As the title says, I have an 04 coupe lowered on tein s-tech springs and I recently got my spc rear camber kit put on. Before the camber kit was put on, the car drove just like it did stock. After the camber kit was put on, the ride sucks. I notice that when Im driving and I go over a little bump or crack in the street, my car pulls to either the right or left. It feels uncomfortable and unsafe as well. Then today I drove approximately 30 miles and when I got to work, I noticed my tires smelled like they were burning and they were pretty hot. Any suggestions to what the problem may be? Btw, I got the camber kit put on by the alignment guy at a local wheel works shop.

 

what are your specs after the camber kit?

 

I bet one or more of your alignment setting is WAAAYY off. Have it checked ASAP. Can you visually tell that anything is wrong by looking at the tires?

 

Physically, it doesnt look like anything is off. As for the specs, I am not sure because I got it all done for free and thought it would be taken care of correctly. Only specs I have are the specs from the alignment before the camber kit was installed.

 

What does having your alignment done for free have anything to do with getting a printout of the specs of the alignment? I get mine done fore free and always get a printout of the specs for reference.

Take it back, get it aligned, and then see how it feels. Make sure you get a spec sheet printed out so we can reference it next time.

 

Well the manager is a friend of the family, and he usually takes care of things and I just trusted he got it all done. I guess I wasnt thinking. I'll take it for an alignment and get a spec sheet and see if that solves the problem.

 

Take the car back and get the alignment rechecked.

 

Agreed with Gilley...it sounds like you have too much toe out. This will cause bump steer (the phenomenon you describe where going over a bump causes the steering wheel to move).

 

you got jacked on your alingment. Happens all the time. Shops want to do a 10 minute on the rack toe n go and hope nobody notices. Always ask for the printout. The stuff in red = bad.

I am running 350z stechs on a 06 coupe with the same camber kit. Took it to the dealer. They squeaked pretty good that the car was dropped and they couldn't guarantee to get it back to spec but once they got it on the rack and saw the camber arms it suddenly changed to "no problem". Cost $140 but I'm green and I'm good.

 

One thing that is better is to take the alignment specs that you want to the shop and have them do the alignment to your specs, not just "within specs" which may still cause quick tire wear on the insides of the tires.

 

this happened to me, they just pulled it in and did not adjust the nut. Mine was green (they must have fudged it) because I balded two new rear tires in 2500 miles, glad they were my stocks. Believe it or not Mr. tire fixed it, my previous problem was a dealership

 

Does anyone have a list of various specs you use for different setups, stock/tiens/etc. and how it changes tire wear, steering, etc?

 

As you stated above, the alignment was done before the camber kit was installed. When I installed my kit, the back was way off and felt like I was riding on flat tires but was fine after the alignment. You may want to consider toe bolts for the rear if you only installed camber arms.

 

Unfortunately camber/toe kits just fix static numbers they don't change the camber curve or bump steer problems created by lowering. That can only be solved with a total suspension steering redesign. [You can get extended tie rod ends and spacers to bring toe/bump steer more in line]. But Camber curve is created by the suspenion mount locations and is unchangable without serious welding and redesign.

Same with rear toe gain/loss curve in acceleration and braking.


Static alignment is just sitting still and shows little about what happens driving at speed down the road or braking.

 

^ excellent points. When the suspension is very low, the control arm / tie rod geometry changes in different ways vs if the car was at it's stock height. IMHO, it's not meant to be at parallel then beyond parallel when being compressed.