Wheel alignment results

[EnricoPalazzo]

Hey guys, well i just got my car wheel-alligned. Basically im not to happy. Firstly the HICAS light now comes on from when i turn the car on... So they obviously did sometin to the hicas. Also the rear end feels all skippy, like very unreassuring, i dont know how to explain it, but it definatly does not feel good when cornering fast.

Actually i think ill just scan the results, it will take too long to type out.

[EnricoPalazzo]

does anythin look wrong/.

[blind_elk]

Is the steering wheel centred properly at "straight ahead"? If it's off-centre, then that will certainly upset the HICAS system.

If it's got problems, take it back and tell them to set it right.

[Steve]

Hicas light, check that it is plugged in underneath the car - if it isnt, this may explain why its skipping.

You have toe out on the rear???? a little toe out on the front helps turn in, toe on the rear should be neutral or in (slightly).

also you have twice as much camber on one side of the front than the other??? perhaps your bushes are rooted? seems a bit strange, but I cant see how it would make your back end skittish, just effect your turn in from left to right.

Have you thought of fitting whiteline bushes or camber arms?

Lastly, get some castor on there, as much as you can - it will make life alot better. I have some arms with castor bushes in them, give 7 1/2deg (good price for you:)) but if you want the best result, get some adjustable castor rods - they are the shit. Makes turn in soooooo much better.

[AutoTrust]

For some reason that eludes me, Skylines have more negative camber on the front right.

this seems to be by design.

the hicas light being illuminated constantly is not a good look.

If this was my car i would reset with the steering straight and then post the results for further feedback.

Park your car with the steering wheel straight and both front wheels pointing forwards. This may sound dumb but, I have seen skylines that have had the ECU reset with the front wheels off centre, display disturbing rear wheel steering at high speed.

Disconnect your battery and depress the brake pedal. This will reset your ECU and HICAS computer.

If the symtoms persist please consult your doctor, or post results here. It sounds like your wheel aligner may have something to rectify, but a reset and visual inspection of the rear suspension could help to remedy your problem.

If any of the above comments seem stupid, condecending or helpful please feel free to curse Black Douglas and Dry.........

[Clint32]

for some decent handling get some adjustable caster rods, fit new poly bushes to the front and rear, a hicas remolval bar and some pinapples to the rear subframe, then there is at least some adjustment there for you i can help with the lot also.

[[ant]]

suspension seems to be one of those things that once u sorta ask a place 'why does it do so&so?' theyll come up with an arms-length list of items u can change to try and help. people seem to just go 'shit yeh i got my coilovers in shes gona handle awesome now', and sure stiffer lower susp helps but the rest adds the extra adjustments u need really to get things all nice and square and set up well.

but if ur unhappy id just go straight back and ask for another alignment. ive done it many times, had up to 3 alignments in a row coz im not happy haha then i got castor rods to really help adjust the front (on my old car, S13) and they really were helpful.

mite pay to look into other stuff =]

[EnricoPalazzo]

yeh obviously the other stuff helps, however now after the wheel alignemnt, the handling feels terrible, to thats what im gettin at, somethin must of happened when they wer adjusting the settings.

[Steve]

Hicas light, check that it is plugged in underneath the car - if it isnt, this may explain why its skipping.

You have toe out on the rear????  a little toe out on the front helps turn in, toe on the rear should be neutral or in (slightly).

also you have twice as much camber on one side of the front than the other??? perhaps your bushes are rooted?  seems a bit strange, but I cant see how it would make your back end skittish, just effect your turn in from left to right.

Have you thought of fitting whiteline bushes or camber arms?

Lastly, get some castor on there, as much as you can - it will make life alot better.  I have some arms with castor bushes in them, give 7 1/2deg (good price for you:)) but if you want the best result, get some adjustable castor rods - they are the shit.  Makes turn in soooooo much better.

something did happen, the adjustments are all over the place - take it back

toe is the front of the wheel, as in whether or not it is pointing straight ahead (0) out means the tyres are pointing out from the vehicle, ie, they are not pointing in a straight line. On the front this can help turn in, on the back - no good.

get rid of the toe on the back - check the hicas connector under the car as this may have been bumped, and see if they can get even camber on the front.

