When to get alignment?

[808BMW]

I was thinking of turning my coilovers all the way down. I know you should get an alignment any time you do suspension work, but if I need to waste money on an alignment, I'll just leave the height as it is.

Can I turn the perches down, and then sometime later, put them back up exactly as I had it before without getting an alignment? I don't see how anything could be off just by turning the perches up and down.

[nando]

the only alignment you can do is toe. I haven't had an alignment on my car after putting my suspension together, and the car is fine. it'd be different if you had camber plates or adjustable trailing arm bushings, otherwise all you'll get is your alignment specs.

[808BMW]

Up fornt my toe, camber, and caster are all adjustable.

Will moving the perches up or down affect those horribly? I know I'll gain a small amount of negative camber up front, but I really don't want to mess with the camber plates.

[Bill 84 318i]

Don't bother getting an alignment when you raise or lower the car.

Why are you scared of messing with the camber plates?

[808BMW]

Because I can't eyeball them, and I don't have the gauges to align it myself. My mechanic did my alignment when he put on my GC's. I don't want to mess it up.

[Bill 84 318i]

I can guarantee that your camber isn't anywhere near stock anyway. Why can't you eyeball it? Mark where it is now, adjust it, fool around with it, put it back.

I would have a blast adjusting all that stuff and seeing just what a difference it made.

[808BMW]

I can guarantee that your camber isn't anywhere near stock anyway. Why can't you eyeball it? Mark where it is now, adjust it, fool around with it, put it back.

I would have a blast adjusting all that stuff and seeing just what a difference it made.

If you look at my sig, my front had no camber. It is dead even, I think it had more camber while stock :P

[modifiede30]

Toe-in can change a fair amount when the height of the car is altered, as is camber. Both need to be adjusted when you lower/raise the car if you want to keep it close to stock - or that straight drive. However, you should be able to adjust camber by calculating the change in movement of your plate with a caliper guage, and calculating the angle that results once moved. Toe in is harder but can be done gradually and tested by driving. You can also use the old mechanic method of using string to measure the fronts, and then the back, to calculate the angle. As long as you keep the wheel straight, you should be able to get the toe in pretty close. Of course, if you screw any of this up, your tires might hate you for it by summer. Good luck.

[Bill 84 318i]

modified (sorry, don't know your real name)...how does toe change? I'm trying to picture in my head how the geometry would change as the ride height is altered, but I can't seem to get it clear. I'd hate to spread misinformation.

808, can you take a picture of your camber plates? I'm curious as to how he got it to go back to stock camber without cutting the strut tower. Wonder how many securing bolts he used.

[modifiede30]

From a geometry standpoint, anytime the length of one side of a triangle changes, one or more of the angles will change. The control arm and tie rod represent 2 different triangles. The first is made up of the strut, the control arm, and an imaginary line between the axis of the control arm and the strut mount. The second is between the strut, the tie rod, and an imaginary line between the strut mount and tie rod end at the steering rack.

Contributing to the effect is that both triangles hinge to the same object. As a result, the change in camber will also have a direct impact on the toe angles.

I asked the same question when I had my car lowered and this was the basis for their explanation.

As for changing camber, I thought he had adjustable plates. If not, than changes can't be made without modifying the strut tower. My plates allow for up to 3 degrees of adjustment. When I used all 3 degrees, my toe changed by about 1 degree.

[808BMW]

I don't have a caliper gauge, my mechanic does, but my dad doesn't like borrowing his tools. I've done toe before, but just straight enough to go to our mechanic's house :P

[modifiede30]

Nice plates. Changing camber shouldn't be a problem with those.