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Uneven ride height after alignment help

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Old 08-17-15, 03:43 PM
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gvan1998
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Default Uneven ride height after alignment help

F sport lowering spring and rear camber kit were installed last month. Recently i took my car for alignment. The rear ride height was even, having -.8 camber on rear left and -1.7 on rear right. After alignment, the rear left was set to -1.7 and -1.6 on the rear right. Now the rear left sits .5 inch lower compared to rear right.

Does camber affect ride height?
What do i need to do to maKe the height even? change the rear left camber back to .08 or i should i just install back the original camber arms.
Old 08-17-15, 08:18 PM
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SoCalISF
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Originally Posted by gvan1998
F sport lowering spring and rear camber kit were installed last month. Recently i took my car for alignment. The rear ride height was even, having -.8 camber on rear left and -1.7 on rear right. After alignment, the rear left was set to -1.7 and -1.6 on the rear right. Now the rear left sits .5 inch lower compared to rear right.

Does camber affect ride height?
What do i need to do to maKe the height even? change the rear left camber back to .08 or i should i just install back the original camber arms.
Something is amiss. Extreme negative camber could possibly affect ride height, but it would be so minimal it would almost be indiscernible. Certainly changing the camber from -.8 to -1.7 would not lower the car half an inch.

Did you measure the car immediately before, and immediately after the spring change?

I recently lowered my wife's 3IS, including the camber arms, and had no issue. I did put it on the alignment rack immediately after the install and the camber came right in with minimal adjustment.

I would be looking the spring install over very carefully.

Last edited by SoCalISF; 08-17-15 at 08:21 PM.
Old 08-17-15, 08:29 PM
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SoCalISF
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Check post #23 in this thread....

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sus...ml#post9153455

I adjusted the new camber arms to mimic the length of the OEM arm, then bolted everything together. The camber adjustment at that point was over 2* negative as indicated in the post above. May be worth reading.
Old 08-18-15, 09:55 AM
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gvan1998
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Im thinking about just installing the factory camber arms back on. Its just too much problem. I went to the dealer 3 times already. First, they aligned the car without touching the camber. Second, They adjusted the left rear wheel with too much camber to -3.0.Third, they set the camber right but now the camber arm bolts are not installed correctly, on top of that they scratched my wheels. This is just frustrating.
Old 08-18-15, 10:23 AM
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Silec
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just curious as to why you would install a camber kit in the first place when you're only on springs? tire wear is all base on the toe of the car unless you're planing on going with a wide and mildly aggressive wheels and coils or air later on.

everything aside I would double check everything because 1/2 an inch is a pretty big discrepancy. The camber adjustment should not have changed the height that much.
Old 08-18-15, 11:16 AM
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gvan1998
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Well I wanted maximum tire life, that's why I installed the camber kit. Without the camber kit, I will be at -2.2 or more, which will greatly reduce tire life. Yes I know that you need some negative camber for performance but Im not going to be autocrossing or racing. This is my daily commuter so I wanted look of a lowered car with maximum tire life.
Old 08-18-15, 05:31 PM
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Strangely enough, my driver side rear is about half an inch lower than the passenger rear (Left hand side steering wheel btw lol). This is on RSR Down springs.

I think this is normal behavior on this car.
Old 08-18-15, 06:42 PM
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You had me wondering here... I just measured mine and driver side is actually about half an inch lower than the passenger side...

Completely stock 2015 350F...
Old 08-21-16, 05:58 AM
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jkwiseeyes
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curious if this mystery has been resolved? I am running RSR Downs on my 2014 IS250 AWD + 15mm spacers all around. My driver side is lower than the passenger side. I haven't measure exactly but I thought maybe after installing camber kit it would properly align the wheels and ride height. I have no idea is that is true or not...
Old 08-21-16, 07:14 AM
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brendanf
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Originally Posted by jkwiseeyes
curious if this mystery has been resolved? I am running RSR Downs on my 2014 IS250 AWD + 15mm spacers all around. My driver side is lower than the passenger side. I haven't measure exactly but I thought maybe after installing camber kit it would properly align the wheels and ride height. I have no idea is that is true or not...
I think people might be forgetting what side of the car you sit on while driving. Your added weight without an equally weighted passenger is going to make the drivers side sit a little lower with time. I have never seen a set of lowering springs drop each corner of a car exactly the same. If you want equal wheel gap, then get air or coilovers so you can set the weight of each corner.
Old 08-21-16, 11:01 AM
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3ISRC
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You don't need camber kit on fsport lowering springs. The drop is so minimal (hardly noticeable) and I doubt you will be -2.0+ camber on the rear after install. Even then, -2 is still within specs! What you need to make sure is that you have 0 toe if you're worried about tire wear. I would remove those camber arms if I was you. Also, why is it that people think one need an alignment right after install? Let the spring settles then get an alignment. It's possible the springs have not settled properly yet and hence the difference in height you are getting.
Old 08-23-16, 12:02 PM
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jkwiseeyes
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Originally Posted by brendanf
I think people might be forgetting what side of the car you sit on while driving. Your added weight without an equally weighted passenger is going to make the drivers side sit a little lower with time. I have never seen a set of lowering springs drop each corner of a car exactly the same. If you want equal wheel gap, then get air or coilovers so you can set the weight of each corner.
that is interesting point, tbh never thought it would impact it that much
i will likely convert to coils as you suggested.
thanks for your thoughts
Old 08-24-16, 09:14 AM
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jkwiseeyes
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Originally Posted by 3ISRC
You don't need camber kit on fsport lowering springs. The drop is so minimal (hardly noticeable) and I doubt you will be -2.0+ camber on the rear after install. Even then, -2 is still within specs! What you need to make sure is that you have 0 toe if you're worried about tire wear. I would remove those camber arms if I was you. Also, why is it that people think one need an alignment right after install? Let the spring settles then get an alignment. It's possible the springs have not settled properly yet and hence the difference in height you are getting.
I'm not sure about fsport lowering springs, but the RSR down mild drop is approx.
Front -20mm to -25mm (-0.8inch to -1.0inch)
Rear -10mm to -15mm (-0.4inch to -0.6inch)

I'll have to find the results from my wheel alignment, I can't remember the exact #'s.

So I waited almost a month before getting alignment because some friends told me they need to settle.
However, when I went to get the alignment done the technician said there is no settling with springs.
Too many conflicting opinions =/
I'm going to try to take it to the shop I had the springs install and see what they say.

Thanks for your response!
Old 07-27-18, 05:36 PM
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HOMER350
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Old thread but speaks to exactly what I got going on.

Noticed today my car is about 1/2 inch lower on the driver side rear than the passenger side.

RSR Downs, stock wheels, no chamber kit.
Springs were installed just last month... had about 12k miles on them I think.

Noticed it was maybe 1/4" lower right after install buy wasn't concerned. After all, there is more weight in the driver side of the vehicle.

Can anyone confirm this is normal? Have the same thing after putting some miles on your RSR downs?

OR, do I need to take it back to the guys who installed.
Old 07-27-18, 06:44 PM
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HOMER350
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Here are photos of the different heights. It looks more significant in person, about a 1/2" difference. Driver side being lower than passenger side.



Last edited by HOMER350; 07-27-18 at 06:48 PM.


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