How to Align Your Lowered Mustang Without Expensive Caster/Camber Plates
NOTE: Proceed at your own risk, as the author of this article will take no responsibility for any damaging effects caused by following (or not following) the instructions herein. This article written by Ashentep, please do not copy without proper credit.
Tools/Supplies needed:
Lowered Mustang (can be done on non-lowered
cars, but no benefit)
Floor jack (and maybe ramps if your car is too low for the jack to get under the
A-arms[I just use two pieces of 2x10 and drive up on them])
Die grinder (~20k rpm), electric drill, or maybe even a Dremel tool
Carbide burrs (not required, but preferred) or Grinding stones
15mm socket and ratchet
Drill & drill bits
What we're doing:
The stock camber plates allow movement side to side (which is what matters for tire wear), but is very limited in range. If the Mustang is lowered much, the stock camber plates won't allow the amount of movement needed to correct this. We're simply giving the car more movement range by grinding the holes in the strut towers longer.
Process:
1. Get the car up on the ramps or whatever is needed to put the jack under the A-arm. Raise the jack under the spring perch on the A-arm (where the spring sits) until that wheel just clears the ground by say 1".
2. Pop the hood, then loosen the 2 nuts and 1 bolt that secure the stock camber plates. Now, with the drill and an appropriately sized drill bit, drill out the rivets holding the alignment plates. Once these are removed, the top metal plate should pop right off. You should be left with what looks like:
3. Now, press the strut down into the strut tower, and towards the inside of the car. The metal bushing cap will hold the strut down inside the strut tower while you do the work.
4. Mount a burr/stone small enough to fit in the holes for the bolts into the die grinder (drill, dremel, etc.). With ~45psi (lowest setting on dremel, or fastest speed on drill), grind away towards the outside of the car. Keep the width of the holes the same, and increase their length by about 30-50%.
5. Now bring the strut back up. Press the strut all the way towards the outside of the car. You'll notice that it has increased range, but we're not done yet. You'll also notice that the metal bushing shell more than likely hits the side of the hole it fits through. Mark where the interference is at, then press the strut back down into the tower, and grind away where you marked. Keep grinding and checking until the strut can move all the way to the end of the newly ground bolt holes.
6. Now, get the strut back into place, press it towards the outside of the car, put the top steel plate back in place, tighten the alignment nuts/bolt, and lower the jack. Repeat for the other side, then get to an alignment shop. If they tell you they couldn't get into spec, you didn't grind enough, but you should be close enough to at least not wear the tires quite as bad.
This is a bad picture, but shows what I had when finished:
You can look at the bolt holes and tell they are much longer, and that the strut
is able to reach the very end of the holes.
If the car is lowered up to ~2" you should be able to have the car aligned using this process with no problems. Even up to 2 1/2 or possibly 3" is doable with more grinding.