FocusCanada Forums

Hey all,

Well I got my FK Automotive kit installed (1.5'' drop). I installed the kit in the spring, but didn;t get an alignment. My rear tires are balled now.

I gonna get an alignment now, but the dealership says I need an alignment kit.

Questions:

1) Do I need an alignment kit, how much are they
2) What are the factory alignment specs
3) What custom specs are you guys running

PLEASE HELP!

Weird....I have the 60/40 FK kit and mine was fine....kept a close eye on my tires for the past 3 months and havent noticed any weird tire wear. :huh:

You shouldn't need an alignment kit with a 1.5" drop. Usually you don't need those camber/alignment kits til your at a 2.0" drop or lower. I got a 1.5" drop (Eibach) and I didn't need an alignment kit. I got an alignment though, that you NEED to do when you do any suspension mods. I don't know what the alignment specs are for stock or custom. You can ask the dealership or maybe find it online, not sure...

Ya I actually have an extra eibach camber kit new in the box still sitting around if you really need one. But like it has been said you usually don't need one. If you want/need one send me a pm we'll work something out.

thanks for your help guys.

I have an Apex 60/40 full suspension kit, translates into about 1" all around now.
I had aligments done repeatedly, and in 20,000km wore out my new Kumhos.
I installed the Steeda kit ($40 i think), eyeballed the settings, had a ford alignment done and things are very good, no major wear on the new tires.
Basically, what's $40+alignment, compared to new tires....

I think it has alot to do with actual instal. I know when I did my springs on the red car i used a white marker to mark the positions of everything that came off. Then they were put back on in the same place. No alignment, no camber kit, and had no problems. The rear actually droped 2 inches, so the camber was a little positive, eventually to save my tires I would have put on a rear camber kit for sure. But it drove straight as ever :ph34r:

Okay the dealership said that I needed a kit.

They say I need the FRONT and REAR kit. That means the front suspension has to me uninstalled to put the front kit in.

This seems like a lot for just an alignment?

I mentioned to them that a kit isn't needed (coz that's what you guysa said), and they said if they didn;t they would need to do some "cutting into the frame".

My car is a leased vehicle so I kinda have to go with what they say.

Have you guys had trouble getting an alignment with a 1.5 inch drop?

Need Help!

I had 2 lowered foci and never had a alignment and they both leased cars :unsure:

mysterygirl,Jul 20 2004, 01:47 PM Wrote:Okay the dealership said that I needed a kit.

They say I need the FRONT and REAR kit. That means the front suspension has to me uninstalled to put the front kit in.

This seems like a lot for just an alignment?

I mentioned to them that a kit isn't needed (coz that's what you guysa said), and they said if they didn;t they would need to do some "cutting into the frame".

My car is a leased vehicle so I kinda have to go with what they say.

Have you guys had trouble getting an alignment with a 1.5 inch drop?

Need Help!

Cut into the frame? What the hell?

that sounds a bit dodgy.

Can you go to another alignment shop to get a second opinion? One that works with lowered cars?

You don't HAVE to go to the dealership for that.

Is the FK Kit just the springs or shock/strut/spring setup

Liek I said earlier, i have the Full FK Hitec kit...Ford aligned my car and said I was within factory specs. ;) :huh:

Well the dealership is having difficulty aligning the car to factory "spec".

Just wondering if any of you with a 1.5 drop have alignment kits on them. And if not, what alignment specs are you running?

My rear tires are bald now, so an alignment is needed I think.

mysterygirl,Jul 20 2004, 12:02 PM Wrote:Well the dealership is having difficulty aligning the car to factory "spec".

Just wondering if any of you with a 1.5 drop have alignment kits on them. And if not, what alignment specs are you running?

My rear tires are bald now, so an alignment is needed I think.

Quote:Is the FK Kit just the springs or shock/strut/spring setup

Liek I said earlier, i have the Full FK Hitec kit...Ford aligned my car and said I was within factory specs.

:lol: ;)

If your rear tires are bald on the inside, you need a camber kit 100%. That is what happened to me. No amount of attempted alignments will correct it, the rear just does not have the adjustment to actually correct the camber. They can adjust toe which i'm told can have a little affect on the camber.
Within factory spec. really does not mean anything good. My alignments were all done at ford dealerships. They were all "within spec" however, spec was with factory wheels, I was running 17s and wore them right down in under 20,000km.

One prob i ran into was that I rotated the tires, when i went in for the alignment, they tried to tell me the front & rears were way out of wack. the wear appeared to be both front and rear, when infact the culprit was the rears all along.

Cutting the frame for the fronts, never heard of it. The camber kit needs a bolt cut off that's welded to the knuckle, but I wouldn't call it "cutting the frame".

Here are links to my last aligment, Apex 60/40 Sport Kit (shocks/struts/springs) and a Steeda Camber Kit, 17" rims with Kumhos. I was in to have the rears verified, as I had just installed the camber kit.
http://www3.sympatico.ca/town.j/webspace/w...ent_sheets1.jpg
http://www3.sympatico.ca/town.j/webspace/w...ent_sheets2.jpg
http://www3.sympatico.ca/town.j/webspace/w...ent_sheets3.jpg
Hope it helps.

<a href='http://www3.sympatico.ca/town.j/webspace/wagon/2004summerwgn.jpg'></a>