Hytek

Here's mine. First 2 are the passenger side. After seeing yours they don't look to bad....makes me want to get mine checked out since I never got an alignment.

laserred38

You realize negative camber isn't...a bad thing...right? It will actually help your handling/turn in. It can increase bump steer though. Any time you make significant changes to the factory suspension, you have to account for all the other parts that go along with your change. You can't be cheap with your $40k car. Do it right or save up until you can mod correctly. If you only drive 2k miles a year, it's not a big deal. I'd take it back to the shop and have them get it more even, but on my SN95 I had -1.5* dialed in on both sides for my daily ride. Handled great, had NO ill effect on tire wear, but I did gain a lot of bump steer - the bump steer kit was one of my next purchases before I stopped driving the car.

Womprat

I run the Steeda X5 ball joints and previously had the bumpsteer kit and Camber plates(J&M). I took out the camber plates as one bearing developed a hint of play and J&M replaced both under warranty, but I did not reinstall them. The Steeda bumpsteer kit has soft threads on the shaft and they were all boogered up on disassembly, so I put stock ends on and went with camber bolts instead of the plates. With H&R race springs and Tokico D-Spec struts and neg camber setting on the bolts I am about -1.4 each side. I ran a BMR adj. panhard bar previously and now run the J&M aluminum adj. rod. BMR unit is nice but the powder coating did not hold up well and the bushings werent poly, but I got a deal on it when they just came out with it and it looks like they went poly which is good.
It rides very tight but I think the bumpsteer kit helped and will be adding another, just not Steeda, as that unit lasted a year and a half of DD and is in my opinion a one-time install item, much like their adj. end links for the front sway bar, which also lasted a year, now running stock. I would recommend you have another qualified shop go over your setup and try to dial it in a little tighter. Good luck!

As a side note I can run 17" stock GT rims with the X5 and bumpsteer kit.

m4a1mustang

Negative camber is nice (if you like the way it drives that way), but having the ability to adjust camber to pretty much whatever you want is even better.

laserred38

Well of course, I agree. I have MM C/C plates on my car

FromZto5

Yeah I think yours are not as negative as mine, esp on the pass side. Mine are aligned (allegedly), but that camber is just way too negative on mine, I think.

I wish it was -1.5 on mine only...I think if I recall what he told me, my pass side was -1.75 to -2. How is that possible only on one side??? While the other is like -1.3? Did he/they just not do it right? I am contemplating taking it back there tomorrow and making them try better to get it better than that. Is it worth it you think?

Should I just break down and get mm plates??? Now have of me is thinking just bolts...

laserred38

It's hard for me to say with the S197s. I know SN95 guys who were fine with the camber bolts, and I ran them for years with no problems. I also drove HARD on my car and would take weekly drives up the local twisty roads. The only reason I upgraded to the CC plates was because I was planning on running full coilovers and finally had the money for it. Then I stopped driving the car. Once I get around to rebuilding it from the ground up, I'm not sure what my plans will be, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there

laserred38

Btw it is possible to be that off on one side. Do you stay and watch when they work on your car? Alignments aren't always the prettiest work haha. It's very trial and error. The computer is very accurate with the sensors they use, but the actual "adjusting" is pretty crude.

Tony Alonso

Do you have a printout of the measurements? Regarding the rear wheels, the only adjustment that can be done is on the axle. The tires themselves aren't really adjustable in the stock suspension configuration with the live axle.

FromZto5

Yeah I called them back, the guy who worked on my car won't be in till Wednesday. But from what I recall, it was -1.3 on one side, -1.7 on the other. Also, toe is all within spec... drives straight, etc... so from what I understand, wear from neg camber won't be as bad as long as the other categories are within spec/aligned. Also, I only will be putting 1500 miles a year on her, so I don't think I will need to do anything... and leave as is. What you guys think? Might not be worth it. I also will rotate the tires 2x a year... so what is that, 750 miles per rotation???

Still thinking about camber bolts though... if anything, I will do what I need to do in spring... it's starting to flurry snow today

Tony Alonso

After having the person who did the alignment review again (and potentially adjust), I would do nothing further since you won't be driving it that much.

m4a1mustang

I'm picky and would want my camber to be the same on both sides.

FromZto5

Yeah he gets back Wednesday, so I will contact/drop it off then... I may just end up with eibach or bmr bolts tho, to fix ky camber... Then the same on both

FromZto5

Alright guys.... I'm at another reputable shop here. Guy brought me out to shop floor with all 4 wheels on alignment rack, showed me -1.3 on driver then -1.8 on pass. He then showed me Ford's recommendations for how to get to alignment which is to slot the holes. So i went with that. He's working on it right now, and I'm shooting for -.8 on both sides....... I appreciate the customer service and getting me out there and showing me what's going on goes a long way.

This makes me feel much better running -.8.

m4a1mustang

You should have told him to get the other side down to -1.8

FromZto5

Very funny Steve!!! Hey you like my new signature??? I made sure I echoed you

Ok! Got her home... drove straight as an arrow, and I had some fun on some corners. She corners like a dream, and now I don't have to worry about uneven tire wear, etc.... And I also don't have to worry about flimsy camber bolts that can slip or snap.

Here are the pics of the "correct" post alignment, along with a printout of the numbers. Thanks to all who helped me out the last couple days. My mods are complete... for now....

driver's side




pass side




alignment printout





You know what I find really annoying though? Bless their heart, for they know not what they do (I sound like someone from the bible )... anyways, I told them NOT TO TOUCH THE PAINT. That's the problem with shops that you take it to...... Folks don't really have the same insane desire to protect paint the way I do. So I told them to please be uber careful with the paint. So anyways, I see them from the waiting room, closing the door using their hands, yes greasy hands. (Folks are supposed to touch the rubber trim and not the paint). So I figured, ok, I can get rid of the grease easy. I get her home, put her under my surgical lights, and I see SWIRLS and MARRING on my driver's door! No grease. So what happened was (I assume, a very good guess), they saw their fingerprints, and attempted to use a "clean shop towel" or something to that effect... and proceed to wipe my door. arrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggh....... I cringe at that thought.

So anyways, I spent over an hour, just now, buffing that door to get it back to a mirror finish. Hell, they even wiped/swirled up the door handle... sheeeesh.

I know I know... most of you guys don't care about paint the way I do, but I just thought I'd share my frustration...... ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHH

at least now she's all fixed up and perfect again, in EVERY possible way. And that's all that matters.

Tony Alonso

Congrats - look much better!

FromZto5

Thanks Tony! Indeed it does. Drives better too.

m4a1mustang

Love it, bro. Not sure if you missed this one or not:



Just happened to have the angles pretty close with my 370 and my 5.0... put them together.

FromZto5

Thx Steve... Yes I saw that photoshop that looked awesome! So that red z was yours? I thought it was Dan's.