Let’s Talk About Alignment

You’ve just installed a new set of adjustable T3 Control Arms on your car, they allow you to customize and fine-tune the suspension settings to your desired performance and handling characteristics. This can greatly improve your car's handling, stability, and overall driving experience.

Prior to my life at T3, I spent a few years wrenching at an independent repair shop. One important takeaway from my time there is that your typical Tire Shop doesn’t do a full alignment especially if they are charging less than $100. These shops often do what is referred to as a “toe and go” meaning they adjust the front toe setting and get your car off of the alignment rack as quick as possible! If you’re car is close to stock and you are only concerned with tire wear then this type of alignment might work fine for you.

For those of you looking to get the most out of your cars handling, you’ll want to find a shop that deals with custom alignments to set everything up properly. A custom alignment usually requires more than one hour of labor and sometimes involves putting weight in the drivers seat to account for changes in a loaded vehicle. You’ll also be able to ask the shop to dial in the camber, caster and toe settings to your specifications!

While custom alignment settings are subjective, we have some tips to keep in mind along with recommendations for the AE86 and S30 Z.

• Negative Camber will help with vehicle rotation and turn in. If you add too much the car will become unstable and you know it’s time to dial it back a bit.

• Positive Caster increases stability at high speeds and will help your steering wheel return to center. Too much caster and the steering wheel will snap back to center. Drift cars usually work better with less caster than Road Race/AutoX cars.

• A small amount of Toe-in will help keep your car stable when the suspension moves as normal and goes Toe-Out.

Our AE86 alignment specs come from T3 owner Gabriel Tyler

For a good all around sporty feel, great for street, track and mountain driving I might suggest the alignment specs somewhere around:

3.2 degrees Caster (pulled forward)
Zero Toe or just a tiny smidge toe in.
-2 degrees Camber

For drifting you'd want more Camber, and less Caster. More along the lines of:

2.8 degrees Caster (pulled forward)
zero toe or just a tiny smidge toe in.
-2.5 degrees Camber (then add Camber at the track to make the car rotate easier and handle better sideways. Once you get too much Camber the car will be unstable, so dial it back).

Always make a mark on the Camber Plates with your base settings after alignment so that you can set things to "street settings" for the drive home.

Our S30 Z Alignment Specs come from HybridZ.org

Track/Autocross

For 225 to 245 width radial DOT tires try these alignment settings:

Front

Camber: 3 to 3.25 neg

Caster: 6 to 7 positive (even on both sides)

Toe: 1/8" to 3/16" out

Ride height: 5 1/2" to 6" measured at the front of the rocker outboard of the pinch weld seam.

Rear

Camber: 2.5 to 3 neg

Toe: 1/16" to 1/8" in

Ride height: 5 3/4" to 6 1/4" measured at the front of the rocker outboard of the pinch weld seam.

For tire widths over 245 try these alignment settings:

Front

Camber: 2.75 to 3 neg

Caster: 6 to 7 positive (even on both sides)

Toe: 1/16" to 1/8"" out

Ride height: 6" to 6 1/2" measured at the front of the rocker outboard of the pinch weld seam.

Rear

Camber: 2.25 to 2.5 neg

Toe: 1/16" to 1/8" in

Ride height: 6 1/4" to 6 3/4" measured at the front of the rocker outboard of the pinch weld seam.

Street

For 225 to 245 width radial DOT tires try these alignment settings:

Front

Camber: 1.25 to 1.5 neg

Caster: 4 to 5 positive (even on both sides)

Toe: 1/16" out or 0

Ride height: 6" to 6 1/2" measured at the front of the rocker outboard of the pinch weld seam.

Rear

Camber: 1.25 to 1.5 neg

Toe: 1/16" to 1/8" in

Ride height: 6 1/2" to 7" measured at the front of the rocker outboard of the pinch weld seam.

For tire widths over 245 try these alignment settings:

Front

Camber: 1.25 to 1.5 neg

Caster: 4 to 5 positive (even on both sides)

Toe: 1/16" out or 0

Ride height: 6 1/2" to 7" measured at the front of the rocker outboard of the pinch weld seam.

Rear

Camber: 1.25 to 1.5 neg

Toe: 1/16" to 1/8" in

Ride height: 7" to 7 1/2" measured at the front of the rocker outboard of the pinch weld seam.