camber/suspension kit Q's

[mitsugsx95]

I plan on getting the tokico illumina adj. for my GSX and was wondering if anyone else had these on thier AWD? Will i have to get a camber kit or not? I plan on lowering it 1.75in with the tokico spring/shock package. The main question i have is that will i need a camber kit when i put the susp. on, or can it be done at a later time?

 

[RochDSM99GSX]

Whether or not you will need a camber correction kit depends on two things: is the alignment to be a "street" alignment, or an "autocross" or "track" alignment? And can the alignment be accomplished using the factory adjustments?

If you aren't racing the car in autox or track, then I'd assume you'd want a street alignment. In other words, return the alignment to factory specs. Lowering the car will increase negative camber (desireable for autox) and affect toe. Both will wear out your tires, and if severe, could damage suspension components and be a safety issue.

With the drop you're talking about, getting the car back to factory spec without aftermarket adjusters is debatable. The rears can be shimmed out using high-grade washers to adjust the camber (there's a faq for this, but I can't find it right now - it might be in the dsm.org archives, if they still exist). Don't use basic steel washers - this is a load bearing mounting. Do a search, you'll probably find the faq. The fronts require adjusters - probably the offset bushing type.

To answer your main question - no, the adjusters don't need to be installed when you put the suspension on. It can be done later.

*But* (there's always a but, huh?)
It is always faster and easier to install the camber adjusters while you're doing the suspension. If you do it later, you'll just have to do some things again.
But more importantly, any time you make a change to your suspension, you should have the alignment done. The toe is the critical thing - if your ride height changes, the toe changes. This will shred your tires quickly if you don't get the alignment done. Then if you go back in later to install the camber adjusters, you've possibly changed the alignment. You'll have to pay for another alignment.

You'll save time and money by doing it all at once.

 

[Doug99RS]

http://www.carolinadsm.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?;act=ST;f=17;t=1466

The link above is from where I did an alignment on a friend's GST. We used the shims mentioned in the VFAQ but the only on one side as mentioned in the post. We could have done a better job but the bolts my friend purchased were not the right thread so we had to use the stockers which limited the number of shims we wanted to use.

Like Roch said it all depends on how long you're going to drive it after dropping it, what you're going to use the car for and what the alignment condition is prior to any changes.

The Illuminas are a good choice. I've got them on my RS and know many who run them on their GS, GST, and GSX. Nothing but praise for street purposes and yet still nice for the occasional autocrosser. Only complaints I've heard were they don't hold up when you change out to really high rate springs.

Replacing just the struts (2g applications only) won't change your alignment much more than driving the car 12,000 miles or so. Dropping it on the other hand will change both camber and caster.
Doug