How To: Fix Rear Alignment After lift

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silverarrow27
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Re: How To: Fix Rear Alignment After lift

Postby silverarrow27 » Mon Aug 19, 2024 10:30 pm

Yes, I've come across the Garage23 arms recently. I haven't compared the Pathfinder & Armada rear ucas physically side by side, but just going based on pictures, they look different and my answer is no. I remember comparing control arm dimensions almost 2 years ago because I was hoping to use Armada rear control arms on my Pathfinder like we were able to for the front suspension instead of doing a rear subframe swap, the dimensions were pretty much the same exception of the mounting points which were a bit different which wouldn't benefit our Pathfinder with any extra travel nor would it fit. Our rear uca wraps around the shock whereas the Armada rear uca runs behind to one side of the rear shock so I don't know if the Armada rear uca would clear our shock since our shock is mounted to the rear subframe as oppose to the Armada mounts to the frame(possibly creating different shock angles). I'm actually quite disappointed for the $800 price of them though that you can't adjust toe & camber on the arms like these front ucas from Dirt King. I think it was a missed opportunity for Garage23.

https://www.highroadsuspension.com/prod ... 909c&_ss=c


r51luv
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Re: How To: Fix Rear Alignment After lift

Postby r51luv » Tue Aug 20, 2024 4:29 am

Got it. Yeah, the lack of adjustability is not very popular but for those who have more than 2" of lift, this does correct geometry in the back. I also heard that All Dogs Offroad is working on adjustable UCAs for the Pathfinder but there is no set timeframe of when they'll be available. Fingers crossed they actually make one and it's a good product.

silverarrow27
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Re: How To: Fix Rear Alignment After lift

Postby silverarrow27 » Tue Aug 20, 2024 6:35 pm

I did come across someone saying ADO was working on one. We'll see if it's adjustable or not and if it comes to fruition. It would definitely benefit the R51 community because there's always so much confusion behind what our vehicles need to fix the rear camber after a suspension lift. The problem then is that not a lot of corporate type alignment shops would touch adjustable control arms so you as the owner would have to get the arms adjusted as close as possible to oem spec before bringing it in for a 4wheel alignment.

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VStar650CL
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Re: How To: Fix Rear Alignment After lift

Postby VStar650CL » Tue Aug 20, 2024 7:12 pm

There's always chalk line, a tape measure, and a plumb bob. It isn't like the world always had laser alignment machines. If you understand what the specs mean, old school will get you pretty darn close.
:wink:

silverarrow27
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Re: How To: Fix Rear Alignment After lift

Postby silverarrow27 » Wed Aug 21, 2024 6:14 am

Haha I mean yeah common sense and youtube would tell you so, but from what I've noticed, most people putting a lift in their r51 just don't wrench or wants to deal with it.

r51luv
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Re: How To: Fix Rear Alignment After lift

Postby r51luv » Mon Aug 26, 2024 9:27 am

silverarrow27 wrote:
Wed Aug 21, 2024 6:14 am
Haha I mean yeah common sense and youtube would tell you so, but from what I've noticed, most people putting a lift in their r51 just don't wrench or wants to deal with it.
Had a question about the offset bushings from 4x4parts.com. In the description it says:
  • Allows additional camber adjustment by pulling arms in or pushing them out depending on how sleeves are positioned when installed
If I understand the above correctly, seems like I should know exactly what position the sleeve should be installed in. But how do you know which position of the offset bushing corresponds to positive/negative camber before installation?

I initially thought I would just put them in and then the alignment shop would do the alignment normally using the bolts on the lower control arm and coil bucket but this bullet is kinda confusing.

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VStar650CL
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Re: How To: Fix Rear Alignment After lift

Postby VStar650CL » Mon Aug 26, 2024 10:11 am

Positive camber is when the tops of the wheels are further outboard than the bottom, negative is when the bottoms are further outboard than the top. Lifts pretty much always result in too much positive camber because of the arcs of the control arms. Specs usually call for negative camber on front wheels and neutral to slightly negative on the rear.

r51luv
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Re: How To: Fix Rear Alignment After lift

Postby r51luv » Mon Aug 26, 2024 10:14 am

I should have been more clear. I know what positive/negative camber is. I'm trying to figure out how to position the sleeve to correct the positive camber.

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VStar650CL
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Re: How To: Fix Rear Alignment After lift

Postby VStar650CL » Mon Aug 26, 2024 1:05 pm

Plumb bob? If you get 'em straight up and down, it should be plenty close enough for an alignment shop to set it precisely. With offset bushings, you'll want to offset the upper arms inboard and the lowers outboard.

r51luv
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Re: How To: Fix Rear Alignment After lift

Postby r51luv » Mon Aug 26, 2024 1:35 pm

I think I found what I am looking for. The instructions are for a bushing for the Mazda RX-8 but I'm guessing they are probably the same as far as what to do to get the alignment fixed.
SuperProBushingInstruction.png

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VStar650CL
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Re: How To: Fix Rear Alignment After lift

Postby VStar650CL » Mon Aug 26, 2024 1:49 pm

Yep, same principle. That's for the lowers, where you want to move the arm outboard to go negative. I dunno what you have. For the uppers the direction is opposite, you want to pull the arm inboard to go negative.

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VStar650CL
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Re: How To: Fix Rear Alignment After lift

Postby VStar650CL » Mon Aug 26, 2024 1:54 pm

PS - For the left side, that assumes the diagram is a rear view. I don't see where the diagram specifies.

r51luv
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Re: How To: Fix Rear Alignment After lift

Postby r51luv » Mon Aug 26, 2024 1:57 pm

Thanks for the insight. I have positive camber in the back so I'll have to pull the wheel in from the top.

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VStar650CL
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Re: How To: Fix Rear Alignment After lift

Postby VStar650CL » Mon Aug 26, 2024 2:05 pm

Yep. Here, this is more explicit:

Offset CA.png
Offset CA.png (28.1 KiB) Viewed 3957 times

silverarrow27
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Re: How To: Fix Rear Alignment After lift

Postby silverarrow27 » Fri Aug 30, 2024 4:20 pm

r51luv wrote:
Mon Aug 26, 2024 9:27 am
silverarrow27 wrote:
Wed Aug 21, 2024 6:14 am
Haha I mean yeah common sense and youtube would tell you so, but from what I've noticed, most people putting a lift in their r51 just don't wrench or wants to deal with it.
Had a question about the offset bushings from 4x4parts.com. In the description it says:
  • Allows additional camber adjustment by pulling arms in or pushing them out depending on how sleeves are positioned when installed
If I understand the above correctly, seems like I should know exactly what position the sleeve should be installed in. But how do you know which position of the offset bushing corresponds to positive/negative camber before installation?

I initially thought I would just put them in and then the alignment shop would do the alignment normally using the bolts on the lower control arm and coil bucket but this bullet is kinda confusing.
Sorry I was at a conference this past week. Hope you got it all figured out. It's relatively easy once you start playing with it for a few minutes. My first time, I was just confused as you.


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