Steering wheel loose after suspension changes

P's_Z

As some of you know, i recently had a shop install swift springs, camber arms, spacers and do an alignment on my Z. Today i finally get to drive the car for a while but i feel the steering wheel a bit loose and not as responsive as before the install and alignment. I searched a bit through different sites and found that some possible culprits might be the caster being off, loose suspension parts or overinflated tires(which ill check tomorrow). Im also calling the shop and will probably take my car back on saturday so they can check things out, but in the meantime i would also like to get some input from the experts from the370z. What do you guys think?

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Spooler

Alignment would be my guess.

P's_Z

Thanks spooler! I hope so...

I forgot to mention, i know that the springs are still settling, but is that enough to affect alignment/steering feel so quickly? Service was done on saturday, i drove the car home that day and i hadnt driven it until today

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lhinojos

I waited about a week for my springs to settle before I did my alignment. And yes it is enough to mess up the alignment.

P's_Z

Thanks man, i didnt think id notice it so fast! I guess ill just have to wait for a few days before i take it back. Also going to talk to the shop about it, because if this is the cause, i dont know why they even bothered to align it in the first place, as i am not paying to realign it when i go back.

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Zoren 370

No you shouldn't need to pay them for re-alignment check or adjustment.

Do you have the alignment work sheet numbers that you can post so we can see how is your camber and toe numbers.

P's_Z

hey zoren, thanks for posting. no i dont have the alignment sheet unfortunately. to be fair with the shop ive never seen any shop give out this sheet in PR

but ill be calling them today to schedule the visit, and ill ask if they hand out the aligment sheet when i get the car realigned

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kenchan

the car is sensitive to ride height. chances are if your installer didn't align it, it would feel even worse today.

i would give it a week or two before you take the car in for re-alignment.
springs takes a few weeks/hundred miles to settle.

P's_Z

Thanks kenchan, ill just have to suck it for a while and see how the car feels after realignment.

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NORAIN

Which brand of suspension parts are you using? I had the same thing happening when I tried using an inferior brand that had really soft bushings. I've since switch things to SPL, and back to OEM in front, night & day change. Toe becomes a bigger factor when lowered too. Zero front toe and a touch toe-in rear seems to be the most popular here and for me.

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Swift Springs|265-305 RE-11|Forgestar F14|F.I. TDX S.S. 12" Res."Milled Out"|K&N|SPL|Z1(34 row)oil cooler|Z1 brake upgrade|Hotchkis Zspeed|Team Voodoo|HPDEjunkie.com

P's_Z

Swift springs
SPC rear camber arms
B2 autodesigns spacers 20mm F, 25mm R

So, when realigning i should ask for 0 toe up front and just a tad of toe in the back? Any idea how much? I apologize but i have very little knowledge on the subject. ill start searching and see what i find, but any input from you guys is appreciated.

Btw, car is a DD, sees very little track, i would like an alignment that improves the handling that came from stock but not as much as that it eats my tires up in a few months.

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carlitos_370z

Bro! I hope you can resolve the issue haha! you never call be back yesterday... but i think you call me to consult this issue anyway like you said... here in PR the damn shops dont give you the alignment sheet Im going to align the car soon too soo im going to ask for the damn sheet to see my alignment specs.

NORAIN

I run "Dead Zero" front, not middle of the spec range. Some techs think that's zero, it's not.
Out back I run 1/32" "toe in" each side, making total rear "toe in" 1/16".

Try to get your rear camber around -1.75 . No camber adjustment up front if you have OEM A-arms.

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Swift Springs|265-305 RE-11|Forgestar F14|F.I. TDX S.S. 12" Res."Milled Out"|K&N|SPL|Z1(34 row)oil cooler|Z1 brake upgrade|Hotchkis Zspeed|Team Voodoo|HPDEjunkie.com

P's_Z

Thanks norain! Ok, so in this case i should expect better handling than stock but not a lot more tire wear, right?

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Zoren 370

Camber wear is expected when you lower your car ride height but it would not as bad or fast when your toe is close to Zero degrees in front and a little toe in on the rear as Norain have stated.

Im running coilovers and the camber on my rear is -2.8 and -2.4 in front with 0.1xx toe