I've got a question for you drifters/autoxers. Do you guys get your car alignment check/fix after drifting or autoXing? To me, going hard on copious corners and going sideway at high speed or low speed for a long time will change the alignment spec after.
Some of you guys have your own motorsport alignment spec but those of you who just use the factory spec for motorsports, do you guys check/fix the alignment after the show down?

 

No. I check the alignment after I change something with the suspension, or if I suspect something has gone astray. It shouldn't really be changing because you are driving it hard.

 

^^^+1..

however a friend of mine got me to mark the eccentric washers to see if they move..

I dont have that issue now cause I have lockout washers ...but I did do that BEFORE I got them..

 

Hard driving can and will cause the alignment to change on the stock suspenion, especially the eccentric washers but front toe is often out spec too. I bought a Firestone lifetime alignment and get it checked every 3k-5k miles so about twice a year. Its usually out spec in one or more parameters. I do about 3-5 AX or track days a month on average.

 

You do 3-5 ax or track days a month and get your car alignment check only twice a year?
DO you usually go when you see the uneven wear pattern or just go to the alignment shop every 3k-5k miles and say that you check you alignment often because you track your car?

 

I go after my steering wheel shake is too much to take anymore...







So like never.

 

That's the same for me. All my suspension pieces are marked, and I do an inspection and snug things up before every event, and end up paying for an actual alignment up to 2x/year.

 

Read the suspension 101 thread i made and read what i have on MY car....

I feel i can comment well as I drift and autoX regularly.

In stock suspension form using the rear eccentric washers - stock or spc eccentrics - I use to mark them and after events they were moved - i hated it!!
the rear subframe lower lug where the eccentrics sit flex along with suspension forces and a spring in the spring bucket (ie the spring bucket is the TOE Adjustment arm) cause toe in the rear to go out of whack...


FIX for me:
The only way I have been able to hold alignment on my Z was with true coilovers and custom toe arms and using lock out washers I made to replace EVERY eccentric washer...

look at the pics i give in the suspension 101 thread where i talk about my "drift alignment" and the tires wear even pattern after an event.

I love my cars set up now due to what ive done.......I couldn't stand it prior!!!

-also, i set my alignment to the specs i want prior to every event.

-J

 

I would ofc get the lock washers if i had coilovers but i have stock suspension. So getting lock washers will not let me fix the TOE.
I guess the best thing i can do is mark up the eccentric bolts for toe, and the thread numbers on the camber arm?

You pay like $100 on the alignment before you go to every event?!

 

Yep, the only thing that is usually out of spec is the toe, mostly in front but a little in the rear. Here's the history...



Firestone actually recommended every 5K when I bought the plan, but I go sooner if the wear seems too uneven or is pulling. I'm tracking the measurements to get a better idea of how quickly it deviates.

Wear is somewhat even except front outside shoulder wear because the Stock front camber is a little weak for AX/track and the rear seems to be a little too aggressive on camber (i.e. inside shoulder wear), but not a lot. The out of spec toe is probably accelerating the uneven wear by scrubbing the tires more than it should. Nothing extreme though. Sometimes I feel a little pull on the highway, but it will do it even after a alignment. I think it's more tramlining and/or ruts though.

You could probably go more frequently and avoid the out spec of toe quicker, but I still got 12 track days on Hankook v12s (street tires) without much uneven wear. That is acceptable to me; I'm not concerned about having ideal camber and toe for each event at this point. Most of the uneven wear was from the mainly clockwise tracks and AX courses pounding on the left side. I did do one left to right, flip tires on wheel, around day 8.

Next step is SPL arms up front this winter. I'll wait and see how the back holds up. I run square, but directional, so I can swap front to back to mitigate some of the inside/outside wear.

I hope to get a handle on alignment and wear before switching to stickier, more expensive tires, since the wear will probably be more pronounced. Then I'll fine tune for performance. I'm just a recreational racer so I'm not trying to squeeze every ounce of performance out, mainly just trying to keep tire costs down while I build my driving skills.

+1 on the Suspension 101 thread, I learned a lot from that thread.

 

The ones you highlighted in reds aren't that much of a difference to show uneven wear patter, IMO. toe should be fine under .1.
I did read suspension 101 thread but i'll go ahead and read one more time.

 

yup, mark them and monitor....

no, i paid for a 5year alignment package at NTB vs firestones lifetime becuase NTB has new machines with more options and in-ground racks.

-J

 

but you go to track like 3 times a month. they don't mind aligning your car more than 3 times a month?!

 

I dont go that often to events, but i do go alot....even then, i go almost every time...the NTB is quite cool as I call ahead and ensure they are free to do a "program alignment" at that point, they know they are not making anymore money and will get honest and say, were kinda swamped, etc.....from there I call another day..etc..

I also aim to do it during my lunch hour or on days like a "tuesday night" when they are not so busy like a saturday...

they are cool..

also, my car is 20 minutes to align.......i get comments from those guys like:

"your cars easy to do"
or
"I wish all cars came with parts like this for alignment, it makes my job easy"

etc...

-J

 

Because you track your car, they don't mind aligning your car very often..
I vaguely remember a NTB guy telling me that if i come so often, they are losing money because they could've done another car's alignment getting paid instead of mine, life time warranty. This happened to my bro's car.

 

I'm a very cool cat when I go up there........most of the techs are car guys too so I up talk car talk, comment with them on the bishes that walk by, etc....for them its cool.....the manager who isnt any of that, is harder to get by, but yes its sometimes an issue, is why I call ahead of time and try and go during slow days,etc.....

either way, i have a copy of the documents signed with the program alignment, no where does it say i cant go often, and i have had to bust that out once at this one particular NTB - yes that sux's but at least it was only once...

-J

 

Bust out the document lol. I need to try that. In your case, is the document signed with the program alignment just simply the receipt you got when you first bought the 5 yrs alignment warranty?
I don't know if you change your coilover height adjustment every time you go to track but they also told me that whenever you change the height on your car with a coilover, they need a paper saying that the car has been corner balanced after every adjustments because if it's not corner balanced, the tires will wear unevenly and they'll be responsible for that..BS

 

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OP,

My current setup is Tein monoflex with rear spl midlinks/traction arms, stillen camber arms, lockout washers (those because of Jason), and hotchkis sways. After messing around parking lot drifting (almost every weekend) I still can drive home and my Z's alignment is fine. I don't DD my car so that's probably another contributing factor.

I'll eventually get SPL front camber arms, etc but that's later down the road.

Jason, to piggy back off the whole autoX/drifting thing - as far as LSD - Can I use a 2-way for AutoX'ing? I'm running the VLSD and it's fine but I think I'm outgrowing it for drifting.

 

yes you can......Mine is a nismo 2way and I do it.....mainly because I care more about drifting than I do about autoX'n........

I figure if i ever do get serious about autoX events i would buy a a complete spare diff and swap diffs prior to each event for autoX....

The spare for autoX I would want the 3.7FD out of a G37 like mentioned here:
https://my350z.com/forum/engine-and-...z-3-538-a.html
the 3.7 FD would help at autoX events over my 3.5.

-J