Trailing Arms Installed - now Alignment OOW. Is that possible?

[SpeedRacerX]

No alignment issues prior to install.

Installed Spohn trailing arms on Sunday. Went for a ride to see if I still had wheel hop. Steering wheel still straight.

Desolate road (really), TC off, Sport, powerbrake to 1200 rpm's, let 'er rip, nice smokey and slightly sideways burnout and NO HOP. Great.

As as I was done, I noticed that my car was now out of alignment. Steering wheel now out of whack (OOW) and off center by 5-10 degrees.

Do I need an alignment after installing trailing arms? Could my 5 second burnout cause that?

[GRRRR8]

It is possible that they would throw off the alignment since the bushings will have zero play.

[Devilish34]

I've had the rear suspension apart 4-5 times and never had any alignment issues

[SpeedRacerX]

Strange. Car still drives almost perfectly straight when I let go of the wheel but the wheel is cocked about 5-10 degrees to the left.

[SpeedRacerX]

It is possible that they would throw off the alignment since the bushings will have zero play.

I believe that now. I plan on doing more suspension stuff because just the addition of the Spohn trailing arms and the rear of the car feels tighter and more solid. Love it.

[GRRRR8]

It would be a good idea to put the car on a drive on rack and loosen the TA bolts, bounce the car a dozen times and then TQ them. That way the bushing at the spindle is not in a bind. Once you change all the rotating bushings they will have ferrules and will rotate with out bind no matter what position they are torqued in.

Not uncommon for the right side TA bushing to be weak and when the arm is changed it changes the position of the tire (front to back). This would make the steering wheel crooked to compensate for the new angle of the rear suspension. An alignment will fix it.

[SpeedRacerX]

It would be a good idea to put the car on a drive on rack and loosen the TA bolts, bounce the car a dozen times and then TQ them. That way the bushing at the spindle is not in a bind. Once you change all the rotating bushings they will have ferrules and will rotate with out bind no matter what position they are torqued in.

Not uncommon for the right side TA bushing to be weak and when the arm is changed it changes the position of the tire (front to back). This would make the steering wheel crooked to compensate for the new angle of the rear suspension. An alignment will fix it.

Considering one of the outer (lower) bolts went in with little issue and the other was a 2+ hour fight, requiring upward and forward force to get it to line up, this makes sense.
Thx Charlie.

[GRRRR8]

Considering one of the outer (lower) bolts went in with little issue and the other was a 2+ hour fight, requiring upward and forward force to get it to line up, this makes sense.
Thx Charlie.

What I want to know is did you come up with any new NC17 vocabulary while you were going through that 2 hour battle. lol

[SpeedRacerX]

What I want to know is did you come up with any new NC17 vocabulary while you were going through that 2 hour battle. lol

You have no idea. Cursed, bled, got dirty, kicked my dog (J/K), almost wept; plus you need to understand that my "driveway" where I do many of my mods is stones. So I have bruises on my shoulder blades, back, arms, etc from laying & kneeling on stones while doing most of this.

But I usually forget all about it once the next "mod" arrives. LOL. At the end of the day, I love this stuff.

[Devilish34]

Strange. Car still drives almost perfectly straight when I let go of the wheel but the wheel is cocked about 5-10 degrees to the left.

Maybe you car doesn't make enough power and those trailing arms are taking over