theblue

I went to goodyear today to get an alignment for my recently dropped tc. When they saw it was dropped, they said they couldnt give me an alignment. What's up with that?

surfcity40

moving to the tC suspension & handling forum.

Jimmy

they probably didnt want to mess with it just in case they break something...

take it to a toyota dealer. at my dealership a 4-wheel alignment is $76.50.

2fast4you

They probably don't want to deal with installing camber bolts. Did they give you the lame "we can't align it factory specs" excuse?

theblue

oh okay. Did your dealer start on your car once you arrived or did they just take your car for the day?

theblue

haha yah pretty much.

soros151

They don't have the specs, happened to me also. How much of a drop do you have?

soros151

Here you go,
http://www.trdsparks.com/displaypart...1&parts_id=677

2fast4you

I was going to do mine at a dealership, but they all wanted me to leave it there all day. Instead, I took mine to (don't laugh) Pep Boys. After they gave me a print out of how far the front alignment was out of spec, I was able to go to the dealership a few blocks away, buy the proper camber bolts, and have them installed. Total time was 2 hours plus a tire rotation.

engifineer

That was actually a 100% true statement for a while after the car came out. The specs had not been released for it. So it wasnt a lame excuse, it is a good shop not wanting to door a poor job. Now, however, I cant see a shop not being able to get the specs, so you shouldnt get that excuse.

soros151

Nice, my Pep Boys here don't have the specs for the alignment in the 06 tC. So I left the tC with the current 1.5 negative camber that the TEIN H do and because of that better handling came without any more mods.

TeeCizzle

As long as I remember even 10yrs+ ago...a lot of places wont align lowered cars!...you have to go to a smaller shop usually...make sure its a good shop!!!...

engifineer

yep, the problem is that most people lower thier cars past the point of good performance and actually decrease the performance of the car. They throw the geopmetry off and a lot of shops dont want to mess with trying to get it right again.

Good example is our car. Rick took some measurements in his quest to make his tC a good autocrosser. He found that anything less than about an inch of fender gap (I would say about 1.25 inches of drop or more) has a negative effect on the suspension geometry. So while nice for show, it may not be so nice for performance.

Where ever you take it, just be sure to find a good shop with a good alignment guy. Usually, an older guy that has been doing it for years can align just about anything if they are good.

2fast4you

Sorry to take this off-topic but I've been meaning to get clarification on this. Before I had coilovers installed, I measured the wheel gap at 3" front and rear. With the coilovers installed and set to to what I think is a proper ride height, I have a 1.25" wheel gap (1.75" drop) front and 1.5" wheel gap (1.5" drop) in the rear.

My question is where is the suspension geometry begin being negatively affected? 1.25"+ of drop or 2"+ of drop?

soros151

I think the problems begins after the 2" of drop.

engifineer

I checked mine last night. I am on TRDs and have about 1.25 inches of gap in the rear. I never measured stock.. but TRD states a 1.25" drop with them. So given that I would say much more than a 2" drop would be into what Rick measured to be detrimental. but then again, my car could have settled to more than a 1.25" drop.. I think it would be fair to say that 2" of drop would be getting close. Just by the effect on the rest of the system. But, I havent torn the whole thing down and looked at it either.