Wednesday, August 31, 2005 - 11:51 pm, by: Kris Blackler(Sleekcar)
i have been told my car needs a wheel alignment and to be totally honest i know nothing about the issue. does the car have a variety of settings that work or just the 1? if so what should i tell my mechanic i want to be done? from memory i saw somewhere someone posted their configuration.
Thursday, September 01, 2005 - 12:21 am, by: James Barnett(James85)
Kris, go to the "Soarer Specifications and Useful Information" section on the front page. What you're looking for should be the top post there... "Soarer Wheel Alignment Specifications"}
Thursday, September 01, 2005 - 12:41 am, by: Benny Gammelmark(Oldfield)
If you don't already know: In the engine bay there's a plaque that amongst other things says MODEL. It will say UZZ30 or UZZ31. My guess is you have a UZZ30 since you want to lower it. A UZZ31 with air suspension you can lower using a height controller.
Your mechanic may not be able to do exactly what the specifications say but he should try to get as close as possible (worn bushes will make it impossible to get exact). First time this often takes up to 90 minutes. If he does it in 1/2 hour then it's probably not done correctly/well enough. A good wheel alignment usually cost around $100.
Get your mechanic to tell you the state of the bushes. If they're very bad it compromises ride and handling.
Thursday, September 01, 2005 - 01:20 am, by: Roger Costello(Roger)
Kris
If you want it done properly try Wilkinson Suspension in Bayswater. 81 Beechboro Rd Bayswater (08) 9370 2646 They know Soarers, are not expensive and they do it properly. They can also advise accurately on the state of your bushes etc. If they need replacing don't use anything except VFT or Toyota bushes unless you are a masochist or are selling the car to someone you don't like. There are much cheaper options but they suck.
Thursday, September 01, 2005 - 08:18 pm, by: Kris Blackler(Sleekcar)
i have a 31 with controller but i want to lower it a bit more. i have taken the care to wa suspensions in osbourne park and they said bushes are fine and suspension has no visible problems. it just needs a wheel alignment as it appears to be toeing out. what would be a safe heigh to drop the car down to so i dont have to worry about curbs and speed humps?
Thursday, September 01, 2005 - 09:08 pm, by: Benny Gammelmark(Oldfield)
No further than you can do with the controller. I will hit speed humps if I go beyond 2 (and it goes to 9). My cats DO take up more space than the normal ones so say 4 with normal cats.
Why do you want it so low? Do you want to get defected?
Thursday, September 01, 2005 - 09:44 pm, by: Roger Costello(Roger)
Kris, If the car is "toeing out" I would guess the front LCA bushes are stuffed. This is a very common symptom. It is not possible to visually check the bushes without some disassembly. An expert can usually tell because they either won't be able to get it to spec or it won't hold an alignment. Do you hear a "clunk" when you brake in reverse?
If it was me I would order a set of front lower control arm bushes from VFT and buy 4 new roll bar bushes from Toyota, take the car to Wilkinson's and get them to fit them and align it properly. The lower you run the car the more stress you put on the airbags. No problem if they are new but 14 year old ones will be more likely to leak and die.
To be frank dumping a Soarer especially a UZZ31 is something I would avoid on the road. All the roll centers and geometry are messed up and to anyone who knows anything about suspension design it looks like a triumph of style over function. By all means lower it with the controller when parked or for show but if you want to go round corners or have it ride and handle properly leave it standard. The UZZ31 drops at freeway speeds anyway. If you look under the front of the car the plastic lower tank on the radiator sits on a thin metal undertray support, perfect for getting smacked while parking etc. The cost of going low can be quite high as in $1,700 for front air struts plus new radiator plus fitting plus aggravation.
Thursday, September 01, 2005 - 11:19 pm, by: Kris Blackler(Sleekcar)
hehe nah not chasing the defect Benny. i kept thinking bushes aswell but when they put it on their testing machine and made the surfaceplate under the tyres move they said that the bushes seemed fine. i can see what your are saying about the lowering of the car and the stress it causes and you have probably turned me away from lowering it. i dont get a clunk when i hit the brakes when i reverse (only this stupid squeeky noise when its cold). when i say lower it i meant by an inch or so, not super low. how much for an aftermarket controller and will it do any damage to my suspension? thanks alot for your help everyone ps: how much all up for the bush's
Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 01:33 pm, by: David Vaughan(Davidv)
My car was starting to pull left so I went in to Pedders to get the wheels aligned, after first asking them whether they were familiar with Soarers and had done a few. They offered assurance on both counts. I provided the factory specs of course, highlighting that my car was a UZZ31.
