I have Tanabe Springs installed on my 2008 Honda Fit and just got the alignment checked, this is what I have after adjustments:

Front:
-0.6' Camber
0.02' Toe

Rear:
-1.8 Camber L, -2.1 Camber R
0.22' Toe L, 0.33' Toe R

The rear is not adjustable. They said for $80 they could install the SPC Rear Shim kit to bring the Rear Camber and Toe back to spec.

Should I spend the money on the kit, or will my tires be fine with the above specs? Also what is a good angle for the Rear Camber and Toe?

 

What is OE range for the rear camber/toe? You may have to do it.


Is the $80 for parts or parts/labor? And will you have to pay for another alignment?


The camber looks fine to me, but you could have an issue with the toe. I run -2* all around with no issues. Then again, we're talking 2 completly diferent cars.

 

Rear toe isn't adjustable from the factory?

I thought the Fit had a twist beam suspension, not a dead axle...

 

I don't think the rear toe is adjustable. The rear shim kit will change the camber and toe if it's installed.

I think the $80 included labor and parts. If not I think the shim kit is like $25.

So it sounds like -2.0' camber in the rear is fine. Just mainly worried about the rear toe. I also heard if I rotate the tires regularly I would be ok... ?

OE Range for Rear:
-0.5' to -2.5' for Camber
0.00' to 0.20' for Toe

 

Ignore camber.

If that is correct factory the rear toe range, I would certainly want the current alignment within it, and ideally much closer to 0 than the other end of the range.

If a "kit" of some form is needed to change toe (seems very strange to me, but I haven't worked with that style of rear suspension much), and it happens to change camber too, again, ignore camber and use the kit to fix the toe.

 

Here is a video that explains the SPC Shim kit - let me know what you think:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLggvBqh1uU

 

You should definitely align the rear end, your total toe is way out and will result in increased tire wear. Fits don't have adjustable rear suspension so a shim kit is required for adjustment. Does the $80 include both sides or is that per side?

Another thing to note, when removing the rear spindle to install the shim there's a hex head bolt that is almost always seized and typically requires being hammered/chiseled for removal. The bolt will then need replacement and if this is just an alignment shop they may not stock it if they don't do many fit's. It might be a good idea to swing by your local dealer and order a pair of the bolts before having the shims installed to prevent any down-time.

The part number is 90101-SCC-003 for the bolt.

 

1) Ew. Seriously, ew.
2) Looks like you will need to shim it to change the toe.
3) Only worry about toe, and let the camber end up where it falls.
4) You just gave me flashbacks to making sheet metal shims for rear toe adjustment of my swing axle Spitfire...

I would never recommend doing so, but members of the VW community have been known to use washers (or even worse) as shims for rear alignment adjustment.

 

Thanks for the advise! Is the SPC shim kit the best way to adjust the rear toe?

They said $80 for both sides (I think that includes the SPC kit and an alignment recheck).

What is the best setting for the rear toe? 0.05 degrees?

 

SPC makes a high quality kit. I don't think there is any other way to adjust the rear toe on a Honda Fit - can you think of a better way?... either the SPC kit or washers.

 

$80 for both sides and re-alignment is a good deal. When they hook the car back up to the alignment machine it will print out exactly how the shim should be adjusted to put the toe and camber into the middle of the spec. I've never done the shims on a lowered car but the shim should still be able to correct the camber, or atleast most of it.

 

I certainly wouldn't question SPC quality. I loved the SPC UCAs I had on my Integra, aside from the clearance issue all replacement UCAs have on those cars, but they held up to more abuse than I expected.

A better way? Other than "leave the ride height stock"? Nope. Can't think of anything.

The actual shims will have a larger contact surface than washers, reducing the load and decreasing the chances of failure.

 

I would love to not worry about it - but maybe yours isn't as bad as mine? Do you know what your rear Toe is? Mine is like 0.30' each side... way off from 0.05 or 0.10 that it should be.

 

There are no issues I know of with the quality and reliability of using that kind of shim. The only issue I've heard of is they can cause problems with certain ABS setups.

 

While you might not have uneven tire wear, you will have much faster tire wear due to excessive +total toe on the rear tires.

 

get it taken care of.An alingment is cheaper than tires.