Will I have problems getting an alignment?

mystang94gt

New Member
Jun 14, 2004
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Bay Area, CA
I have ford racing lowering springs and I havent bought CC plates. Are they going to be able to align my car without the CC plates? I plan on telling them to just get it as close as they can. Has anyone else had problems with this?
 
They will be able to do the toe, but they can't to much with the caster or camber. You can get a set of great C/C plates for under $180. Getting some would make sense so you set in a ton of positive caster, which will make the car feel better.
 
Well my tires now are wearing excessively on the outter edge. So I wanted to get an alignment done in hopes of extending their life a bit since they are relitively new. I just wanted to try and get it aligned without the CC plates since I cant afford them at the moment. Is it even worth doing?

oh and can you elaborate on toe, caster and camber and what they are exactly? (basically which ones which) thanks
 
S/CBlack95GT said:
It all depends on how much play are in your stock plates. They may be able to move them enough to get the camber right.


Well I think I am going to give it a shot since I cant afford the CC plates right now. Hopefully they can at least get it better than it is right now.
 
mystang94gt said:
Well I think I am going to give it a shot since I cant afford the CC plates right now. Hopefully they can at least get it better than it is right now.

Yeah, the toe is the main concern. With the C springs you should have a tad too much negative camber..your tires will look like this from the front / \.... However, with only a 1.25 inch drop it shouldnt be much more than 1.5 degrees, which isnt bad.
 
This site has some decent info on the alignment:

http://www.steeda.com/PR/Mustang/Alignment/alignmentbasics.htm

I haven't paid for an alignment yet as my front tires were junk before... so why try to save them.... Play around with it. I had a simmilar problem (plus car was pulling left) I out a little more negative camber on the drivers side wheel and it tracks strait and the tires seem to wear evenly.

I actually painted across the width of them and drove up the street checking to see where they were wearing fastest a few times. so far no problems.

When you lowered it did you move the C/C plate at all? Looking from the front make sure your tires lean in at the top slightly.

There are a few decent sites on how to do a driveway alignment if you have the time... Sounds like it takes about 4 hours...

Chris
 
94-302-vert said:
This site has some decent info on the alignment:

http://www.steeda.com/PR/Mustang/Alignment/alignmentbasics.htm

I haven't paid for an alignment yet as my front tires were junk before... so why try to save them.... Play around with it. I had a simmilar problem (plus car was pulling left) I out a little more negative camber on the drivers side wheel and it tracks strait and the tires seem to wear evenly.

I actually painted across the width of them and drove up the street checking to see where they were wearing fastest a few times. so far no problems.

When you lowered it did you move the C/C plate at all? Looking from the front make sure your tires lean in at the top slightly.

There are a few decent sites on how to do a driveway alignment if you have the time... Sounds like it takes about 4 hours...

Chris


You know I cant remeber adjusting the CC plate at all. I did front struts the same time I did the springs but I dont think I ever messed with the CC plates. Just unbolted the top of the strut and pulled it out. Right now my tires do lean in at the top slightly. And the drop really wasnt much at all thats why I was hoping I could go without the CC plates for a while. Thanks guys I think I will go and get it aligned sat morning.
 
MysteryMachine said:
AH i figure i need it aligned after i put all my new parts on anyway so hopefully its good enough to drive to the shop and they can deal with it. I just hope they have the bumpsteer checker thing


Bumpsteer checker? Are you running 275's all the way around? I have em out back and 245's up front. Since I cant rotate them I really want to make sure I can get the most out of the front ones since I cant just throw em on the back and roast em once they get worn.
 
I run about 2.5 deg of camber daily and its fine. I do get a bit of inside wear but as soon as I rotate the tires the rear end wears them even. If the camber isnt noticable to you then its prolly around -1 and I wouldent worry about it too much. However CC plates are always a good investment. I recommend the MM 4-bolt ones. Cant go wrong with those. There cheaper than others and are prolly the best ones you can get.