Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

I finally had some time to get my alignment checked after installing Aragosta Type S dampers on my car. The drop front and rear is less than an inch total.

I really want to keep as many of the stock suspension components as possible to keep NVH down. I still have that rear traction issue that I think only stickier tires and wider rims will fix.

Anyway, opinions welcome. I haven't had the car corner weighted yet either but would like to do so.



Distant cousins.

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Looks like they did a good job getting everything to a reasonable setting. I wouldn't have any issues running that all day long.


BTW, what tires are you running, and what are you considering?

slartibartfast

iTrader: (7)

The graphics for toe are confusing to me. Do you have toe-in or toe-out in the rear?

Zero toe on both ends is best for wear and agility but for stability and safety reasons one should run a smidgen of toe-in in the rear on the street.

I assume you didn't need aftermarket camber arms? Rather mild drop.

Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

I'm on the stock REO50A's now. They stick fine in the corners. Going to go with Michelin PSS but only when I buy a set of wider wheels (9.5's all around). The car was on the Infiniti maintenance program so the Bridgestones were new at 20K miles.

slartibart, Not sure on the toe, have to find some reading glasses and get a closer look.

I believe a drop of 1.25" and greater necessitates camber arms from what I've read on this forum.

Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

So reading up a bit on toe, I think you'd want positive toe in the rear as when you accelerate, the bushings flex and you actually move towards zero toe. Reading my graph, I have .15 toe in on the rear.

slartibartfast

iTrader: (7)

I'm going to read Olley's book again. I know he says to have slight toe-in at the rear for stability reasons. And I think behavior under braking is more important than that under acceleration.

Now, a small bit of positive camber at normal height should help flatten the contact patch under hard acceleration.

VenomGT9

iTrader: (4)

You want toe in up front and slight toe out in the rear...
I really hate their graphic from that shop

Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

Maybe I should get some clarification on the numbers...I won't have time to swing by there until Sunday but yeah, the graphics thing kinda sucks.

Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

Revisiting this. My total drop is essentially .9" front, .7" rear. I do periodic inspections on my G and decided to look everything over when it was time for an oil change. Jacked the car up and noticed abnormal wear on the inner edge of the front tires. The right side is worse than the left. Have to say, after the alignment, I thought the car felt a bit strange but blew it off as needing to adjust to the new settings. Have to say it's stupid good in the corners and coming out of fast sweepers even if it does still understeer in the slow stuff.

The rear tires are ok and wearing fairly evenly. I still have amazingly poor traction and I've had enough. Seeing that I'll need new rubber, at least up front, I'm looking at a few things to correct and prevent abnormal wear up front and help solve the traction issues in the rear. I'm also going to have the dealer check and see if my VLSD is actually working (I'm seriously wondering if it is).

For the front, it's a simple solution with upper control arms. I "think" I'm going to go with the Voodoo's as I don't have much of a drop and won't need a ton of correction. I can also save $100 over the SPL's.

For the rear, I'm assuming it's a camber and toe issue. I just don't have a good suspension specialist around here and the last shop I went for the alignment, didn't give much in the way of feedback or ask any questions. So with that said, I'd like to be able to adjust to optimal (aka a balance between acceleration traction and cornering) and get those numbers as close to possible.

I know the cheap solution is the camber bolts but I don't want to cut the car and I want to be able to dial in things exactly. So I'd need rear camber arms. But what about traction bars? Since I still have the OEM spring location, I can't do mid links. I've also read that as long as my drop is minimal, toe won't be a problem? But then I remember my traction issues and wonder if they'd help.

The third part of the equation is wheels and tires. I think I've finally settled on a wheel and will be going with a square 19x9.5" setup, 255's all around, PSS for tires. Had to make a bit of a compromise on the wheel color and offset but it'll all work in the end. Can't wait for the PSS replacements due this spring (which really sucks!), I'll be into the cords on the fronts here shortly if I don't replace them.

And thank god for Black Friday. I'm looking at a pretty good chunk of change to "fix" the wear and traction issues.

Think I can get away without the traction arms in the rear and just go with camber arms? Was really hoping not to spend a ton on the G as I'm eyeing the RS3 but I honestly enjoy the Infiniti despite the niggling things that bug me. If I fix the suspension issues and finally get a tune, I might be really, really satisfied with the car overall.

Presto

With your mild drop in the rear you should be able to get away with just rear camber arms.

I had to get the toe bolt as well cause the kw drops the rear an insane amount. The aftermarket toe bolts are a pain in the butt as you need to enlarge the hole in the subframe and the toe keeps changing depending on how hard you drive so I have to get an alignment every month lol.

Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

Yeah I definitely don't want to do an alignment every month and I've heard the bolts move. I know the traction arms can adjust toe so if I feel the need, I can always add them later. Tires are expensive enough as is. I probably could have gone a full year on the OEM Bridgestones without the alignment issue up front. Hoping the PSS will wear a bit better.

Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

Well as much as I wanted the Voodoo13 upper camber arms I found a deal on the new SPC 73005 set that I couldn't pass up. Saved me more than $200 vs the SPL's best Black Friday price I could find. Two things swayed me; zero clearance issues where the Voodoo unit required some grinding. Second, no increase in NVH but they're more stiff than the stock bushings. I currently have no qualms with turn-in or maintaining an arc while going through a corner. Plus I'm not tracking the car.

Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

Update two: I ordered SPL rear camber arms which, I understand, come with toe bolts.

I stopped by the shop that did the original alignment and I'm having the toe checked again in the morning (couldn't do it today) but looking at my specs, he's positive it's the camber, and not the toe, that caused the inner tire wear. So...going to do the right thing and add camber adjustment front and rear. Sucks as everything I've read, running such a mild drop, I shouldn't have to.

But with -1.3 in front, it's just too much for normal tire wear. Minimum is -1.16. I'm sure the toe settings didn't help. Same for the back. -1.6 is a lot with the minimum being -1.75. So I'm in range but with my traction issues, I need a bit less camber. So I'll try to get it back to -1.25 and go from there.

The 370Z guys highly recommended upgrading the rear differential over the VLSD and I may do that. The costly way, going with the Wavetrac, will involve me sourcing a manual diff housing, sending to Z1, and having them do all the hard work while I'd do the actual install. All told, that'll run me about $2300. I can probably do it for less by sourcing everything and having it locally installed or just going with a Quaife and maybe skipping the differential bushing upgrades since I have less than 30K miles.

I do have wider tires and wheels on the way and I want to see what sort of a difference that makes with an optimal alignment before spending even more money.

Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

Rechecked my alignment this morning, way off up front. Here are the new numbers.


They reset my toe which was also off, especially on one side. Just too much camber front AND rear even with such a mild drop. I'm sure that rear camber isn't helping with my traction issues.

Presto

Next time can you please write on the side which is camber, toe, which numbers are before and which are after it will help as that print out is so hard to read.
You front tyre wear was definitely due to the toe. Our cars dont seem to hold the alignment very long. I think an alignment every oil change is required lol