I will be installing H Sport lowering springs on the MCS - - they lower the car about one inch front & rear. I know that this will increase negative camber a bit, but will it be necessary to have alignment checked/adjusted? In this connetion, can rear alignment even be adjusted?

Thanks

 

I currently have eibach spring on which lower it 1" and I had the alignment checked and everything is fine. I did adjust the rear camber so I am -1.5 but my MCS is an 05 and they do allow for small adjustment. But you shouldn't need an alignment (from my experience).

 

Many people had their H Sport spring installed and didn't need alignment but my Alta spring does. Had to install adjustable control arm before alignment.

 

I had H-Sports installed last weekend on my 2005 MCSa. I also had custom-fabricated rear control arms (by Steve's Auto Clinic in North Hills, CA - thanks Steve (not me, another Steve)). Although the MCS has some adjustability in the existing control arms, from what I saw it would be tough to get proper alignment without more adjustability. Plus, the aftermarket control arms are much beefier.

Steve

 

If you have an 05' MCS your rear control arms will allow for a little rear camber adjustment in the range of -1.0 to -1.5 degrees.

If you have an earlier year MCS then there is no adjustment you can make with stock suspension parts. To adjust front camber you'll need front camber plates and for rear camber adjustment you'll need rear lower control arms that are adjustable.

For most people that add H-sport springs to an MCS you can try driving the car and seeing how smoothly you run on rougher roads. If you feel it is OK then leave it alone. If you feel your ride quality is much worse then get an alignment done to adjust toe settings within the stock range and if you have the 05' MCS then adjust rear camber (-1.0 degrees for smoother and -1.5 degrees for better cornering).

When I added H-sport springs to my 03' MCS with H-sport rear lower control arms my front camber was -0.5 degrees and rear camber was -2.4 degrees before alignment. My ride quality was horrible and very jarring- like my dash was rattling off my car when on rough highways. Once I got alignment all was much smoother.

 

I had my h-sports installed a month ago and asked randy that very same question and he said that there is NO need for an alignment

 

No alignment needed on my H-sports either. runs great

 

I just installed the Tein S-Tech springs on my MC...1.2 in the front, and 1.1 in the rear. The front camber looks like it did not change a bit, and the back does not look too bad, but it already had a noticable bit of negative camber, especially visible with 18" wheels.

The thing that i think is strange, is that it seems there is a more noticable degree of "toe-in" on the rear, and it looks kind of strange from the rear. I plan on getting the hotchkis rear control arms to help with the camber...but has anybody noticed an issue with the 'toe-in'???

... I was blown away with the way my car handles now...cant wait to get the sway bars!!!

 

Why not just get a tape measurer or string and measure it?

 

YellowBellyMini -

Yes, I did see a change in toe when I installed M7 springs on my MCS. I put the springs, lower rear control arms and a 22mm rear sway in.

The Camber wasn't too bad, but I did notice the rear toe was incorrect. The car seemed to drive fine after the install, but never the less, about a week later, I took the car to have a full alignment done and the tech said the rear toe was 'in' by about an 1/8th of an inch. After the alignment, you could notice a significant improvement in the car's handling. Like I said, before the alignment it didn't seem too bad, but man, after it was done there was a big difference! ... the car's on friggin' rails now!!

I'd definately recommend a full computer alignment after you drop you car...IMHO, it's worth it just to make sure you're getting the full enjoyment out of the new suspension components. Cost was about $125.

- - m

 

Problem with alignment is where and who you get it done from.

often times shops will screwup the alignment and make it worse
than it was before... so if your car's not wandering or pulling, etc.
better to leave it alone unless you know for sure the shop will be
able to accomondate a performance alignment.

at least that's what my experience have been.

 

Well, yeah... it goes without saying that you need to use a shop that specializes in perfomance cars and that knows what they're doing. If you take your car to the corner Texaco, then you might not get the alignment you'd expect. ... Look in the yellow pages under 'automotive alignment' or sports car/performance shops.

Also, once a car has been lowered, some shops can't use their standard alignment equipment (as a lowered car can interfere with the standard beams used to give feedback to the computer). I used a company called "Euro-tire" in Fairfield, NJ. They're a foriegn/performance car specialty shop and they have the latest gear that can do alignments on lowered cars.

I knew I was in good hands, 'cause the owner drives a silver/black '03 MCS too!

- - m

 

Texaco... reminds me of my Houston days...

 

Why? ...Did you work for Texaco? Or just have to bring you car into one for service? :smile:

- - m