Maintaining alignment after replacing front struts (E36)

[tripitz]

My front coilovers are due for a rebuild on my E36 and I just had the alignment done 2 events ago. I have Vorshlag camber plates and due to my aggressive camber I will have to remove the plates to get access to the top nuts (clearance issue with strut tower flange). Any tips on how I can reinstall this and maintain my current alignment settings? My friend recommended using a sharpie to mark out where the camber plates are in relation to the strut tower opening. Anything else I can do? Race shop is a bit of a hike and they charge a fair bit for a proper alignment.

Thanks.

[RBNetEngr]

Assuming that you are removing, revalving/refreshing and re-installing the same coilovers, and using the same springs again? And when you say front coilovers, are you talking about aftermarket setups with adjustable spring seats, and maybe even bottom brackets? Or are you talking about stock-like systems with fixed spring seats and bottom mounts?

The E36 coilovers attach to the front knuckles using three bolts, which means that there is very little there that can throw off the alignment by removing and replacing the coilovers.

The camber plate adjustments are done independent of the single attachment of the damper to the plate, so if you don’t change the camber plate settings, that should be fine. Since the coilovers will need to be disassembled, definitely mark the camber plates for Right and Left sides.

So I think the critical pieces would be the spring seats and bottom mounts, if you have that type of aftermarket coilover. if not, you should be okay. But if you have aftermarket coilovers, and the repair shop needs to remove the springs as well as the spring seats, and possibly the bottom mounts, then you will need to somehow mark those to get them put together exactly the same after the repair.

If you do all that, your alignment after the rebuild should be very close to what you have prior to removal. If it’s drastically off, you will know immediately, and will need to get an alignment. But if it seems to be okay, with no weird behavior, then you should be fine with waiting on a new alignment.

[tripitz]

Thanks for the response. I am running MCS coilovers and am mostly concerned with the camber plates being installed slightly off of where they are. There is a bit of play with the 3 holes that keep the plates mounted to the chassis. Not worried about the knuckles and the adjustment of the camber plates itself so much. For the spring perches I plan on measuring and using tape to mark them (I doubt these will be touched during a revalve/refresh?).