Hello,

I recently went in for an alignment after reverting back to the OEM set-up and installing Z1 FUCAs. Despite being in the 'green' for just about everything, the handling is just....screwed up. I expected the handling characteristics to not be as good as the coil over set-up but the car has a nasty habit of getting overly skittish and squirrely at random. To be honest, if I were to drive the car in rain or snow I'd be scared. It happens every time I travel over an uneven surface or make a semi-quick movement (lane change). Even a hard stomp on the throttle will make the make end shifty and break loose. Anyways, here's my spec sheet:

My first thought was the caster was too out of wack but reading online states otherwise. I experimented and adjusted the Z1 FUCAs so that both sides were even and pushed the wheels forward a bit. No changes. I have my own suspicions as to what it might be but wanted to get opinions first. I figure the track experienced members might be able to spot my issue quickly vs. me guessing. I'll add, endlinks are fine (brand new in fact) and I visually inspected all bushings in the front and back and nothing jumps out or would lead me to believe it's a bad bushing. The problems started right after the FUCA install and alignment. Also worth noting, the FUCAs are maxed in the sense that they cannot be retracted any further to add negative camber. Only extended to add positive camber. If I'm unable to find a solution, I'll probably have to put the coil overs back on. Any insight that could be offered would be greatly appreciated.

 

Start with toe then camber, caster iirc is not adjustable on stock setup

 

Other than the car having a little better grip turning to the left than the right, I see nothing obviously wrong. Less toe both front and rear will make your tires last longer.

I suspect you might have a loose alignment bolt.

With the SPL FUCA, I had no issue with alignment with an otherwise stock suspension. Your front end could use further investigation.

 

That's the only thing I can think that would've happened. I thought maybe the camber being odd like it is would've done it but if it's factory specs I can't see why it would cause the car to jerk violently like it does. The rear is fine looking at the spec sheet but you're right, the front seems a bit peculiar.

 

Wanted to update since I heard back from the shop. They re-inspected the alignment and took the car out for a test drive. Test drive revealed the 'loose' rear end action that I was experiencing. They pulled the car back in and put it on the lift to inspect the bushings. To everyone's surprise, the SPC rear camber arms' bushings had gone bad. They certainly passed the visual inspection but when a prybar was applied, there was A LOT of play present with minimal force.

I passed on the $400+ replacement bill but I'm very surprised the SPC RCAs went bad that quickly. I had installed them when the car was lowered and ran them that way for only 7-8k miles. I'll be looking into a refund (if possible) and going back to the stock arms since I'm back at OEM height.