I had some major concerns after a member advised me that I was going to have major trouble getting my wheels aligned after dropping my car with Tanable GF 210 springs. Has anyone with a spring only drop had major difficulties getting their cars' wheels aligned to factory spec? Before I purchased these springs I asked if I needed any camber kits and I was told no. I'm not sure if I should do the install if it's not going to let me car get aligned properly. Also I was told from a few people at work that some shops like Strauss won't even attempts to align cars with an aftermarket drop. Is this true or do they mean cars that are slamed to the ground type drops? Please give me your experiences or feedback!

Thanks!

 

I am not sure why your friend has the expression that you won't be able to do the alignment, I never ran into such an issue.

But, I would not receommend lowering the vehicle with springs only. The struts should match the spring rates or the springs rates should be within the range that the shocks can support. If it is the later, than the drop won't be significant and the mod won't worth doing; if it is former, you may get a lot of bounce, somewhat unstable vehicle, and may even blow the shocks. It all depends where and how you drive and what rating the springs and shocks are.

 

Never drop your car without addressing your shocks. On my old car, I dropped it with coilovers, but without changing the shocks. I blew my shocks within a week. Do yourself a favor and drop your car the right way.

As far as alignment's concerned, if they can get it on their alignment platform then they're able to do the alignment. My car right now is dropped with a tight 2 finger gap (small asian hands) all around and NTB was able to align my car with no problems.

 

Not true at all - if you look at most of the aftermarket springs out there for the Evo, the spring rates do not differ much from stock at all.

The Evo does not suffer from a short suspension travel as so many other foregn cars do - the shocks have a nice long stroke, which is more forgiving when lowering.

There are plenty of board members here with the tein, tanabe and Eibach springs on their car, so they can advise you whether their respective shop was able to get the car back into spec. I would estiamte that based on the fact that these springs do not have significant ride height drops in the rear (where 99% of the camber issues happen on lowered due to limited or lack of adjustment from the factory), that the camber won't be a big issue. Will it be more negative than stock? Yep - no doubt about it. Is that a bad thing? Depends how far negative it goes, but so long as your under -1.5 degrees, you'll be good to go (and if need be, you can purchase ecentric camber bolts which will allow you readjsut the camber back to spec)

Adam

 

Where would I be able to get these bolts, and how much do they run? I'm not looking to spend a ton of money on bolts but if the price is right then hell why not.

 

Could you also post ideal wheel alignment settings you would put on your Evo with my set up and keeping in mind the car is an everyday driver and I want to preserve my tires as much as possible.

Thanks!!

 

I don't know the best settings yet, as I have not really experimented with them much.

We sell the camber bolts - they are $30/pair.

 

How many bolts do I need for all four corners? And what would the total cost be?

 

you should not need them for the front - front gives you camber adjustment. Not sure about the rear end yet as I have not witnessed an alignment yet on an Evo - most cars do not provide for rear camber adjustments though.

You need one pair to do the rear wheels - these are eccentric bolts which replace one of your factory bolts that attach the strut to the suspension arm





Adam

 

The rear is also camber adjustable with an eccentric bolt on the lower control arm.

 

i lowered my car with Tein S tech..it is low....and the spring rates are actually softer than stock..give me a more comfortable ride..
and as for the alignment concerns.. u dont need to worry about it ..because for both front and back..u could adjust camber..i got my alignment at a shop with a lazer machine..he adjusted the camber to the factory spec..i dont remember what the numbers are..they should tell u though at the shop..
hope that helps

 

does any of this info pertain to the lancer OZ as well??

 

Cool - thats great that is has eccentric bolts. The aftermarket ones we offer allow about 1.5 degrees of change, which may be a bit more than stock (as I said, I have not been with a car on the rack)

 

Got the Tein S Tech too. Was there any difference in handling before and after the alignment, EvolutionEight?

 

I have Eibachs springs on my Evo. It's handling much better, the ride feel same, and so far I don't have any alignment problem. I got it on at around 1000 miles and now it's almost 9000 miles. Just for your info.