Center The Car
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On The Tree
Joined: Sep 2008
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Center The Car Im getting a UMI or a Spohn "on car" adjustable panhard bar and need to no how to adjust the bar to center the car. Im putting strano/koni on the as well as a panhard bar and a rear control arm relocation bracket. I read on here that you need the relocation bracket when you lower the car because you will lose some traction without it.
you dont center 'the car', you center the rear end under the car. its best to have an alignment shop do it. they will align the rear, both right/left and front/back. you also dont need relocation brackets, but its good to have them. i doubt youd really feel the differance with or without them, unless youre consistantly either road racing or drag.
if you want to do it yourself, then you have to jack up the car, support it by the frame. remove old bar, install new one. put the car back on the ground. then tape a string (plumb bob) to the top of your fender, and measure from the string to a point on your rim, either the lip if you have one, or a spot on the center cap. then to the same to the opposite side. to adjust, you have to jack up the car again, support by frame, and shorten/tighten the adj. PHB, depending on which way you have to move it. then back down, and remeasure everything. if you need to adjust again, you have to keep jacking, adjusting, dropping and measuring over and over again. this is why its best to have a good shop do it. they should have a laser alignment, and can do it all at once.
if you want to do it yourself, then you have to jack up the car, support it by the frame. remove old bar, install new one. put the car back on the ground. then tape a string (plumb bob) to the top of your fender, and measure from the string to a point on your rim, either the lip if you have one, or a spot on the center cap. then to the same to the opposite side. to adjust, you have to jack up the car again, support by frame, and shorten/tighten the adj. PHB, depending on which way you have to move it. then back down, and remeasure everything. if you need to adjust again, you have to keep jacking, adjusting, dropping and measuring over and over again. this is why its best to have a good shop do it. they should have a laser alignment, and can do it all at once.
One thing to add to the above - if you are running 315 or wider tires, you'll also want to watch the inner fender clearance. I actually centered my rear by making sure that each tire is equi-distance from the inner fender. That's where I rub.
Also, I do my centering with the car on the ground. I just loosen everything and twist it. It's kinda tight quarters, but I can just squeeze under there. Of course, I have no exhaust, so this may not work for everyone...
Also, I do my centering with the car on the ground. I just loosen everything and twist it. It's kinda tight quarters, but I can just squeeze under there. Of course, I have no exhaust, so this may not work for everyone...
I too use a plumb bob that hangs down to the center of the axle. I just measure from the center of the axle itself (not the wheel) to the plumb bob, and to make things a little easier, I put the car on 4 ramps so the entire weight of the car is on the tires, but it is high enough to crawl around under there and make adjustments without becoming royally pissed.
A few to choose from Im getting a UMI or a Spohn "on car" adjustable panhard bar and need to no how to adjust the bar to center the car. Im putting strano/koni on the as well as a panhard bar and a rear control arm relocation bracket. I read on here that you need the relocation bracket when you lower the car because you will lose some traction without it.
You will lose some traction performance when you lower a vehicle. When you lower a vehicle the control arm becomes more leveled out. And when you install the lower control arm relocation brackets you are able to relocate the control arm so that it is more parallel to the surface therefore increasing your traction performance and eliminating the wheel hop! And like mentioned above when lowering a vehicle it will shift the rear end and a adjustable pan hard bar will adjust the rear end back under the vehicle. Below are a few links to show you what UMI Performance has to offer!
http://umiperformance.com/products.php?category_id=125
http://umiperformance.com/products.php?category_id=124
If you have any other questions feel free to ask I will be more than glad to help!
Thanks
Brad
