible reviews and just hope for the best.

 

ok so let me get this strait, with true coilovers i wont need to get the toe bolts? I planned to get upper control arms and rear camber arms. what else do i need to get rid of the oem bucket?

 

With true coilovers the coil bucket is left empty...so...

So, you can replace the coil bucket with a rear toe arm. This will be used to adjust toe.

Then you do still need a rear camber arm. To adjust camber.

Next it's highly recommended to buy two sets of lockout washers for each of the 2 noted above arms and toss the oem eccentric washers.

J

 

Hi Jason, was hoping you could shed some light on a few points for me as you're clearly the man with the answers here. I read your first few posts in this thread before taking on my suspension project and have to say, kudos on the excellent writeup, but I have hit some hiccups.

I installed BC BR Coilovers/SPC A Arms/SPC Rear Camber and Toe Bolts over the weekend. Didn't bother adjusting anything as I knew I'd be going straight to an alignment shop.

Unfortunately, realized after the install that I had been shipped coilovers with the wrong spring rates, 14/12k when I ordered 10/8k. I have BC DR coilovers with these springrates on the way, but I went to get an alignment as to not shred through any tire in the meantime.

I knew this was an issue, and I saw it first hand when installing, but there is no way to adjust the SPC A arms with the wheels on. The bolt on top of the balljoint is impossible to get to. Even raising the car up provides not enough room to work with. What have others done in this situation aside from paying for tons of labor $$$ to drop and reassemble the suspension on the rack? I'm thinking maybe some sort of angled box wrench, or removing fenders before going back? I'm pulling the current coilovers and replacing so anything I can do to "guesstimate" the right amount of camber while the suspension is out would be great.

Additionally, my caster looks to be out of spec, but the tech said it looks "good" so long as it's equal. Are these specs fine when lowered, or should I pull the A Arms all together and make some caster adjustments as well?





Thank you to any help you or others can provide!

 

What version of the control arms do you have, should be simple to dial out the castor

 

I have the adjust from the top version - model 72125

http://www.spcalignment.com/instruct...25-INS_WEB.pdf

Should I just pull them off and adjust to the -1.5* position on each? Or could there be some poor bushing play contributing as well?

 

Where are they set at now?

Then if you are looking for better handling, I would have it aligned to 350z or even G coupe specs.

 

For the prevailing torque nuts...where can I buy a set of zinc coated ones online?
Im on this website but I'm not too sure what I should be getting.. the 1/2 inch?
https://www.boltdepot.com/Prevailing...e_C_steel.aspx

And if it's easier what local places should I go to to look for these? I live in SoCal.
It's kinda difficult to really describe what I'm looking for to people lol

 

Fastenal sells them as "top lock" bolts, other sites note them as "stover" nuts.

nothing on the Z is US thread, its all metric, so if your talking rear toe bolts and stuff, then its M12-1.25

check before you buy.

-J

 

They're set at 0 now.

Does anyone have any advice on adjusting the A arms on the car? I feel like this has to be a common issue with our cars. At this point I'm resorting to driving to the alignment shop with fenders removed. I guess I can have the caster adjusted by the tech at that point as well.

 

I went through the first page several times and still couldn't grasp the gist of it.
I'm supposed to bring my car into this local shop to get wheels & tires and lowering springs, and now the shop is asking me which shocks to put on my 08 roadster.
I paid the 20% deposit money and it's too late to cancel the order now, otherwise I'd find a more knowledgable shop.

Any how, could any one please assist me on getting my 08 roadster lowered modestly, less than an inch, to prevent any need of additional parts.
I'm looking at Tein S-Tech and Eiback Pro-kit, and not sure which one to get?

Thanks!

 

prokit

 

Man wish I had read first couple pages long ago lol... So basically the only adjustable parts of the suspension from the factory are the stupid eccentric bolt on the coil buckets and the front tie rods lol... Guess I should just save my alignment money and set my suspension back to factory hight till I buy some adjustable pieces.

 

Eccentrics are on the bucket and camber arm in the rear, and obviously front tie rods. Depending on how low you go in the rear, it can be adjusted out

 

I have a question about dremeling to elongate the whole where the spc toe bolt goes into on the spring bucket. I understand during install that is needed. But do i have to dremel the whole where the bolt goes on the camber arm as well? I ordered Eibach pro alighnment rear camber arms and they come with the camber bolt. Do i need to dremel to location for the camber bolt and the toe bolt? Sorry if this has been discussed already. I couldnt find anything about it.

From the picture below im referring too bolt 55226pa for the toe bolt and 55226p for the camber bolt.

 

55226pa is the only location you would elongate

 

Hello Everybody, Ive got a few questions. Ive got Tein street basic coilovers yet to be installed. Im going to leave them at maximum height of -.3" in the front and -.4" in the back from stock shocks. Do i need a Coilover kit for these or will the stock coilovers be able to be adjusted and aligned to these. Also are these OEM style coilovers? Should i return them and spend another 200-300 bucks on a higher quality Coilover set that has adjustable settings? I am looking for ride quality this is my daily driver and I do occasion hill climbs with this car.