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I'm gonna be getting air suspension installed soon (airrex struts/air lift management). Big question I had was what suspension parts should I pick up in terms of getting into oem alignment specs? I already have Sage RCAs front and rear. From what I researched I def will need rear toe arms and possibly the trac arms. Up front it seems I need the SPC adj control arms. Will this be all I need to be able to get into alignment at my lowered ride height? My air suspension won't be here for a few weeks and would like to get everything in order once it comes in. Appreciate any help or info you guys can give!
From my experience and knowledge... you won’t really know exactly what you’d need..... until it’s up on an alignment machine. Reason being, some parts like the SPC Rear Cam bolts only allow a certain extra range of adj which may be just enough for some people. And if you need/want more room to play with. Adjustable arms are your best bet.
now, the big question is... adjustable rear lower control arm... or adj trac arm....adjustable A arm....
(your offset on your rims; the width/size of your tires and the height of which you’d be setting as your base height) all play a factor in which you should lean towards getting... (for clearance in the wheel well purpose.
For the front; you gotta definitely get UCa, rca.... but... will you need an adj caster arm... only when you check the alignment. Will you know.
Lol sorry if this adds more food for thought instead of answers.
if you’re rims; ride height setting and what nots are for the most part mild to kinda pushing beyond normal tuned.
front:
- adj uca and rca should suffice
rear:
- keep original lca but change out knuckle bushing.
- toe link
- adj a arm
Thanks a lot for responding back. I did purchase the SPC adj arms for the front and the toe links as well as I figure that'll be what I need for now I hope. ( I don't wanna be rolling with the car out of alignment for too long once the suspension is installed ) I think it'll be a couple more weeks till the suspension comes in so I'll update this in the next few weeks with pics of the suspension and how the alignment goes. Appreciate the response!
From my experience and knowledge... you won’t really know exactly what you’d need..... until it’s up on an alignment machine. Reason being, some parts like the SPC Rear Cam bolts only allow a certain extra range of adj which may be just enough for some people. And if you need/want more room to play with. Adjustable arms are your best bet.
now, the big question is... adjustable rear lower control arm... or adj trac arm....adjustable A arm....
(your offset on your rims; the width/size of your tires and the height of which you’d be setting as your base height) all play a factor in which you should lean towards getting... (for clearance in the wheel well purpose.
For the front; you gotta definitely get UCa, rca.... but... will you need an adj caster arm... only when you check the alignment. Will you know.
Lol sorry if this adds more food for thought instead of answers.
if you’re rims; ride height setting and what nots are for the most part mild to kinda pushing beyond normal tuned.
front:
- adj uca and rca should suffice
rear:
- keep original lca but change out knuckle bushing.
- toe link
- adj a arm
Very helpful, man! I'm going to be installing Air Lift kit on my 01 GS4 this winter/early spring, too. Currently, I have mine lowered with ONLY the RCA's up front and the Exactmotorsports "RCA"s in the rear. I'm about to install the (Manzo) adjustable toe arm on the driver's side right now. And the SPC front, UCA's after that today...
I was wondering how necessary you think the adjustable upper a arms are for the rear ? I added the (smallest amount -->) +1 degree of POSITIVE camber with the rear RCA's... and they lower the car approx 3/4"- but get this.... even with the 3/4" drop, the rear actually had POSITIVE camber! (on factory springs/struts) So, for now, lol... I added about 100 lbs of weights in the spare tire well- all wrapped up in towels, and put the cover & carpet back over it. Got it aligned and now has EXACTLY 0.0 degrees of camber in the back. ha
I'm hoping the camber is cool with the absolute lowest I can get the GS to sit with the Air Lift struts installed.... (if it's neg the rear, that's fine with me--- just really hoping my 19x10 wheels with 275/30's will fit without me trimming the fender lip or anything) Guess we'll see! ?
How far out is your alignment? I’m assuming whoever was doing your alignment maxed out the eccentric bolts on the lower control arm...
I would be concerned with that positive camber more so cause... are you not slammed enough to need to utilize the rear rca?
Well I had the FIGS toe arms installed last time it was aligned... but I think the OEM eccentric bolts were already maxed out, from BEFORE I installed the FIGS ENGINEERING toe arms. I was wondering if the Eccentric bolts should be spun around and not even 'used' as much, while lengthening the toe arms out a bit more..? Mainly, should the treads on each end of the new toe arms be equal ?
And right now, the camber is at 0.0 (which is more than it should be, stock specs are -.2 or something) But for now, it's driveable, until I install the Air Lift struts, and rest of the air ride, ya know?)
There isn’t really a specific degree of camber caster or toe on vehicles per se..... but rather a “range of degrees” deemed tolerated according to the car manufacturer... of which... is deemed suited for the way the best handling yet optimizing tire life. (Solely based on the car too ie sports car and hybrid)
toe arms do not need to be even on both sides. Your turning radius from dead center should hopefully be though. Lol
. If the bolts are maxed out. Only way to get more is to widen the slots on the control arm to allow more range of movement. That’s what determines the degrees allowed to move. Look up the SPC rear camber bolts instructions. That’s what you’re suppose to do for the camber kit to work. That people don’t realize and blow $80 on
Air suspension is getting installed as we speak. Hopefully get the car back in a few days. Once I get the car back I can stall these new goodies then go for an alignment. I'll update later on
Getting into alignment
