Just lowered and now need alignment

Yesterday I lowered my car using Eibach Pro-kit springs and Bilstein HD's. I must say the car handles so much better. The ride is a lot firmer and I feel the road a lot better. My question is, I went to get it aligned today. They asked if there were new specifications for the car since it is now lowred. Do the specs change from factory once the car is lowered? It doesn't make sence to me that they would. Secondly, my tie rods are bad. The drivers side wheel has about a quarter inch play back and forth. I just replaced my tie rod about 4 months ago. What would be causing it to go bad so quickly? The other side is tight with no play.

Sure it isn't your wheel bearings the play is coming from?

I make tie rods. IMO it usually isn't something the car does. Rather a faulty tie rod could be to blame.

There are alignment specs that give better results than the stock alignment specs, for both stock ride height and lowered cars. Check the 4th Gen FAQ for some recommendations:

http://www.f-body.org/faq/4/4_5.htm

With the Pro-Kits I had mine aligned at -1.0deg camber, +4.0deg caster and 0.1 toe, and it handled well and had no irregular tire wear.

Also check your ball joints for wear.

what would be the alignment specs on the Sportlines kit?

hey redrider how hard was the spring and struts, shocks to put on, any advice or pointers, what size tires are you running? :bow:

The front shocks were definitely the hardest of the two. My problem was since they were the stockers and after 86k miles on them, the nuts were rusted. After raising up the car and taking off the rims, you will have to disconnect the sway bar and loosen all the bolts holding on the assembly. You will need a spring compressor to compress the spring about 2 inches or so. Since the bolt on the end of the strut was completely rusted, I hacksawed the strut. The rears were easy, just pull up the carpet and loosen two bolts and the shock came right out. Once the shock was out, the spring was loose enough to pull it right out.

I am running 17x9 ZR1s with 275/40's. There is a slight squeak when I go around left hand turns, which just means i need to readjust my panhard bar.

thanks for the reply....do you like your sportlines? i have 18 z06 wheels so im am going to have to be carefull on the bumps! haha :bow:

I don't have the sportlines but the pro-kit. They don't seem to be that low but maybe because the springs need to settle some.