When I picked the car up I found they had done something different. Their settings were the same for Caster and King Pin angles. However, Front Camber was set at 20 minutes negative rather than zero and front Toe at +1 rather than -1 mm. Rear Toe was set to zero rather than -4mm and rear Camber to 10 minutes negative rather than 1 degree 10 minutes.
Fairly obviously, I queried this. The manager asserted that the settings were based on their long experience, were suited for Australian rather than Japanese conditions and would reduce tyre wear at the rear. Having little time available, I extracted a promise to change the settings to factory if I desired and went about what else I needed to do. Since I have the weekend available before going back next week, I would like some analysis from forum members.
Has anyone used non-factory settings? Why?
Has anyone set static camber at front or rear based on tyre temperature readings? With what change, if any?
If you fitted stiffer anti-roll bars, did you reduce rear camber in consequence? Why not?
I expect that the change from toe-in to toe-out at the front will destabilise the car a little (although not badly because caster will handle straight line stability) and give more aggressive turn-in. I expect that the rear changes will reduce stability, especially on dropped throttle in a turn or hitting a bump, reduce grip in a turn and wear the tyres less while cruising on the highway. However, those are just my readings of the texts and I am not a professional engineer. What are your views or knowledge?
Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 04:26 pm, by: Benny Gammelmark(Oldfield)
I've heard this about doing it for Oz road conditions. Why are they so different?
Both countries are rhd so roads should slope the same way if at all. I'm of the persuasion that you should get as close as possible to factory settings. There's a reason for these settings and I doubt that rougher roads would change much.
Just my 2c.
Don Bagnall Moderator New Zealand 1991 UZZ30 GT4.0 V8
Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 04:31 pm, by: Don Bagnall(Baggs)
As Benny says. I see no reason to change from factory spec. When I had the wheel alignment done on our UZZ30, they had the factory Soarer specs pre-loaded in the alignment computer (Hunter brand). And there is even LESS difference between Kiwi & Oz roads
Sunday, January 22, 2006 - 01:07 am, by: Dan McColl(Hoon)
I set mine up different, I have -2.5 camber on the front and -1.5 on the rear. Front toe is set to 0.0. Everything else is factory.
My reasons are that I enjoy corners, and I got it done before the black spur / chum ck cruise.
I haven't had a chance to have it straightened up since, And I'm looking for a decent aligner. The last time I had to take it back 3 times and it still wasn't quite right.
It is wearing the inside of the tyres a fair bit, now. I have been doing a lot of hwy driving lately. It wore very evenly across the full face on the black spur, though.
Sunday, January 22, 2006 - 09:09 am, by: Mark Paddick(Sparks)
The guy mis-read the specs when doing mine and I ended up with quite a bit of rear camber...I love it for corners. Has a bit on the front too with extra caster for better straight ahead stability (done for the 35mm offset wheels, probably don't need it now with 50mm). Tyre wear doesn't seem to be a problem.
He agreed that he'd stuffed up and i took it back to fix it....ended up winding in a bit more just to see what would happen and we've left it that way. Corners??....love 'em!
Sunday, January 22, 2006 - 10:56 am, by: Mark Paddick(Sparks)
Front toe is about stock as is rear, maybe slightly more rear. Rear camber is getting up a bit, about 2 deg, no obvious problems with that. Not so much on the front but a bit more than stock. Even if tyre wear is a bit high, no signs yet, I think it's worth it for the improved handling; and it IS improved especially with a little lowering. I will be getting it done again soon as i still have a little pulling to left.
Monday, January 23, 2006 - 07:19 am, by: David Vaughan(Davidv)
You mean at the front, Dan. I find it interesting that the factory spec puts no camber on the front but over a degree at the rear.
No-one has suggested they use toe-out at the front, which is what Pedders have done to my car. While I understand the effect, I think it would be fairly unusual to toe-out a road car.
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