I just bought a coupe last month. Took her in for an overdue alignment the other day and they asked if my car was lowered, since they couldn't get front camber past 1.3 and rear 1.9. Caster and toe were brought to factory specs. Previous owner is my in law and he has kept car 100% stock. Should I bring her to the dealership? Tires are almost bald so I don't wanna spend more money than I need to right now. Anyone here had a similar situation? Kinda bummed out now.

 

Do you need new shocks??

 

I recall my in law passively told me that shocks might need to be replaced. But then the coupe has only 60k so isn't that premature for shocks to go?

 

On my 2006, two of my shocks were blown by 50K miles w/ less than 20K of those miles on lowering springs. If there is a shock thats completely blown, you will feel a swaying motion at highway speeds while changing lanes and the suspension will bottom out on turns.

 

I do notice that at higher speeds, like above 40 there is a constant grinding kind of vibration. Definitely not a smooth ride on the highway at all. Now i'm hoping it's just the shocks and nothing more serious.

 

You can do a compression test by pushing down on a fender and seeing if it lags pushing the car back up, or if it's bad enough, you won't be pushing the fender down as much. A good strut will push the fender right back up without hesitation. If you give it a quick push, it will resist almost instantly. So basically, you want to test for how much the strut is compressing and how long it takes to react. There may also be physical signs if the shock blew, you will see a lot of black gunk or dirt on the lower part of the shock itself, but you won't always be able to see it if the shock or strut needs to be replaced.

Was your in-law the only previous owner? 1.3 neg camber is a lot, it's like dropping your car a couple inches. You can easily see if the springs have been swapped out our not by the color and look.

 

my in law was the 2nd owner. he bought it from the dealership used. When it comes to cars and parts, i'm a total noob so even little things like looking at springs I would be clueless. Just got off the phone with service dept and they recommended me to replace tires first since theyre almost gone and could be the reason why the camber is off. I'm just so frustrated now since it has been an expensive couple of months after buying the car.

 

Just lower it. Problem solved. win-win

 

Camber is not horrible, it just wears the tires unevenly. Toe is what tears through your tires.

The thing I would be worried about is if the negative camber is even across all corners because the car is dropped or if something is broken. But at 1.3 neg camber, I'm willing to bet it is lowered.

If you want to take a look to see if you have lowering springs, take a damp cloth and wipe as much of a spring as you can do you can see is color. If the spring is not black, then you very likely have lowering springs, ie: Tein springs are green or gold, Eibach are red, etc...

 

Thanks. I will look at the springs. Current tires are eagle f1 all season asymmetric. Would that throw camber off?

 

For future reference, year and other details about your car might help.

Anyway, for a 2004, i've listed the FSM showing factory ride heights and suspension specs. Grab a tape measure and compare. If you have a 2005/2007 with the 19" wheel option, these numbers might be different. But i have no idea because i'm guessing at what year car you own

Front suspension, page 20
http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/G35/Coupe/2004/fsu.pdf

rear suspension, page 18
http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/G35/Coupe/2004/rsu.pdf

 

Good info ^^

 

Hmm, I have a kinda similar story, I bought my coupe from a dealership and they claimed it was 100% stock, brought it to a allingment shop and same thing, they couldnt get it back to stock settings. Turns out I had bilstein coilovers installed lol, dealerships like to buy stock cars so i guess the previous owner lied about it while giving it to the dealer? idk. be sure to check what springs you have or maybe you even have coilovers.

 

You obviously have more issues than alignment and taking your car to the stealership isn't the answer! Every town across America has an "Independent brake/alignment shop" that knows how to fix suspensions, find yours! I have 4 in my area I trust to find any issues with my suspension. Ask neighbors, friends and family who they trust to work on their cars. Another idea is to ask the guys at a quality auto parts store who they recommend. Find the right shop, you'll never need to go anywhere else...Gary

 

It could be combination of being lowered and worn out shocks. If your car has lowering springs installed on stock shocks it could cause the shocks to blow/wear out even quicker which you may be experiencing.