When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hi friends! I finally got the Evo out of the garage. I had a hell of a time getting the rear dust covers for the ball joints on plus I had the Whiteline bump steer kit so I had a local shop take care of both those things. I also had them do a 4 wheel alignment as required. I got the car back last week and I haven't had more than 400 miles on the suspension since them. Flat out, something is not right.
The car pulls to the right under acceleration. They also said that I needed "negative camber plates" because they were not able to get the alignment to spec. And the shop found a pinhole leak on the passenger side strut at the bottom of the weld. I also called Performance Shock, whom I bought the coilovers from and they said the leak shouldn't be anything to worry about especially since the struts had been sitting for so long. [For those that have followed I've been battling on going issues.] And they are surprised about the not being able to get the car into spec.
So I jacked the car up and this is what I found (I am looking for advice on how to go about a solution to my issue. Below are photos as well):
The passenger side strut had the top camber bolt with the arrow pointing AWAY from the engine. The Drivers side had the bolt pointing INTO the engine. I know both of those bolts are suppose to point in the same direction. But on both sides the bolts have turned and started to dig into the struts mounting. So basically am I going to need new struts/mounts because of the damage? Second what about the alignment. I want to go back to the shop however I don't want to sound like an idiot other than "this is not right!"
Before Alignment
After Alignment
Passenger Side
Passenger side arrow pointing out. Look at how the bolt is turned also.
The passenger side ecentric of the bolt started wearing a hole into the strut mount.
Drivers side
Drivers side arrow is pointing into the engine
Again the drivers ecentric is wearing a hole into the mount from turning or being turned improperly.
Someone definitely tried to just cranking that upper strut bolt around like they were adjusting it. But I would say -1.5deg is just fine, going to less is certainly counter to buying a quality coilover. Itd be like buying a high end wheel and putting all season on it.
One thing I would suspect they didnt do is play with the slack in the holes to bias it one way or the other. If they just put the bolts in and tightened then they are biased out towards positive but they could have pushed them in which is a swing of over 1deg of camber. Heres my video example.
Then they also may be trying to get the car to be the same left/right. If one side has more camber than the other and they just try to match, you need to adjust the subframe to center.
For pulling to one side under throttle, have you replaced your trailing arm bushings in the rear yet?
I wouldn't. As stated above, some monkey tried spinning the bolt, it's a 2 setting deal and there is no in between.
Looks like they're trying to put it to factory spec for the alignment? Not sure what your intended use is for the car but seeing as you got Ohlins I'm guessing you care about handling so I'd have camber set to -2F/-1R, keep the toe zeroed.
As for the car pulling to the right on accel it might be toe related but your thrust angle is almost 0. Be sure the roads you're testing the pull on don't have a crown as that will definitely cause a pull to the right.
Someone definitely tried to just cranking that upper strut bolt around like they were adjusting it. But I would say -1.5deg is just fine, going to less is certainly counter to buying a quality coilover. Itd be like buying a high end wheel and putting all season on it.
One thing I would suspect they didnt do is play with the slack in the holes to bias it one way or the other. If they just put the bolts in and tightened then they are biased out towards positive but they could have pushed them in which is a swing of over 1deg of camber. Heres my video example.
Then they also may be trying to get the car to be the same left/right. If one side has more camber than the other and they just try to match, you need to adjust the subframe to center.
For pulling to one side under throttle, have you replaced your trailing arm bushings in the rear yet?
Yes Dallas I did replace the trailing arm bushings. I also did the all new oem spherical and poly LCA bushings, rear bump steering, new rear hard race ball joints, front whiteline lower ball joints and front whiteline toe ball joints.
So for I can learn and understand, why do you guys feel it is not important to replace the damaged front lower mounts?
Basically cause the slots and groves in the strut mount are to help with locating things, they dont actually hold anything. So as long as you can get it into the correct position then theres no reason to replace.
Trust me, they'll look like hammered crap in no time on their own . All the rocks and debris your car pics up and flings around the fender well will pit the nice aluminum finish pretty quickly.
Jul 30, 2018, 09:31 AM
. All the rocks and debris your car pics up and flings around the fender well will pit the nice aluminum finish pretty quickly.
