Is alignment needed after suspension instal

[Supercharged]

I installed a Roush suspension kit on my 2007 GT. Do I need to get a front end alignment? Thanks.

[Star Driver]

You should just to be on the safe side. Get the Roush specs also.

[Chris@JDM]

Originally Posted by Star Driver

You should just to be on the safe side. Get the Roush specs also.

Agreed. Any suspension changes should warrant an alignment check.



It's just like power parts and a tune. You may not need changes, but you better get it checked regardless. You're only getting half the benefit of aftermarket power parts untuned - you're only getting half the benefit of aftermarket suspension parts unaligned.

[Rangersfan]

You're going to need some sort of camber bolts or adjustable upper mount. Toe is the only thing adjustable from the factory. But you should get an alignment after that so that you can limit uneven tire wear.

[jack1.1]

alignment is required, not only will your car track down the road better but you will evenly wear your tires and new tires are not cheap - plus wear on your joints, etc.

You may also want to look into replacing or upgrading your upper strut mounts (plates), aka camber plates. These doughnuts are located on the top of the front springs, and they have bearings in them. They wear out after a long time.
If you buy the $300 camber adjustment plates you won't need the camber bolts.

Since you have to take the springs out to get to the shocks, the upper strut plates are right there. If you have more than 20k miles you may want to replace them while your in there. They will squeak or pop when they are worn out.

Choices: stock Mustang GT - $60 each motorcraft
stock Shelby GT500 (stronger than stock) - $65 each Ford Racing
maximum motorsports or steeda upper strut plates - over $300

Or do nothing and put your stockers back in, if you don't go the expensive route you'll still need to get camber bolts.

Jack

[05 ROUSH RACER]

Does a stock stage 2 come with camber bolts?

[Supercharged]

Thanks, got an alignment scheduled, Thurs. I'm going to check out the camber plates after the alignment. Anybody got a good street camber recommendation? I know neg is used for racing but not practical for street.


Supercharged......

[toolttime]

When I did mine had aligment checked and it was dead on. didn't have to do any thing.

[05 ROUSH RACER]

^^ cool, I am just confused at times , some say camber bolts are a necessity and others say you don't need them. I just bought the Roush susp. and need a little advice myself! thanks.

[RED ROUSH WA]

Originally Posted by 05 ROUSH RACER

^^ cool, I am just confused at times , some say camber bolts are a necessity and others say you don't need them. I just bought the Roush susp. and need a little advice myself! thanks.

My stage 2 didn't need them until I installed the Roush Extreem lowering springs. But it wouldn't hurt getting the Camber Plates cause I have been told that a wearing week spot in Ford suspension is the Rubber in the strut mounts.The camber plates will replace that.The camber bolts are the cheaper way to get by cause the plates can be abit costly$$$.

[jack1.1]

Take caution here, regarding your car being in "alignment". Only if you see the printout are you sure your "in alignment"
You could be on the left + 0.7 and on the right - 0.7 and guess what? Your in alignment, within tolerence.

The guys who set my car were fanatic as me and have it "0" on both sides or darn close , so ideally you want both sides to match and both be right in the middle of the allowable tolerances.

My car would not come into the the tolerances without camber bolts. Maybe some of my stuff is bent, factory tolerances off a bit, or the springs themselfs lower than some (roush suspension), who knows, but I needed camber bolts with the roush 1" springs. Now my rear axle was nuts on in the rear. No reason for a adjustable panhard waste of money for me, don't need it.

So the answer here is put on the suspension and you'll find out when you take it to the alignment guy if you need them (camber bolts) or not. Problem is it's too late now to change to camber plates, unless you want to take out your front springs again. That 's the point that you should be aware of. I didn't realize all this so when I had mine done, the only option for me alignment wise was to add the camber bolts.

Knowing what I know now, I probably would have sprung for the camber plates at $300+.


Jack

[Supercharged]

Originally Posted by toolttime

When I did mine had aligment checked and it was dead on. didn't have to do any thing.

I followed your excellent pictorial install when I did mine. It really helped well. I got an apointment tomorow at the alignment shop and we'll see if mine comes in like yours.

[Supercharged]

One thing for sure the Roush suspension is like night and day compared to stock GT (2007). I also installed a stainless steel strut tower brace that I designed and had built that will fit a Roushcharged engine compartment. The unit is strong, lightweight, costs is very reasonable. I can email PDF drawing and pics if interested. All you need to do is locate a shop with a tubing bender and tig welder. email: b24jcj@verizon.net

Supercharged

[Supercharged]

got the alignment, the tech said the camber was at neg. 1 deg. which is good right in the middle of the Roush neg 0.5 to neg 1.5 Toe in was correct for Ford but Roush specs different slightly so he set it to .09. guess I'm good to go.

[jack1.1]

the roush suspension is much safer than the stock one. I just put 300 miles on a v6 Hertz rental car yesterday driving thru Delaware. Quite a bit of a difference when I got back home into the roush.

Enjoy!

Jack