rear alignment question for those who've done it at home

[dickster]

i am set to check and adjust the rear camber and toe.

question is once i have set the camber do i have to loosen the camber bolt to adjust toe or can i leave it tight? i've studied the exploded diagrams but its not obvious.

also, i can't get my allen key into the camber bolt as the sway bar is in the way - is it necessary to drop the sway bar ( i know that strictly speaking it should be disconnected for alignment)?

TIA.

[jluetjen]

Rich;
I found that I needed to play around with both adjusters to get to where I wanted to be. A couple of tricks:
1) DO disconnect the sway bar. It only takes a minute or two, and it will throw off the settings and get in the way.
2) Another trick is to scribe a mark into the adjusters so that you can visually track the adjustment. In my case I scribed an arrow pointing towards the offset bolt.

Once I set one of the adjustments, I would tighten it just enough to keep it from moving. If you tighten it more then that you risk binding up the adjustments so that neither one moves. I also put a little grease on both adjusters to ensure that they don't bind due to friction against the spring plate.

Once you play with them for a minute or two you'll say "aha!" as you watch the wheel move and then quickly zero in on the proper adjustment. Also keep in mind that you may need to remove the one of the adjusters (I believe that it is the toe adjuster) and turn it 180 degrees in order to get the range that you want.

Good Luck!

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by jluetjen

I found that I needed to play around with both adjusters to get to where I wanted to be.

me to

[toolman]

If you use just the 12mm bit, not the entire socket, you can install the bit into the nut and turn it with a 12mm wrench.

[dickster]

ok guys, thanks for the tips - it will save lots of head scratching.

i will remove the sway bar.

toolman - good, thats exactly what i've been thinking of trying.

btw - set ride height yesterday, and front toe. and it already drives great. very satisfying.

cheers.