dan_uk

I hit a concrete wall pretty bad with the left rear. The frame was pulled out and the left rear corner had all suspension,axle etc replaced

I went to the same alignment place I always do and I remember the car would get -3.0+ camber easy but now it maxxes out at -2.4 on both sides?
I didn't change the ride height on coilovers after the accident

I could understand if the left was a bit off being crashed on that side but I can't figure how it lost camber on both sides?

krazik

JJ7

I know my rear camber varies ~0.5 deg. between alignments. Particularly after tire change. There are no other variables for me. Same shop, tech, and suspension.

JJ

BlueBarchetta

I know this might sound dumb, but any chance the alignment shop changed their equipment, or re-calibrated their old equipment?

CKit

Is your suspension set (rebound / compression) the same? This may seem a little silly, but if sitting higher because it hasn't "settled" on the shocks, the height could affect the alignment. That being said, I wouldn't worry about it if it's both sides.

The other thing that may have happened: one trick that people use to max camber (especially in front where it's limited).... they loosen the bolts in the suspension and compress everything with a jack before tightening to "offset" everything just a little bit more. Usually you can eek out 0.2-0.4 more just by virtue of a little room in the bolt holes to shift things a touch.

If the shop took out the rear subframe and other suspension parts when they straightened the frame, they could have done the opposite and cost you a few tenths of camber.

dan_uk

no thats what I thought but someone put a camber gauge on it after it was corner balances (and raised up 1/4inch) and it said -2 1/4 degrees thats about right

CKit the left side the shock was rebuilt but realy the right side was untouched as far as I know but I guess maybe something shifted

It is possible the shop's alignment rack was wrong before a while and they had it corrected but the front seems to be where it should.

FluKy15

Oh wow thanks for posting this. Going to try this come spring on my s2000.

SC_Highlander

I agree with CKit. Before I got the spherical bushings, I could tell if I put suspension arms on and cinched the bolts down before the car was on the ground. I'd get .25-.5 less camber out of a corner that way. I ended up using a floor jack under the lower balljoint to compress the suspension anytime that I put an arm back on the car. That let me cinch the bolts down tight without putting the car on the ground, and kept everything consistent.

Mrsideways

Subframe bent? They bend easy. I think Honda made them out of noodles or some other italian food.

glagola1

This.