Hey guys,quick question. I currently have my front shocks/springs off the car to replace. Would it be a good idea to go ahead and install my camber kit now or should I wait until I put the new parts in? The instructions say that the car must be in correct alignment before lowering. I didn't know if it would make a difference if I went ahead and did this now. I had the car aligned about 3 months ago. If I go ahead and remove the upper link while I have the shocks off will that throw the alignment off?

 

No, it shouldn't, but if you lower it, then you will have a problem with negative camber. Personally, I don't like the design of the 300degree camber kit. Check out www.splparts.com. They sell a really nice adjustable upper control. I installed it 2 weeks ago. It gives you more adjustablility than the camber kit.

Side note----make sure that you re-install the shocks under load. If you don't, then you'll casue the bushings to bind up.

 

What do you mean under load? I have the passenger side done. I had to jack up the arm to get it onto the bottom bolt. For right now I will try the 300 deg kit since I already spent the money and if it doesn't work out I will go with spl. Oh and the new shocks I am putting on are OEM so does it matter what position the accuator is in for the sport/touring? I have it set on sport now but don't know what position the new shocks are in. Does the pin on the shock stop moving once it reaches a certain point?

 

Anybody wanna donate an old stock upper control arm so that I can make some adjustable ones from it?

 

Suspension 101...class is in session...
When the car is still on jack stands, slide a floor jack under the lower control arm where you're working. Jack it up high enough to simulate the car being on the ground. Make sure that your not jacking the suspension arm up anywhere that it could crush anything. It compresses the spring and changes the suspension geometry back to the same as what it is when the car is on the ground. Tighten everything up. Lower the jack. That's what under load means. If you don't do it this way, then when you lower the car down after everything has been tightened up, the factory bushings are put under tremendous strain. This will cause the bushings to not work the way they're supposed to. You'd probably have to replace the bushings shortly after that.

Canyon. Coincidentally, I still have my upper arms. The thing is, Dad may be using them on one of his project cars. He's a bit of a pack rat. He thinks that he can use all of the old parts that I'm replacing on something, sometime down the road. I'll let you know if he changes his mind.

 

Thanks 91. The only thing I have ever done to a car before I got my Z was change the oil so I appreciate the info . What about the accuators for the shock adjustment though? I assume it doesn't matter how they are put back on.

 

If you're replacing the shocks with the OEM adjustable shocks, then no, it won't matter. If you're replacing with aftermarket shocks, then you don't need the actuators.