Corner balanced/4-wheel alignment

Had a cool experience yesterday. Went to "West End Alignment" in Los Angeles. Derin is a guru of alignment and works on many performance tuned cars in So.Cal according to several informed people.

 

Had him to a corner balance job and a 4-wheel alignment since the new 5Zigen wheels and GPMoto coilovers were put on this past weekend. Actually, I was damn lucky. When I called him, Darin said he was booked out 3-1/2 weeks for appts. But then he said a guy had just called and canceled. So I got an early AM appt. Tues.

 

Shop has nice equipment. Great lifts with built in pivot plates for the front tires to rotate (steer) L-R. Also has both front and rear end pneumatic jack plates to lift the wheels up on either end of the car to unload suspension, remove tires, etc. cool!

 

Also had some nice low-profile digital scales hooked to an industrial computer readout for weight on each wheel. Basically started with a baseline reading. Drove the car up on the lift and back down on the scales 3 times while Darin dialed it in.

 

The weight balancing wasn't like he added ballast to corners (like some real race cars do). It was more adjusting the suspension to slightly transfer the car weight to various corners.

 

When he finished the corner balancing, he handed me a piece of computer printout with the four corner weights shown, and at first glance I was like - that looks like SHIT. It read like this:

 

LF 1008 RF 948

 

 

LR 802 RR 741

 

But he explained that corner balancing means adding the left front to the right rear, and comparing to the opposite addition of RF + LR. So if you do the math, the four corners are balanced almost perfectly at 1750 lbs vs. 1749 lbs. I suppose it has to do with a "dynamic" balancing of all weight shifting that takes place during cornering, hard manuevers, etc.

 

Before he started, he asked me to empty the trunk (a good thing since I had a bunch of crap piled in there). Also for the most accurate results, all of the corner balancing and alignment were performed while I sat in the driver's seat. For like three (3) hours! If you're curious, my gas tank happened to be almost exactly half a tank which he said was perfect. And yes, I did leave the spare tire in the trunk.

 

As for the details or specs on the 4-wheel alignment.....I don't have them. Darin is very "professorial" about his work. We had a conversation about what I wanted in terms of handling. He asked me about my driving style. Did I want best straight-line performance, canyon running, smooth daily driving, etc. After some chatting, he told me that it would be best if I got the "aggressive street" alignment. He never said what that was in terms of camber, toe, etc. I just let him do his thing.

 

An interesting point, during the alignment work, he stopped and told me that my ball joints on the front were not perfectly symmetric. He said the left was at 7 deg while the right was at 6.5 deg. He asked me if I had hit a curb with the front right. I said HELL NO! He then asked if maybe I hit some big pot hole(s). I thought about it and yes, did specifically recall a couple of big whams on the right side from L.A.'s crappy highway conditions. He talked about possible repair options including ordering and installing all new control arms, etc. Then he said that the difference was not so bad really. He could counter it with just a bit more toe in on the right.

 

Bottom line: car drives great. can take hands off steering wheel and ACCELERATE with just a slight hint of rightward drift. goes probably 30-50 yards before it drifts one car width over. and that's on typical road which has a little built-in draft.

 

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a373/BOXRPWR/PICT0083.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a373/BOXRPWR/PICT0084.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a373/BOXRPWR/PICT0085.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a373/BOXRPWR/PICT0086.jpg

very cool! So based on those weights -- the car is exactly 3499lbs with you in it and a half tank of gas? You have the limited, right?

 

so what is next on your list mods and upgrades?

yea, the car is around 3500 lbs.

 

Good results. Many people get the misconception that corner balancing is trying to equal left side weight to the right which is really getting the cross corners equal so that the car doesnt teeter-totter when turning or accelerating.

 

Keefe

Very cool. It's always nice when you get a really professional job done. Versus some half-assed back-room better-to-not-have-done-anything-at-all job.

 

I was under the impression that the Legacy and OB didn't have any camber adjustment. Just toe...?

 

I figured that's why the stock alignment on the Outback is actual very slightly positive camber ('cus it's higher up on its strut). That's probably what makes the RE92A's squeal at the slightest hint of a corner.

the Legacies have adjustable centric bolts up front.

 

 

Keefe

the Legacies have adjustable centric bolts up front.

 

 

Keefe

 

That's right. Plust the GPMoto coilovers (and most others I think) have built-in camber plates on the top of the front mounts.

 

Very true about how refreshing and satisfying it is to let a professional "tune" your car. Now that I've experienced it, I would say tuning the suspension is just as important (if not more so) than tuning all the power upgrades.

 

And dealing with Darin made it extra nice. His whole approach was like a doctor working on a patient. His questions were like a physical exam. And his style was very neat and proper. He would carefully bring out whatever tools or devices he needed. Then he would put them back immediately after using them.

 

If you want to know what it felt like.....it reminded me of the "soup nazi" cook at that deli on Seinfeld T.V. show. I felt that I should just answer his questions without elaborating or unnecessary chit-chat. Otherwise, he might have just shouted "NEXT!"

^no sense of adding power when you can't put it down to the ground and control it for your use

 

welcome to the suspension world, where power is what we harness and control, not produce.

 

It's professionals like Darin is what I like to model myself here on the boards, to give you a very clean diagnostics and give everyone a personal answer rather than a general one because everyone has different needs.

 

Darin could have said "NO CORNER BALANCE FOR YOU!"

 

 

Keefe

My Outback starting point is a little further from handling Nirvana, but I agree that it's very important. Want good power, brakes, handling, ride, quietness, room, .... Subaru's are darned near perfect, aren't they?

very cool! So based on those weights -- the car is exactly 3499lbs with you in it and a half tank of gas? You have the limited, right?

 

so what is next on your list mods and upgrades?

 

that's correct. about 3,500 lbs exactly (if I just ate at Carls Jr).

 

yes, it's the GT Limited. quite a number of mods that might be adding or subtracting a few pounds from the factory weight.

 

in case anyone really wants to know, I weigh 180 lbs.

 

next mods set to be installed on Sept. 9th - 12th include a Deadbolt 20G turbo, FMIC from MTS (02BlueFirehawk on this board), ACT clutch & flywheel, and maybe a GPMoto 4-2-1 header with ceramic coating. I really wanted the same QTP header - but all indications are that QTP hasn't made their fabulous header for the Subaru (WRX/STi/Legacy) for several months now and may not ever make it again. Just too little demand they say. Too bad!

Nice. I was planning to stop to make an appointment at West End. I will say that a level looking drop in the LGT corner balances well. SnoDork and I corner balanced our cars at the same time and his was perfect out of the box and mine was only 50# off on one cross weight. I have since messed around with the coilovers a bit since, so I'm sure it's a little off plus I want to get a performance alignment. BTW, if you don't mind saying, how much did everything run you?

$205 bucks

man these calipers look sweet (: