I didn't lower my car myself. . . but maybe that's what happened, I guess. . .

 

all the more reason i pretty much never let other people do work on my car.

 

The shimmy is probabli caused by a tire not bablanced and it may be out of round now as it bouncing down the road....hotbox is right lower and it put it together correct you may not need an alignment...I checked mine it was dead one after it was dropped

 

here we go again, so can you explain why the scion is any different than every other car? im curious.

 

show me how many other CARS not trucks. can be slammer more than 3.25 inches and still be withing stock specs?

the difference is the rear is a fricking ancient crappy, albeit non adjustable suspension.

the front uses macpherson struts. instead of torsions , or double wishbone so it can stay in damn near the exact same alignment even when severly lowered.


argue with me all you want. but I know for a fact you don't NEED to align xa/xb's.

i'm on cut front celica springs and stock length rear celica springs at about 3.25 front drop and all of my alignment specs are within factory spec.

 

What a second, are you stating that if you lower/raise (do anything to the suspension) that if you put the car back together you wont need a realinement?

I beg to differ. Any time you change something with the suspension you need to get the car realined. I lifted my last Explorer and it need a an alinement. Granted the wheels were out of alinement of about +-.05", but it still need to be done.

Think about quality control, the auto manufactures are useing tolerences of +-.005 for all major parts. Now if they did not use those tolerences you would be going back to the dealership to buy parts once a year.

If you dont spend a little now, you will spend a lot later.

 

people like you are the reason this site has such a bad name. please, please stop mis-informing people.

 

I have no idea about the fronts, but I know that there is VERY little adjustment in the rear (if there is any at all). I have no idea about the front struts tho. . . but I think hotbox is talking about aligning the car after a drop. . . and not just plain ever. If you do something bad enough to your suspension (like hit a massive pot hole), you'll probably need an alignment.

But you guys have more expertise on this stuff, so I'll let y'all argue it out.

 

The front can be aligned for toe and camber. There is no adjustment for caster or inclination.

The rear does NOT have any adjustments.

The most common causes for the steering to suddenly start to shimmy or vibrate are (1) loss of a balancing weight, (2) tire problem (bulge, etc.), (3) bent wheel, (4) loose, worn, bent, defective parts.

Alignment problem correction on a stock xB, other than front toe and camber, which can be adjusted, is to replace the bent or warn parts.

Here are the basics from the service manual (There is more, of course, but if one is working on this sort of stuff, one should have a copy of the repair manual.):

Adjustment (PDF, 87K)

 

hmmm,after i dropped my tc,i went to get it aligned.it was butterflying alot,so when i went the guy said they didnt have the tc on there machine so they used the xa because the suspension is similar..i wasnt to sure,amybe someone can touch this subject.its not butterflied anymore though.

 

tC is quite different. Again, the repair manual is the 'proper tool' here...

 

Congradulations. . . that "guy" probably completely messed up your alignment. I'd sue them for some new tires if I were you. . .

You'd think an alignment tech would know the difference between mac struts and rear torsion beam and a completely independent dbl wishbone setup. . .

 

i'm not misinforming anyone.

people like you are why the internet seems to be full of jerks.

i've lowered more than 30 scions, and have torn apart and reassambled my own car's suspension more than 50 times. out of all of my customers none have had a problem. i have had my alignment checked at my buddies shop and it was almost dead on. still within factory specs.

if you put everything together right on an xa/xb/echo you will not NEED an alignment. could you make it from .02 off to perfect by getting an alignment? YES .
would .02 really matter since it is still IN specs? NO

take it how you will i'm helping people out whether you think so or not. look on this site. look at the info I post. the VAST majority of it is helpful. and at least 50% of it is technical info.

whatever works for you. cheers.

 

if he didn't have tc specs he should've looked up celica or camry. either is closer than xa. hmmm... go and get it realigned with a set of correct specs in hand.