[Sydneykid]

Hi enrico, Steve is spot on..

TAKE IT BACK!!

[Ender]

I have done alot of work on r32 gtst's with suspension mods....have knowledgeable friends in V8 supercar business....heres what I had on my car...worked well with Tein HR allround, and some other adjustable stuff. A main improvement would be to get adjustable caster...then a little more camber on front as this will stop the tendancy of these cars to push wide (understeer) due to hicas. You might not be able to get all these figues but definitly get rid of the toeout...the hicas does this for you to a certain degree. Toeout will improve turn in but you dont need that....and too much toeout will give the rear that skitterry feel.....thats cause the rear wheels are fighting eachother.

Front

Camber : -ve 2.5

Caster : +ve 9

Toe :

Rear

Camber : -ve 1.8

Toe : +0 total

Hope that helps a bit.

[slip]

take it back. Ask them why they have so much toe out front and rear. that alignment looks like itll wear the inside edges a bit too. maybe they want to you go back and buy some tyres soon.

[EnricoPalazzo]

its goin in tuesday.

[Sydneykid]

Front  

Camber                 : -ve 2.5

Caster  : +ve 9

Toe  :  

Rear

Camber                 : -ve 1.8

Toe   : +0 total

Hope that helps a bit.

Hi Ender, pretty close to what we run on the circuit, we have no HICAS though;

Front

Camber : -ve 3.0

Caster : +ve 9

Toe : zero

Ride height : 345 mm

Rear

Camber : -ve 1.5

Toe : zerol

Ride height : 350 mm

The only thing we change for street is lees front camber (about 1.5 -ve). For the strip we remove the rear camber all together, in fact we run slightly positive (about +ve 0.5) static camber. This limits the amount of dynamic negative camber, makes for better launch and traction.

Hoep that adds to the thread

[Freebaggin]

Enrico,

I had heaps of rear skitting and poor exit-corner grip. I had too much toe in at the rear. It's now set at 0 and much better.

Take it to Bridgstone on Gouger or Blackwood Tyrepower, the only two places in town I recommend and I've been to alot.

[EnricoPalazzo]

yeh well now after gettin it done, im wishin i took it to a better place. lets hope they fix it up. lately ive been frettin everytime i drop my car off to get worked on, u just cant trust people anymore:(

[EnricoPalazzo]

ok, so just to clarify before i go there on tues.

front camber to be even at as close to -1.5 deg camber

toe to be 0 on front and rear? or only rear?

camber also on the rear to be -1.5 deg?

unfortunately castor cant be changed yet.

finally what is KPI? just for interest sake.

cheers

[Sydneykid]

ok, so just to clarify before i go there on tues.

front camber to be even at as close to -1.5 deg camber

toe to be 0 on front and rear? or only rear?

camber also on the rear to be -1.5 deg?

unfortunately castor cant be changed yet.

finally what is KPI? just for interest sake.

cheers

Hi Enrico, for a combination road and track car this is what I would recommend;

Front

Camber : -ve 1.5

Caster : +ve 9

Toe : zero

Ride height : 345 mm

Rear

Camber : -ve 0.5

Toe : zero

Ride height : 350 mm

If they can't get these numbers, ask them why. As you know, I strongly recommend fitting adjustable caster bushes as the first suspension mod, it makes such a huge difference for not a lot of cost.

KPI = king pin inclination.

(Sometimes called, SAI = steeering axis inclination)

King pin inclination -- The inclination of the tops of the king pins toward each other to create a stabilizing force to the vehicle.

King pin -- A pivot pin commonly used to allow the front wheels to rotate. On a Skyline the knuckle pivots about the king pin.

You can just see the top of the knuckle above the brake rotor in the front suspension photo

http://www.whiteline.com.au/images/article.../15_R33_01c.JPG

Hope that helps

[EnricoPalazzo]

thanks gary.

ill see how they can get the rear camber to as close as u specified. is there enought oem adjustmen in the rear camber. doubt it.

cyas

[Chris32]

Can I ask where the allignment was done?

I agree with Freebaggin, Bridgestone Gouger St, Blackwood Tyre Power have alot of experience with Skylines