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so I had my car lowered on RS*R Down Springs and I really like the way the car looks and drives. I noticed however that the rear wheels just slightly angle out at the bottom. The car was aligned after lowering and this is my first time lowering a car so I'm a little lost at what to do or whether or not the very slight angle is somehow within normal specifications. The alignment sheet says that all is well which is what the shop is telling me as well.
Take a look and give any advice that you might have.
Just so you can see that it's perfectly normal...here's mine with the same springs
And here's my rear wheel...
The only thing I would point out on your alignment specs is the front and rear toe.
The front toe should have been zeroed out...I'm gonna fix mine when I get a chance.
And the rear toe should have been brought to the middle of the spec range.
If the tech had touched the rear toe on your car, then for sure he would have had to adjust the front after...I'm not calling him lazy...but...
Thanks for responding with a pic and your alignment sheet -- much appreciated! I'm going to take the suggestions you gave me as well as the alignment sheet to my local Toyota dealership in a few weeks after the springs have settled to have the car realigned.
...So the loss of traction, irregular wear and shortened life expectancy is fine?
Could you be a little more specific?
What would cause a loss of traction and irregular tire wear? Aside from the inherent front toe wear that 3IS has even stock.
Shortened life expectancy of what component(s)?
I would still get a rear camber kit to have it set at less than -1.0 of camber for less under steering and little less camber wear. Anything under -2.5 camber is fine for everyday wear but ideally you would want <-2.0 in the front and around -1.0 in the rear and zero toes all around for "street and semi track use". That is if anyone actually tracks these vehicles.
I would still get a rear camber kit to have it set at less than -1.0 of camber for less under steering and little less camber wear. Anything under -2.5 camber is fine for everyday wear but ideally you would want <-2.0 in the front and around -1.0 in the rear and zero toes all around for "street and semi track use". That is if anyone actually tracks these vehicles.
That's a valid point. Personally my tracking days are behind me, so I'm just enjoying the IS as my daily driver, for which I put on 10K in the last year...that's kilometers, not miles.
With a little less than half that on my snow tires, so given the climate where I am, the tires will likely dry rot and crack before they ever wear out.
My personal experience with modifying suspension versus keeping it within the manufacturers is that I've never run into a tire wear issue.
The spec range does allow for some flexibility, so you can still get the desired handling while keeping it within the manufacturers intended specs.
With the square setup I"m running, and the springs/wheels combined, I don't notice the understeer anymore...but I'm also not tracking it either...but I may enjoy flying around the occasional corner when road conditions permit it.
Also with the square setup I can rotate the wheels to control tire wear as well. I do plan on cleaning up the Toe up front...I think I'm going to leave the rear as is unless I discover an issue.
Just so you can see that it's perfectly normal...here's mine with the same springs
And here's my rear wheel...
The only thing I would point out on your alignment specs is the front and rear toe.
The front toe should have been zeroed out...I'm gonna fix mine when I get a chance.
And the rear toe should have been brought to the middle of the spec range.
If the tech had touched the rear toe on your car, then for sure he would have had to adjust the front after...I'm not calling him lazy...but...