Ride Height Adjustment and Alignment

[KM3]

Those of you with coilovers - when you adjust your ride height, do you get your cars realigned? Adjusting ride height changes the suspension geometry, but if your car was well aligned to begin with, I'm wondering if minor ride height changes are significant enough to warrant further aligning and corner balancing. Thoughts?

[raiste]

I was wondering the same thing, though I will only be putting lowering springs on.

I can't figure out what would change in the suspension that requires an alignment due to lowering springs/coil-overs. Especially if the ride height is changed less than 1 inch.

Now that I think about it, I guess there might be a little more negative camber and an little more Toe-in.



.

[KM3]

Installing lowering springs probably warrants an alignment because you'll be disassembling parts of the suspension in order to put the new springs in. My question is, once you've installed a coilover system and aligned the car, do minor ride height adjustments at that point require re-alignment?

[TTBear]

Definitely get an alignment when you first install coilover/springs. A friend installed KW V1s on his 335i, and at the same time, brand new tires. We left on a road trip, and he went through a set of rears in 3,000 MILES! His rear alignment was way, way out.

I myself would do an alignment with each adjustment, but I'm kind of OCD that way - I don't have the theory to back it up, but I just feel more comfortable doing it that way.

[rzm3]

If you are only adjusting the height by <10mm, you would probably be OK w/o an alignment.

Anything more than that, and alignment is recommended.

Keep in mind that the car's camber and toe change as your ride height changes. Therefore, when you lower your car by a considerable amount, your alignment changes accordingly, and various parameters need to be "reset" based on the new ride height.

[KM3]

Originally Posted by rldzhao

If you are only adjusting the height by <10mm, you would probably be OK w/o an alignment.

Anything more than that, and alignment is recommended.

Keep in mind that the car's camber and toe change as your ride height changes. Therefore, when you lower your car by a considerable amount, your alignment changes accordingly, and various parameters need to be "reset" based on the new ride height.

Thanks, this is good advice. Completely understand that height adjustments have an impact on camber and toe. My question was mainly about others' experiences: at what point do people feel the need to re-align? I was always under the assumption that very minor height adjustments (<10mm, as you point out) on an already well aligned car should be fine. Larger adjustments, though, require alignment and sometimes corner balancing.

[tha_good_life]

Originally Posted by KM3

Thanks, this is good advice. Completely understand that height adjustments have an impact on camber and toe. My question was mainly about others' experiences: at what point do people feel the need to re-align? I was always under the assumption that very minor height adjustments (<10mm, as you point out) on an already well aligned car should be fine. Larger adjustments, though, require alignment and sometimes corner balancing.

i raised my front by .5 inches. Before raising it, I had a negative camber so maybe raising it a little will offset it.