Circuit Friendly Alignment?

[NickR33]

Hi guys...

just a quick one, my car is in the garage and I haven't had it aligned for ages so I think its due... especially since I got air over a ripple strip as I straight lined turn one at sandown and its been a bit wonky ever since

its an R33GTSt running:

the SK group buy kit Bilstiens with King springs

Whiteline sway bars set on medium front and back

Azenis rt615, 225's front 255's back

I was going to go for as much neg camber at the front as possible but I only have stock adjustment so I think 1.5º will be as much as I can get? Neg camber at the back will be about 0.5º... this should be fine as is, I have the adjustable bushes in there

Wheel to guard measurements are 350mm front and 350mm back, there is probably a 5-10mm rake towards the front

as for toe, last time I had it set I think it was set toe in front and back but should I be looking at toe out at the front and toe in at the back? and by how much?

I'm not stressed at tire wear but for reference at the moment it seems to chew the middle/outsides of the fronts and the insides/middle of the rears

um what else... I have the adjustable castor bushes at the front so have about 7º there from memory

pineapples in the rear set to squat

hicas is still active (if that makes a difference)

stock vlsd struggles to put the power down out of 90º, second gear corners (sometimes it single spins in third gear too...eeew) don't know if alignment can help here but thought I would ask

geez that turned into an essay, sorry! any help is aprreciated

[Beer Baron]

well there is not much you can set really, there is no standard camber adjustment on the front so you can't change that.

castor go for as much as you can out of the bushes

I would try 1mm toe out each side and see if you like it.

maybe a bit of toe in at the rear 1mm each side.

rear camber is ok, but if it were me I'd try a little bit more, maybe go to 1 or 1.5 degree neg.

unfortunately the only things you can adjust from standard is toe, and rear camber. plus you know have some castor adjustment which helps, but some camber adjustment at the front would be good.

[NickR33]

cheers beer baron... will try the toe out at the front and see if I like it... what's the best way to get some more negative camber at the front? do the whiteline bushes allow you to go for more neg camber? they are the only part of the gb kit I didn't get as I was happy with the camber at that stage...

also would a front strut brace help? I don't have one as I was always skeptical at how much they improve handling

[BHDave]

I'd get a strut brace, it will stiffen up the front end a touch and every little bit helps.

Front camber adjustment would also be beneficial. The whiteline bushes will let you wind a bit more in.

It's also worth thinking about swaybars followed by a diff. $200 per end for swaybars is just a bargain when you consider what a difference they will make to the handling of the car.

[NickR33]

yeah I think if I can get close to 2º neg camber out of the whiteline bushes that will do the trick... I have swaybars already and yes I would definately recommend them

strut tower brace I'm still unsure about but I guess for around $100 it can't hurt... who makes a really thick/sturdy strut brace for r33? Cusco? Whiteline?

[BHDave]

doh!

missed that, i even read it twice to make sure!

[Eug]

i found that neither my front nor rear strutbraces did much... i already had swaybars (like yourself) and the gains if any were not noticeable. the struts on skylines are reasonably stiff as they are.

[Crossie]

i put a cusco type st up the front of my 33 and certainly noticed the difference

[Beer Baron]

strut bar is much of a muchness. it's just a piece of bar. chose a brand you like the look of.

whiteline front upper control arm bushes will give you some camber adjustment, or use some replacement upper arms.

[NickR33]

edited, cheers beer baron

here's another question, how much neg camber are people squeezing out of the whiteline bushes? and at what ride height? just want to make sure I can get the adjustment I want otherwise I will get replacement arms

[Roy]

Honestly, be careful with camber. Im running 3.5deg and the trips to Phillip Island, Sandown and DECA have been enough to eat the inside shoulder. It works really well. But im going to wind it back a little as it clearly is too far towards track.

I used to have -3.5 deg usign bushes, but you need to run an adjustable inner and outer. But again, when i get some more spring into the car im going to get soem cusco castor arms and try to get about 6.5 castor and wind the camber back to about 2.5. you can get around 2.2-2.3 out of a single adjustable bush

[NickR33]

yeah I reckon -2.3 would be plenty for my car, if I can get that out of the single bush I'll be happy

[FineLine]

My 33 gtst came with a front brace no rear brace and stock suspension.Ist purchase was a rear brace and i did notice a difference. It definitely tightened the back and a little. Next up came the adjustable whitleline sway bars. These things are great. even on stock springs and shocks i can dial in under/oversteer to a degree and i still havnt fully explored them yet.

Not sure where to go from here. Thinking I might do the cradle and diff bushes etc plus better control arm bushes. As to what coilovers I will end up I think the reccos by Sk will be the way to go.

Most lines I have experienced with a/m sus ride like billy carts. I dont particularly want that. If the euros can dish up a well behaved package that still delivers excellent ride quality I dont see why it cant be done on a skyline.

[Gts-t]

Whats the deal with adjustable strut bars, like the r33 and i think the r34 gtr have factory?

[tacker]

My old car is track only so not to sure how these setting will be in road car.

Fronts

4 deg castor

5 deg- camber Cusco upper arms

1mm toe each side

rear

1.5 -deg camber

1.5mm toe out each side lock bar in place.

struts

cusco front

cusco three way strut

cusco front tension rod ( inbetween the castor arm mounting point ).

sway bars both cusco

ohlin shocks

It quite neutral in its handling unless to heavy on the throttle at apex then will under steer a little, very pleased though.

Edited May 24, 2007 by tacker

[tjandriesen]

Most lines I have experienced with a/m sus ride like billy carts. I dont particularly want that. If the euros can dish up a well behaved package that still delivers excellent ride quality I dont see why it cant be done on a skyline.

I'm running the SK package with stock shocks/spring. Very tight feel and handles well but still a very comfortable ride.

[dontfeelcold]

My old car is track only so not to sure how these setting will be in road car.

Fronts

4 deg castor

5 deg- camber Cusco upper arms

1mm toe each side

rear

1.5 -deg camber

1.5mm toe out each side lock bar in place.

struts

cusco front

cusco three way strut

cusco front tension rod ( inbetween the castor arm mounting point ).

sway bars both cusco

ohlin shocks

It quite neutral in its handling unless to heavy on the throttle at apex then will under steer a little, very pleased though.

I recommend more throttle mid corner to get those wheels spinng lol

[evil_weevil]

How did you go with the sway bars?

Leave them both on medium?

My car has same set up as yours (cept whiteline springs) - I have a front strut brace and am waiting now for sy kid camber front and rear (been 6 weeks now....) so would I am interested on peoples thoughts for the sway bar settings.

apparantly mine are

front - medium

rear - hard

Oh, and Ive got the castor adjustser from the group buy also

[NickR33]

yep left them both on medium... I have had the rear on hard before and to tell you the truth it probably handled better that way but I went faster with it on medium so I left it alone... if I put it back on hard it might help stop the diff from spinning the unloaded wheel