Alignment needed after new Bilsteins??

[les-paul man]

on 83sc, I'm replacing stock Bego shocks with 4 Bilsteins...do I need to have an alignment afterwards?

[Chris Lovell]

I replaced my Boges with Bilsteins. No alignment needed for me.

[les-paul man]

thanks Chris...that's good to know, since I plan on installing the shocks after the tires are on and the car aligned.

[gr8fl4porsche]

Switching to Bilsteins caused my ride height to go up about an inch. Had to drop it back down by reindexing rear torsion bars and simply lower the front with the bolt adjustment. All of which requires a realignment.

Do the shocks and struts first then the alignment.

[Wayne 962]

Since you have to remove the top of the shock towers from the car, you will indeed messup your camber settings, and should have them readjusted...

-Wayne

[jwill911]

You don't necessarily upset the camber/caster adjustment at the top of the shock tower to replace the struts. But if you replace with a strut/shock that changes the suspension geometry (ride height) at all it will likely chew up your new tires. BTDT wasted a set of front tires in ~5K miles after I put my new Koni adjustables in my `87 without getting an alignment. Don't believe it when someone tells you it won't need an alignment.

jw

[les-paul man]

Originally posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts
Since you have to remove the top of the shock towers from the car, you will indeed messup your camber settings, and should have them readjusted...

-Wayne

hey, you guys didn't tell me I had to remove the top of the shock towers when I ordered the parts....I was told that the Bilsteins should fit where the Boges were without a problem.

[cab83_750]

My height also increased a lot -- enough for me to get the ride ht readjusted!!!!

[cary]

I'm with Randy. Mine went up about 1 inch in the back.