How the alignment specs change when lowered?

[shiro1745]

My Sport H&R springs & Bilstein shocks are on the way so I'll have my car lowered soon. I'll be running 235/35/19 on 19x8.5 et35.
If the alignment specs change on lowered cars can you guys suggest some good numbers here for the setup I'll have? (Camber is probably the most important and to get the toe close to 0). Correct me if I'm wrong please.

The reason I'm asking all these is because where I live there is not a really good alignment shop so I'll end up going to a regular shop and tell them what to do... hoping they will.

[yellowsnowman]

I got my wheels aligned after lowering it about 3 weeks ago. I'm pretty sure the toe in the front and back were set as close as possible to 0 and the rear camber is relatively close to 0. The front camber, however, is at about -2 since it cannot be changed without the use of adjustable control arms. The front camber depends on how low you decide to go

[Mike@PureMS]

The problem you're going to run into is that the camber on your car cannot be changed to alleviate the problem by being lowered. You can't simply tell the alignment guy "I want my camber at -1.0". It just isn't adjustable like that. In order to do that, you need adjustable control arms, like our Stern arms. Those will give you the adjustability to set your camber and caster virtually anywhere you'd like. Without those, you're going to be stuck with the alignment that results from lowering the car.

[shiro1745]

The problem you're going to run into is that the camber on your car cannot be changed to alleviate the problem by being lowered. You can't simply tell the alignment guy "I want my camber at -1.0". It just isn't adjustable like that. In order to do that, you need adjustable control arms, like our Stern arms. Those will give you the adjustability to set your camber and caster virtually anywhere you'd like. Without those, you're going to be stuck with the alignment that results from lowering the car.

Are the front adjustable arms needed when lowered with my setup or when only go really low like CO setup? I know the rear is adjustable

[Mike@PureMS]

It depends. The springs along aren't going to be the only thing affecting your alignment. Worn control arm bushings and ball joints can also cause alignment issues that are harder to account for. As the shock bushings wear, the alignment is more easily affect during corner, or bumps in the road.

H&R Sport springs on a brand new suspension won't cause any issues with poor camber. However when you add in the increased camber, and poor control arm bushings, it's very possible that the combination of the two could cause some premature tire wear, or alignment settings that are out of spec.

Without knowing the specifics about the condition of those components it's impossible to say if you need them or not. It's something that would be suggested and recommended for sure though.

[yellowsnowman]

Are the front adjustable arms needed when lowered with my setup or when only go really low like CO setup? I know the rear is adjustable

I personally consider my car to be fairly low at 23.75 in the front and I'm not using adjustable control arms. They're a tad bit expensive at $600 and for now I'll just buy new tires when they wear out. The less you lower it, the less negative camber you'll have, and the less you'll have to worry about adjustable control arms.