Alignment Help!!!

[jrjohnston]

I lowered my car with Hotchkis Springs, Installed camber bolts in the top whole of all my struts. I requested -1 up front and 0 in the rear. Les Schwab aligned the car and on the ride home, the alignment is completely off, not initially, but slips about 60 miles down the road. So I call, my local Les Schwab (different one then the one that originally aligned the car) and set up an appointment to get it fixed on warranty. I take it in, they spend 3.5 hours aligning the car and I slam lots of popcorn in the process. The guy comes out and tells me that the alignment was way off and I ask him why did it go out of alignment, he says he does not know why and that all the bolts were tight! The car is aligned perfect and feels great!!! 3 days later I am doing donuts in the parking lot at work and now all the tires (load bearing tires) that are on the outside wheels of the donut turn are slightly more positive cambered. What is going on and why am I loosing camber?????

Please help, your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff Johnston

__________________________________________________ ___________________________________
Mopar Stage1, AGP WGA 18.5, AEM Cold Air Intake, MPx 3" o2 housing, MPx 3" Cat TurboBack Exhaust, MPx FMIC, PT performance FPR Medium, Prothane Race Motor Mount Inserts, Hallman Pro MBC not used.

[AdvanSRT-4]

Quote: Originally Posted by jrjohnston

I lowered my car with Hotchkis Springs, Installed camber bolts in the top whole of all my struts. I requested -1 up front and 0 in the rear. Les Schwab aligned the car and on the ride home, the alignment is completely off, not initially, but slips about 60 miles down the road. So I call, my local Les Schwab (different one then the one that originally aligned the car) and set up an appointment to get it fixed on warranty. I take it in, they spend 3.5 hours aligning the car and I slam lots of popcorn in the process. The guy comes out and tells me that the alignment was way off and I ask him why did it go out of alignment, he says he does not know why and that all the bolts were tight! The car is aligned perfect and feels great!!! 3 days later I am doing donuts in the parking lot at work and now all the tires (load bearing tires) that are on the outside wheels of the donut turn are slightly more positive cambered. What is going on and why am I loosing camber?????
Please help, your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff Johnston

__________________________________________________ ___________________________________
Mopar Stage1, AGP WGA 18.5, AEM Cold Air Intake, MPx 3" o2 housing, MPx 3" Cat TurboBack Exhaust, MPx FMIC, PT performance FPR Medium, Prothane Race Motor Mount Inserts, Hallman Pro MBC not used.

I take it your using camber bolts? Camber bolts loosen up over time no matter how tight you tighten them. Trust me, I align cars 12hrs a day.

Elongate the struts, and use the stock bolts.

[stowaway]

they aren't tightening the clevis bolts correctly. What you may need to do is slot the holes and use standard size bolts so you get a better clamping load.

[jrjohnston]

Quote: Originally Posted by AdvanSRT-4

Quote: Originally Posted by jrjohnston

I lowered my car with Hotchkis Springs, Installed camber bolts in the top whole of all my struts. I requested -1 up front and 0 in the rear. Les Schwab aligned the car and on the ride home, the alignment is completely off, not initially, but slips about 60 miles down the road. So I call, my local Les Schwab (different one then the one that originally aligned the car) and set up an appointment to get it fixed on warranty. I take it in, they spend 3.5 hours aligning the car and I slam lots of popcorn in the process. The guy comes out and tells me that the alignment was way off and I ask him why did it go out of alignment, he says he does not know why and that all the bolts were tight! The car is aligned perfect and feels great!!! 3 days later I am doing donuts in the parking lot at work and now all the tires (load bearing tires) that are on the outside wheels of the donut turn are slightly more positive cambered. What is going on and why am I loosing camber?????
Please help, your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff Johnston

__________________________________________________ ___________________________________
Mopar Stage1, AGP WGA 18.5, AEM Cold Air Intake, MPx 3" o2 housing, MPx 3" Cat TurboBack Exhaust, MPx FMIC, PT performance FPR Medium, Prothane Race Motor Mount Inserts, Hallman Pro MBC not used.

Think about it.

I take it your using camber bolts? Camber bolts loosen up over time no matter how tight you tighten them. Trust me, I align cars 12hrs a day.

Elongate the struts, and use the stock bolts.

So what do I do??? The first time they loosened up I was 60 miles down the road and the next time I was 3 days of conservative driving until I did my donutes??? So should I re-torque them or what? What torque settings should I use on the bolts?

Thanks,

Jeff

[jrjohnston]

Quote: Originally Posted by stowaway

they aren't tightening the clevis bolts correctly. What you may need to do is slot the holes and use standard size bolts so you get a better clamping load.

Do you have any links on how to slot the bolt holes???


Thanks,

Jeff

[AdvanSRT-4]

Quote: Originally Posted by jrjohnston

Quote: Originally Posted by AdvanSRT-4

Quote: Originally Posted by jrjohnston

I lowered my car with Hotchkis Springs, Installed camber bolts in the top whole of all my struts. I requested -1 up front and 0 in the rear. Les Schwab aligned the car and on the ride home, the alignment is completely off, not initially, but slips about 60 miles down the road. So I call, my local Les Schwab (different one then the one that originally aligned the car) and set up an appointment to get it fixed on warranty. I take it in, they spend 3.5 hours aligning the car and I slam lots of popcorn in the process. The guy comes out and tells me that the alignment was way off and I ask him why did it go out of alignment, he says he does not know why and that all the bolts were tight! The car is aligned perfect and feels great!!! 3 days later I am doing donuts in the parking lot at work and now all the tires (load bearing tires) that are on the outside wheels of the donut turn are slightly more positive cambered. What is going on and why am I loosing camber?????
Please help, your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff Johnston

__________________________________________________ ___________________________________
Mopar Stage1, AGP WGA 18.5, AEM Cold Air Intake, MPx 3" o2 housing, MPx 3" Cat TurboBack Exhaust, MPx FMIC, PT performance FPR Medium, Prothane Race Motor Mount Inserts, Hallman Pro MBC not used.

Think about it.

I take it your using camber bolts? Camber bolts loosen up over time no matter how tight you tighten them. Trust me, I align cars 12hrs a day.

Elongate the struts, and use the stock bolts.

So what do I do??? The first time they loosened up I was 60 miles down the road and the next time I was 3 days of conservative driving until I did my donutes??? So should I re-torque them or what? What torque settings should I use on the bolts?

Thanks,

Jeff

Like stowaway said, you might have to elongate the holes, and use the factory bolt, or a larger bolt with more clamping area.

I had camber bolts on mine a while back, and no matter how tight I tightened them (even with a impact gun) the would loosen up over time, the would fall in negative.

[stowaway]

stock bolts are 40 ft/lb + 90° turn.

[stowaway]

ACR front camber adjustment - Strut Grind Area for slotting struts

[jrjohnston]

Quote: Originally Posted by stowaway

stock bolts are 40 ft/lb + 90? turn.

If I go back to the stock bolts what would my alignment be with Hotchkis springs if I did nothing else?


Thanks,

Jeff