C_Rules

iTrader: (7)

I purchased the UMI K member and lower a arms and finally got them on. Of course the car was all out of alignment. I took the car to get aligned and the guy was having issues getting the caster and camber right. He said he tried multiple things and adjustments but could not get it right. Is there something specific he needs to do? Does anyone out there have this UMI setup on there car? Did you run into the same issue? Is there something the supsension guy is doing incorrectly? Will I need caster and camber plates?

InsaneAuto86

iTrader: (60)

I have UMI k member and lower a arms on my LT1. No problems with alignment. Is the mechanic doing it by hand or using a machine? I had problems with a shop using an alignment machine. Then I took it to someone I trust, who did it by hand. No problems afterward...

Black02SLPSS

iTrader: (5)

Maybe try a different mechanic?

C_Rules

iTrader: (7)

yeah it looks like im going to have to take it to a different shop. the guy tried to do it using the machine and by hand but he couldn't get it done. something about every time he tried to adjust one part the other would move way too far out. he did get the car better than it was before. gonna take it to another shop hopefully saturday.

Chocolate Apocalypse

iTrader: (6)

Sounds like the right thing to do, mine took a little longer than usual but turned out fine.

99345hp

I have aligned many cars with aftermarkey a-arms and various aftermarket suspension pieces. I always did them on a laser alignment machine. I would just take my time and adjust in this order "caster,camber,toe, camber, caster, toe" I would just keep going in this order until I got it perfect. Takes a long time to do.

BMR Tech

iTrader: (9)

We run into this from time to time ourselves. My recommendation would be to seek out another alignment shop. More and more it seems like if the car doesn't have all of the stock components on the car the technician has no idea what to do

Lt14mla

iTrader: (2)

make sure you find a place that SPECIALIZES in aftermarket alignments, they'll be able to do it, and if not, they'll know why

Cap'n Pete

iTrader: (2)

Question:

Have you (or the shop) adjusted the A-arms from their "as shipped" setting?? AFAIK, UMI sends out all of their adjustable parts "pre-adjusted" to factory settings (or as close as they'll go ..... ie: panhard bars, rear LCA's, etc.).

I had no problem making any adjustments with the UMI K-member and lower A-arms, by myself, in my garage. It's not rocket science. But I left the adjustment on the arms alone, and made all of the camber/caster adjustments by moving the arms in the slots of the K-member. Is that what your shop is doing? Or have they messed with the length of the arms?

That could be a part of the problem. Get the A-arms back to "stock" length, and try from there (using only the slots to make adjustments).

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

I spoke to the customer about this myself (at least I assume it's the same man, too much coincidence).

Between the fact the arms themselves are adjustable and the fact the alignment slots on the UMI K-member are larger and offer more range than stock, I don't see what the issue is.

Actually, that's not true. He must not understand that the caster and camber are linked and changing one changes the other. That's the way it is with any setup, even stock. Max the negative camber and you lose some positive caster.

C_Rules

iTrader: (7)

Yup Sam its me. The a arms and tubular k member were installed in the car by my regular mechanic. The a arms themselves were adjusted to try to get the car right by the mechanic which was probably not a good idea. I took it to an alignment shop and they were able to get the car to drive straight which it definitely wasn't doing before. However, the guy told me that even though the car would drive straight it was not aligned and would eventually start to shred the tires. Tomorrow I'm waking it up bright and early to take it to another shop. I'm hoping they can get the job done correctly.

C_Rules

iTrader: (7)

yup the arms have been tampered with by my regular mechanic when originally installed to try to get the tires straight. i'm taking the car to another alignment shop. hopefully this new place can get the job done right.

Cap'n Pete

iTrader: (2)

When you say you want the wheels "straight", do you mean up & down, as in camber? Which way are/were they leaning? In? (negative) Out? (positive)

I know of one other person who had issues getting his UMI setup aligned properly, and it was on the passenger's side only ... turned out to be a bad arm (incorrect length in part of the arm) ... he couldn't get ANY negative camber out of that side, and the arm was binding up in the slots when he'd try to adjust them. Not saying that's your issue, but the fact that your mechanic played with the adjustment of the arms, means the lenghts could be wrong, and the arms could be "fighting" in the slots now .

I'd be inclined to recommend you try to get back to factory measurements on the arms, and go from there. Even if you were looking to get a whack of negative camber, I was able to get at least ~ -3° of camber with the arms at "stock" length, and just maxed out in the slots on the K-member!

35th SS

iTrader: (2)

I run UMI k members and rod ended lower a arms on both cars.no issues here.alignment is set.like said take it to another alignment shop.good luck.

C_Rules

iTrader: (7)

Okay here are the specs for the front:

Car when i first took it to the shop

Left Camber -2.5
Left Caster .3
Right Camber -2
Right Caster 5.4

After the first alignment:
Left Camber -.8
Left Caster 4.9
Right Camber -.2
Right Caster 4.6

Took the car for a test drive and it pulled to the right. So up it went to try to get it to stop from pulling to the right:

Left Camber -1.1
Left Caster 4.3
Right Camber 0
Right Caster 5.8

Still pulled to the right so we put it up on the machine again:

Left Camber -.8
Left Caster 4.5
Right Camber .3
Right Caster 4.9

Pulled much less to the right so I decided to leave it like that for the time being. So of course I may try another shop, but what do you guys think.

Cap'n Pete

iTrader: (2)

I'm not an alignment tech, so I can't tell you everything about "proper alignment", but at least it looks like your car has the capability to be adjusted through quite a range, so I'd say there's no problem with your components.

You may just need a better alignment .

35th SS

iTrader: (2)

can you type in your toe reading.