Noobie with lowered Mustang

JJhirsch · Jun 6, 2012

I bought my 94 GT Stang 3 years ago now and the car had Tokico shocks and Steeda springs when bought. After all this time i finally noticed the front tires were wearing faster on the inside so i bought some MM caster camber plates and they are now installed. I am going to set up an alignment soon. Is there anything i should be installing before i take it in or am i just fine?

Also do i just have them put it to stock specs?

Every shop i call says it is about $70-90 and could be more if they have to go beyond normal alignment work. The MM plates should make it easy shouldn't it?

Thanks JJ

OnyxCobra · Jun 6, 2012

The tires are probably wearing on the inside due to the car being toed out more than the camber. They should have no problem getting it into spec if they're worth their salt. Tell them it's a freakin 2 wheel alignment, charge more my ass.

Twista · Jun 6, 2012

Take it to a performance shop. I found out these commerical chain places are only good @ doing alignments on factory height cars... and some dont even know how to use the caster plates.

I found a NTB with a dude that knows what to do though. And most shops said no to me because they didn't wanna risk screwing up my lowered car getting on there ramp.. or me damaging there ramp with the underside of my car.

JJhirsch · Jun 7, 2012

What about bump stree kits? MM says they are not needed if you have cc plates.

det_riot · Jun 7, 2012

i did my own alignment on my car. Doesn't track or anything =D i love it

OnyxCobra · Jun 7, 2012

JJhirsch said:
What about bump stree kits? MM says they are not needed if you have cc plates.

I really dont think mm said that...

Lol det riot I measured my toe with a tape measure. Drives great.

det_riot · Jun 7, 2012

OnyxCobra said:
I really dont think mm said that...

Lol det riot I measured my toe with a tape measure. Drives great.

same here. lol my buddy has like "wheel alignment plates" (seen here: http://image.classictrucks.com/f/8390575/0601cl_06_z+truck_alignment_plates+.jpg) and we usedthose and eye balled my camber and it drives great! solid even wear even on my car!

LilRoush · Jun 7, 2012

Take it to "Tire Nick" (you know who I mean).... they'll set it up perfect for you.

slow90coupe · Jun 7, 2012

det_riot said:
i did my own alignment on my car. Doesn't track or anything =D i love it

Lol that's what I did on my coupe and 97 GT. Nothing wrong with doing it this way IMO! I even have access to a free alignment rack but I don't see a need to do it since my cars drive straight.

OnyxCobra · Jun 7, 2012

det_riot said:
same here. lol my buddy has like "wheel alignment plates" (seen here: http://image.classictrucks.com/f/8390575/0601cl_06_z+truck_alignment_plates+.jpg) and we usedthose and eye balled my camber and it drives great! solid even wear even on my car!

That's pretty damn cool. I still feel like I should have my car aligned with a machine, i have no idea what my caster and camber is set at and who knows how good the toe really is. These tires are too expensive to chew up.

Musturd · Jun 7, 2012

Lol that's how I did mine on both my cars with the plates and a tape measure

1997gtRioRed · Jun 7, 2012

OnyxCobra said:
The tires are probably wearing on the inside due to the car being toed out more than the camber. They should have no problem getting it into spec if they're worth their salt. Tell them it's a freakin 2 wheel alignment, charge more my ass.

im sorry, but this is pure bullshit. the wear is from too much negative camber. by putting in a shorter springs on makes the control arms sit at a greater angle than stock, therefore the inside of the tire contacts the road more than the outside, thus wearing it faster.

CHECK FOR LOOSE FROM END PARTS!!

check ball joints, inners, outers, and wheel bearings. if any of them have just a little bit of play in them they cannot do the alignment.

9838stang · Jun 7, 2012

i got the comp. engineering kit from AM. I took my car to the place up the street, tires plus and got the lifetime alignment. the guy knew what he was doing, and it was the only drive one alignment rack. I noticed huge difference on the bump steer kit. i can though the car into the corners more now and im alot more confident about it. I would get the steeda kit though. the Competition engineering kit i got i had to drill out the hole for the tie rod end for the bigger bolt. the steeda kit will just go right in.

OnyxCobra · Jun 7, 2012

ganzey said:
im sorry, but this is pure bullshit. the wear is from too much negative camber. by putting in a shorter springs on makes the control arms sit at a greater angle than stock, therefore the inside of the tire contacts the road more than the outside, thus wearing it faster.

CHECK FOR LOOSE FROM END PARTS!!

check ball joints, inners, outers, and wheel bearings. if any of them have just a little bit of play in them they cannot do the alignment.

lol, classic. You're probably wrong dude. When you lower our cars they toe out so if you don't get the car aligned you will chew up the inside of your tires rather quickly. Yes camber will wear the inside of a tire but you'd need a LOT of it and it doesn't wear the tire nearly as much as a toe-out will. I had steeda sport springs back in the day, trust me it's not a big drop to where camber is going to be wearing through tires.

Brian95SVT · Jun 7, 2012

Ganzey, first off chill man. No need to act like that.

Second, Onyx is right.

1997gtRioRed · Jun 8, 2012

lol 1 degree of camber past spec is enough to wear tires. have either of you actually done an alignment? i did 4 today. i see this stuff everyday. i see cars with bald inside of the tire and a brand new outiside with perfect toe and fucked up camber. improper toe causes wear across the whole tire.

example from like 3 days ago. guy comes with with very shitty tire wear. across the whole tire. not just the inside. turns out it was a bent inner, causing a massive toe problem. i had to cut it to get it out. hmmmmm. not trying to be a dick, just saying.

OnyxCobra · Jun 8, 2012

that seems weird to me, I ran -1.3 degrees camber for a long time without any problems with tire wear. A little bit of toe out chewed my tires up though, yes the whole tire wears but the inside was worn more.

1997gtRioRed · Jun 8, 2012

OnyxCobra said:
that seems weird to me, I ran -1.3 degrees camber for a long time without any problems with tire wear. A little bit of toe out chewed my tires up though, yes the whole tire wears but the inside was worn more.

yea, sorry for coming off as a prick, its been a long day. but yes, if you camber is whacked, and your toe is also fucked, the tire will be riding on the inside edge, and the combination of that and total toe being jacked it will wear your tires like crazy. on the inside. but just toe wont wear only the inside of the tire.

and IIRC, spec for camber is somewhere around -.5 degrees (dont quote me on that). so -1.3 isnt too excessive

ProKiller · Jun 8, 2012

i'm with ganzey, camber is what messes up the inside.

to OP, the MM plates should have some reccommended specs for alignment on it. if you can't find the instructions, check out their site, they have a bunch of great tech on there. all else fails, call them.