All You Alignment Gurus, I Need some Help!!! - Zilvia.net Forums | Nissan 240SX (Silvia) and Z (Fairlady) Car Forum

OkiDori17 · 10-01-2015, 04:09 PM

So a little back story....

I'm building my S13, finishing up the suspension setup while I'm waiting to get the last parts for my 2J swap.
Dropped in a spare KA I had laying around and threw it up on the rack.
I'm running all PBM arms in the rear, Megan Track coils, S14 lower control arms & Tein tension rods up front.

After a couple hours the suspension settings are:
Rear
-1.2 camber
0 toe

Front
-3.8 camber
.2 toe out
7.8 caster on the passenger side
-2.0 caster on the driver side

Why am I running negative caster on the driver side you ask?
I have no clue.
We tried everything to get it to match the passenger side.
Even trying to get it to 0 made it scrub the rear of the wheel well. There's no damage to the strut tower. They're brand new coils and rods. The machine was set up correctly. Everything we did would either scrub or the tension rod would be so far adjusted that it'd damn near come apart.

I'm hoping someone has an idea why it's doing this and give some ideas on how to fix it.
Anything will help. I want to get this sorted before I drop the new motor in and head to the track.

codyace · 10-01-2015, 08:27 PM

Something has got to be bent to have that much caster difference...that's a rediculous amount to say the least.

With that also said -3.8* of camber is like, touring car status...that's almost pushing R compounds past their happyspot

omgosh · 10-02-2015, 12:08 AM

If the rod is falling apart you must be making it longer? You need to shorten the tension rod to add caster..

But Ive never seen caster that far off on my cars, even with a full suspension swap Id still end up around 6-7 degrees right off the bat. Are you running two passenger side control arms or something? lol

OkiDori17 · 10-02-2015, 05:59 AM

@codyace the -3.8 is pretty ridiculous, but my buddy swears by it so I told him I'd try it out. It'll come down though.

And no, they're d/s and p/s on they're respecting sides. They came off my old s14 after I blew the motor and parted it out.

I ordered some new front knuckles. When I go to install them I'll do a thorough inspection of everything, but we did a good look around when it was on the rack. Everything is new so I don't understand how it could be bent.
Thanks for your replies, I'll update if I find anything new.

ZenkiKid · 10-02-2015, 09:31 AM

Pretty sure something is bent if its resulting in that much of a difference in caster.

KA24sleeper · 10-02-2015, 10:18 AM

sounds like setback. is one of your strut tower's bent? did you take apart your front cross member and put it back on? but for it to be that far off sounds like your front end is comprimised. is had a similar issur on mine when i crashed it and took it to a frame shop to straighten out.

Croustibat · 10-02-2015, 11:53 AM

Negative caster means something is seriously bent. even with the longest tension rod setting i never went negative. My money is on bent subframe and/or knuckle (bent strut tower usually adds caster)

G-E@Z31P · 10-04-2015, 08:36 AM

Lotsa things could be bent, none of them likely to be the spindle itself, most likely control arm could be twisted past the tension rod, the frame where the tension rod bracket goes could be tweaked, the strut tower could be shifted, the strut shaft could be bent...

No camber plates?

Kis4Kouki · 10-04-2015, 05:07 PM

What alignment machine did you do this on. Maybe you did the caster sweep wrong. Also different offset wheels can throw off the accuracy of the alignment.
Can you get a picture of the coilover, it should be overcenter with the top towards the front of the car with that amount of caster.

10-01-2015, 04:09 PM	#1
OkiDori17 Zilvia Junkie Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Columbus, GA Posts: 373 Trader Rating: (6) Feedback Score: 6 reviews	All You Alignment Gurus, I Need some Help!!! So a little back story.... I'm building my S13, finishing up the suspension setup while I'm waiting to get the last parts for my 2J swap. Dropped in a spare KA I had laying around and threw it up on the rack. I'm running all PBM arms in the rear, Megan Track coils, S14 lower control arms & Tein tension rods up front. After a couple hours the suspension settings are: Rear -1.2 camber 0 toe Front -3.8 camber .2 toe out 7.8 caster on the passenger side -2.0 caster on the driver side Why am I running negative caster on the driver side you ask? I have no clue. We tried everything to get it to match the passenger side. Even trying to get it to 0 made it scrub the rear of the wheel well. There's no damage to the strut tower. They're brand new coils and rods. The machine was set up correctly. Everything we did would either scrub or the tension rod would be so far adjusted that it'd damn near come apart. I'm hoping someone has an idea why it's doing this and give some ideas on how to fix it. Anything will help. I want to get this sorted before I drop the new motor in and head to the track. __________________ '92 240sx w/'93 SR Blacktop /// '94 RX7 FD3S /// '11 370z RIP

