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Alignment after springs?

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Old 11-14-2003, 04:36 PM
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Alignment after springs?

just put my MaxSpeeds on...do i need to do an alignment. doesn't seem to be pulling too bad...but i was told that i should do one.

just wanted a second opinion from those of you who have "been there, done that". you do you think?
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Old 11-14-2003, 04:55 PM
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Originally Posted by fishhouse
just put my MaxSpeeds on...do i need to do an alignment. doesn't seem to be pulling too bad...but i was told that i should do one.

just wanted a second opinion from those of you who have "been there, done that". you do you think?
I would take it to a good alignment place and have the 4 wheel alignment checked. It's a good idea once you have removed your struts and reinstalled them. I had mine checked on my 92 Max that I once owned after doing struts and springs.
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Old 11-14-2003, 05:05 PM
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I suggest waiting at least a week. That'll give your springs time to settle.
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Old 11-14-2003, 08:22 PM
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Originally Posted by soundmike
I suggest waiting at least a week. That'll give your springs time to settle.
Haven't done an alignment yet and i got teins, all is fine so far, no wear.
 
Old 11-14-2003, 08:48 PM
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I put Teins on my car and decided to do an alignment after a week. All the numbers were within specs before the alignment.
Keep in mind that my car had only 15k miles on the odo at the time. If you have a lot of miles on yours and haven't done alignment recently, then it might be a good idea to do it.
If you want to look at the print out I got let me know.
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Old 11-15-2003, 06:24 AM
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not sure how low your drop is, but if is more than 1.5 I would get an alignment, do you have the camber kit for the front? IF you get alignment they sould only charge you for two wheel alignment because rears dont have any adjustment.
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Old 11-15-2003, 08:39 AM
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i just had an alignment like 2 weeks before my drop. MaxSpeeds don't provide a huge drop..maybe an 1.5" in the front at the most. 1" or so in the rear.

i don't have any kind of camber kit...just replaced stock springs with new ones - didn't do anything else special.

i would only need a two wheel alignment now even after the rears where drops too? why would you do one without the other?

do shops check the alignment before doing one (for little or no cost)? you know...to see if you really need one. or do they just do it whether you really need one or not either way?
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Old 11-15-2003, 09:19 AM
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Originally Posted by fishhouse
i just had an alignment like 2 weeks before my drop. MaxSpeeds don't provide a huge drop..maybe an 1.5" in the front at the most. 1" or so in the rear.

i don't have any kind of camber kit...just replaced stock springs with new ones - didn't do anything else special.

i would only need a two wheel alignment now even after the rears where drops too? why would you do one without the other?

do shops check the alignment before doing one (for little or no cost)? you know...to see if you really need one. or do they just do it whether you really need one or not either way?

I have over 30K miles on my Maxspeed (with stock struts). I did the alignment two weeks after the install to allow the springs to settle.

Within a few months I notice tire wear on the inside and took it back to the shop. They told me it was within spec and no additional adjustment was needed. So, I had them just rotate the tires.

I am convinced now that the stock struts may not be able to handle the excessive bouncing (travel) and wearing out early. I am in the market for new struts now...

I would recommend aftermarket struts as well since that's what they are made for.
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Old 11-15-2003, 09:29 AM
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i would strongly reccomend an alignment..


after putting in new springs and struts, you typically throw the camber off real bad.

after some time, you'll notice the inner part of your tires wearing like hell..


i did this on my 4th gen and never got an alignment and my tires were done within like 5k miles.
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Old 11-15-2003, 09:41 AM
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yea...KYB GR2s are next on my wish list. i will likely wait until i sense that the stocks shocks are dying though...they seem to of held up very well do date (with 44k miles). i'm sure they'll start to fade more quickly though since i have installed the MaxSpeeds.
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Old 11-15-2003, 02:01 PM
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Let them settle in (as previously mentioned)...

Several hundred miles worth of driving will have them settled. Then do a 4 wheel alignment...
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Old 11-15-2003, 03:04 PM
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I put on my Maxspeeds and my KYB GR2s at separate times, and every time I was told to get an alignment by more than one mechanic (who had nothing to gain by saying so). I was also told that having to wait for the springs to settle is a bunch of BS.

Ask a reputable mechanic whom you trust...don't take my or our words for it.

Tony
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