After less than 3/4-year of ownership I believe I'm going to have to dump the whole setup. The minimum drop for the HT-Spec IIs is 1.5", and it's a little lower even now that the springs have settled, and while the handling is...AWESOME...and the comfort is...AWESOME...and the look is...AWESOME, what I did not prepare for was the tire-hungriness of the whole deal, in spite of proper rotation and alignment specs. I'm ALL highway miles and need my tires to last.

So my question is, for those on shock/spring combos, and mildly lowered, how are your tires holding up? What is your combo?

 

So your camber is in spec? You didn't have to compromise that to fit the 20 ET wheels?

 

Not from what the alignment sheets are reading, at least.

 

Just wondered.

mmade22 had a similar issue. Fairly small drop but the camber was out of spec by a small amount. He ran a LOT of highway miles, something like 4,000 - 5,000 per month, and he was burning through tires at an unacceptable rate.

He installed camber kits front and rear, 'fixed' his camber and changed tires (to General Exclaim UHP, I think) and afaik pretty much resolved the issue.

He was running Koni sports (front on the lower perch and rear on the middle/stock perch, iirc) and H&R Sport springs. Drop, say, ~1.5" in front and, say, 1.25" in the rear.

 

Yeah, believe you me, I did EVERYTHING I was supposed to do to no avail. I have the rear camber kit installed, fronts are dialing in fine.

In my search on the matter, Rockstar143 and some random guy on a BMW forum said it best..."You're lowered for performance. What did you expect?"

Lesson learned!

 

I hope that I don't run into this issue when I drop my car. Should I wait to get an alignment before I invest in a camber kit?

 

^ you should get camber kit BEFORE getting aligned so they can get your alignment into spec.. or if you have lifetime alignment... it wouldn't matter lol

DM - what exactly are your camber #s?

Mine is set ~ -1 all around and even that seems to be wearing the inside of my tires more than expected..

 

Wow. You never see threads like this on here.

I am lowered around 2" with the Eibach pro kit and koni sport shocks. The koni shocks are rebound and height adjustable. I actually recommend the H&R springs over the Eibach springs for stance. I chose the Eibach springs for another reason. Also, I do not have any uneven tire wear issues.



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^How many miles do you have on ur set up?

 

Around 10 thousand. 142 thousand on the car

 

Is your tire wear front & rear?

I am on Comptech springs only .. mild drop and rear camber kit .. even after aligned I was getting inner wear on the rears ..

Was a combination of a sloppy alignment tech averaging the rear toe and mostly highway miles with luggage etc which again threw off the toe & camber.

I had it redone at another shop last spring and no wear all summer ..

 

Hi DM, I think your setup should be fine at 1.5". It will give you enough room to get your rear camber closer to ~ -1. Did the PM I sent you help? I think you already know my shock and spring setup. I initially had my alignment done with the rear camber at ~ -2, which did wear my tires. Toe was well within spec. However, I recently had a rear camber kit installed, and I'll have to wait and see how my tires wear after being flipped. I'm saving up for a front camber kit too, so I can get get closer to ~ -.50 all around, which I think is the min camber the TL should have. I'm all freeway too, so I want my tires to last at least 30K.

I am currently at ~ -1 on all four corners.

 

Jesstzn, what are your alignment specs in regards to camber front and rear? Thank you.

 

very close to -.5 on the rear .. the fronts are closer to 1

The rear toe I had set to "0" cuz as you load the trunk etc the camber changes and it toes it in more.

 

So are you saying without adjusting the drop it's 1.5"? If so I just picked these up and would like to know what setting you had the damper on to make it awesome?
Thanks

 

I AM SELLING MY ENTIRE SET-UP ON THE BM SHORTLY, ANYONE INTERESTED PLEASE PM ME.

It's been fun, and DAMN will I miss this set-up, but my old age is starting to show.

 

i have form and function type 1's i just got an alignment today and the rear camber was 1.6L and 1.5R the front was in spec and the tec said the toe was okay too. do you guys think my rear camber is anything to worry about it?

 

was your toe "ok" or was it 0.0? You don't want ANY toe. Your camber is not too extreme, but I personally would get rear camber kit to bring specs more within range. Even at -1 camber, i'm seeing uneven tire wear.. just slightly...but still there

 

The tech that did the alignment said toe was within factory specs but I'm gunna go back and get a print out to see for myself and about the rear camber I'm planning on getting a kit in the near future it'll help me go lower without the added problems.

 

Yes. When I lowered my first TL it was 1" lower F&R. I spent quite a bit on the best camber kit. The mechanic said he didnt have to adjust my Engalls rods.

When I lowered another TL I had, I installed Tein SS coilovers and lowered the car 1.7" F&R and got an aleignment, didnt need any camber kits. No problems.

 

Thanks I read on another thread that it's recommended that the front has at least a .05 difference when compared to the rear or do I have it backwards?

For example:
Front -.05
Rear -1

If someone can please provide some additional info since this is the alignment I want to achieve. Thanks.