10-01-2015, 08:27 PM	#2
codyace Post Whore! Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Poconos, PA Age: 39 Posts: 8,030 Trader Rating: (58) Feedback Score: 58 reviews	Something has got to be bent to have that much caster difference...that's a rediculous amount to say the least. With that also said -3.8* of camber is like, touring car status...that's almost pushing R compounds past their happyspot __________________ *Want Air Conditioning in your SR20 Swapped car? Check out www.sr20acbrackets.com for more information! Quest Alternator Conversions for SR20!* Check my Group Buy! Tired of lousy internal gates? Go external wastegate with one of my manifolds, Check out my group buy

10-02-2015, 12:08 AM	#3
omgosh Zilvia Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Tampa FL Posts: 210 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	If the rod is falling apart you must be making it longer? You need to shorten the tension rod to add caster.. But Ive never seen caster that far off on my cars, even with a full suspension swap Id still end up around 6-7 degrees right off the bat. Are you running two passenger side control arms or something? lol __________________

10-02-2015, 05:59 AM	#4
OkiDori17 Zilvia Junkie Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Columbus, GA Posts: 373 Trader Rating: (6) Feedback Score: 6 reviews	@codyace the -3.8 is pretty ridiculous, but my buddy swears by it so I told him I'd try it out. It'll come down though. And no, they're d/s and p/s on they're respecting sides. They came off my old s14 after I blew the motor and parted it out. I ordered some new front knuckles. When I go to install them I'll do a thorough inspection of everything, but we did a good look around when it was on the rack. Everything is new so I don't understand how it could be bent. Thanks for your replies, I'll update if I find anything new. __________________ '92 240sx w/'93 SR Blacktop /// '94 RX7 FD3S /// '11 370z RIP

10-02-2015, 09:31 AM	#5
ZenkiKid Post Whore! Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Nowhere Age: 34 Posts: 3,284 Trader Rating: (9) Feedback Score: 9 reviews	Pretty sure something is bent if its resulting in that much of a difference in caster. __________________ http://www.nissanroadracing.com/

10-02-2015, 10:18 AM	#6
KA24sleeper Zilvia Junkie Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: SoCal Age: 34 Posts: 359 Trader Rating: (2) Feedback Score: 2 reviews	sounds like setback. is one of your strut tower's bent? did you take apart your front cross member and put it back on? but for it to be that far off sounds like your front end is comprimised. is had a similar issur on mine when i crashed it and took it to a frame shop to straighten out. __________________ SUSPENSION>Power

10-02-2015, 11:53 AM	#7
Croustibat Nissanaholic! Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: France - Toulouse Age: 43 Posts: 1,851 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Negative caster means something is seriously bent. even with the longest tension rod setting i never went negative. My money is on bent subframe and/or knuckle (bent strut tower usually adds caster)

10-04-2015, 08:36 AM	#8
G-E@Z31P Leaky Injector Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Toronto Posts: 126 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Lotsa things could be bent, none of them likely to be the spindle itself, most likely control arm could be twisted past the tension rod, the frame where the tension rod bracket goes could be tweaked, the strut tower could be shifted, the strut shaft could be bent... No camber plates? __________________

10-04-2015, 05:07 PM	#9
Kis4Kouki Leaky Injector Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: High Point, NC Posts: 111 Trader Rating: (3) Feedback Score: 3 reviews	What alignment machine did you do this on. Maybe you did the caster sweep wrong. Also different offset wheels can throw off the accuracy of the alignment. Can you get a picture of the coilover, it should be overcenter with the top towards the front of the car with that amount of caster.