g'day, just wondering how i'm spose to tell which bolt goes in which hole. I put new springs in recently and for one of the struts i forgot to mark the bolts with their holes. now the inside of that tyre is bald. so now i just wanna know how to tell which hole/bolt combination is the right one! thanks heaps for any help! Dave

set it so the strut centre is towards the back and in a bit full in will have around 1.5 degrees neg camber whick is good for the street, but may wear yout tyres a bit if u drive soft

If you look closely you might be able to see a mark on the rubber from dust and stuff on the exposed rubber.

i just did mine, if you look on the white cap on the top of the strut tower it should have GM stamped on it. This should face towards the engine that was the case with mine anyhow good luck

thanks for the ideas guys give it a go tomorrow. tried to match dust mark at the time, but must have got it wrong. paco, was the GM stamp facing the engine for both struts? (the right one on mine is the one thats off)

Quote: Originally Posted by MushiVLWGN thanks for the ideas guys give it a go tomorrow. tried to match dust mark at the time, but must have got it wrong. paco, was the GM stamp facing the engine for both struts? (the right one on mine is the one thats off) ye mushi, that was the case for both sides of my calais hope that helps good luck

Quote: Originally Posted by paco i just did mine, if you look on the white cap on the top of the strut tower it should have GM stamped on it. This should face towards the engine that was the case with mine anyhow good luck I like the way you do that will have to remember it does that work the same with the wheels to get them up the right way??

Way to go doing it doing yourself, but your alignment will be out slightly even if you had marked the strut top just due to the fact you have disassembled and replaced certain suspension components. When reassembled it looks same but tiny changes to chamber, caster and toe will muck your alignment up unlesss your lucky. For a mater of about $35 a wheel alignment will set it up perfectly, a good thing if like me your running fairly expensive rubber. I mean I'm happier having piece of mind for $35 than ****ing tyres at $300-$350 a pop.

Quote: Originally Posted by grug Way to go doing it doing yourself, but your alignment will be out slightly even if you had marked the strut top just due to the fact you have disassembled and replaced certain suspension components. When reassembled it looks same but tiny changes to chamber, caster and toe will muck your alignment up unlesss your lucky. For a mater of about $35 a wheel alignment will set it up perfectly, a good thing if like me your running fairly expensive rubber. I mean I'm happier having piece of mind for $35 than ****ing tyres at $300-$350 a pop. listen to him Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

if they're standard bearing plates, on a vl, I'm fairly sure they only bolt up one way. Go for a wheel alignment and your problems with be gone.

i have done **** loads of shut replacements both at a dealership and at home and have never done a wheel alignment and have never seen tires chewed up due to not aligning them. I gues it is a personal opinion and if you want to pay to get it aligned that is up to you, but like i say i never have and havent had any problems.

there's a hole ontop of either tower (on mine anyway) and a hole in the plate ontop of the strut... those line up i thought?

yes, line the holes up. There are 2 holes in the bearing plate, for 2 different alignment settings. For better handling set it up with the bearing in and towards the rear slightly ( as HSVSUX said ) , this will give more neg camber and pos castor. The only thing they can do when doing a wheel alignment is spin the bearing plate as described for camber/castor, and adjust the toe. Fitting new bushes etc wont stuff the alignment up as camber/castor can only be in a preset position anyway, the only thing that may change is the toe, which can scrub tyres, and they can reset that in a wheel alignment.