Alignment specs anyone?

[Jimmy]

Am getting a new wheel alignment tomorrow as the front right lower control arm decided to loosen up suddenly and drop 15mm, completely throwing off the wheel alignment and making me dart all over the road. Im after some wheel alignment specs (camber, caster, toe) given that the front right is only able to achieve a max of -0.5degree camber. Ive had a search in the tech archieve and on miatanet but the closest i could find was a -0.75 camber on the front. So if anyone can fill in the blanks below that would be great, and maybe a comment about how you found it. I know its all about persoanly preference but i wouldnt mind something to work off and go from there.
Thanks,
Jimmy

Front:
Camber: -0.5
Caster:
Toe:

Rear
Camber:
Toe:

[bigdog]

Check the tech archive on this forum Jimmy, the specs are all there.

As to your specific question you will need to fix whatever is bent or broken first then do the alignment - if you can only adjust to - .5 camber then something is wrong....

[Boags]

How exactly did your control arm drop 15mm? And why can't you fix it and run normal camber?

[Jimmy]

well it should look like this (front left):


and this is the front right:


I enjoy spirited driving and want to maximise it with a good alignment.

[Jimmy]

Thanks bigdog but there isnt anything on there for a -0.5 front camber (this is the most negative mine can go so i have to work with it). The closest is a -0.75 which mine isnt capable of achieving

[green_comet]

Should fix whatever is wrong first, before you get an alignment. I got mine done the other day, running a little over -2.0 on the fronts.

[Jimmy]

As to your specific question you will need to fix whatever is bent or broken first then do the alignment - if you can only adjust to - .5 camber then something is wrong....

Ill get it checked out tomorrow. The car has taken a light hit to the front right earlier in its life so this could be the underlying problem. What should i/they be checking and how much roughly to replace?

Upper control arm $$$
Lower control arm $$$
Anything else?
I have already replaced the front sway bar but not the end links.

[irwin83r]

if your lucky (kinda lucky anyway) it might only be the camber adjusting pin thats dead..

basically that washer (that looks to have a crack on it) is held to that pin by a small kinda spline.. so that washer should be fixed more or less to that bolt head. so when you rotate that bolt head (with the nut loose) it spins the bolt in the hole and the offset washer rotates with it, the out side of that washer riding along that raised section on the lower arm causing it to push the lower arm in or out respectively.

if that washer is no longer fixed to the bolt head and is now spinning freely(or atleast not firmly fixed to the bolt) it will not push the lower arm out very well if at all..

new lower arm pins ar not cheap however.. i'd ring mania and get a set of second hand ones that are in better condition that the ones you have now.. and if worse comes to worse put a spot of weld on the bolt fixing the washer to it.

the only other thing i would put it down to is a collasped bush.. which would result in some clunky sounds and a funny unsteedy feeling...

but that crack in the washer... id put money on that being the issue

further more if you have taken it to someone to get an alignment with it like this and they havent picked up on this (if it turns out to be the problem) go to a new wheel alinger.. unless you like the people there as they either caused the problem and dont want to pay for it or dont know what they are doing

[irwin83r]

wheel alignment wise..

what kind of driving do you do? and what do you want from your tyres? what tyres are you going to use?what suspension are you running? how are you going to inflict the most wear on your tyres??

the amount of camber you need really seems to relate to driving style and also majorly what tyres you are running...

for example on street rubber on a tight track max camber is prolly pretty good. but if you step up to semi slicks you will prolly find the out side of the tyre is wearing more than the inside and you need more again... meaning you will need either offset bushes or modified lower arms to get the extra camber so when the car rolls onto the out side tread patch it dosent roll past the maximum contact.. moment.
but if your basically just using it on the roads with a fair amount of hwy.. then keep the camber fairly modest to increase the tyre life..

for me.. its pretty easy as i only really worry about track as the car dosnt get much driving other than track and the odd blat here or there so... max caster then max camber, toe i have been running 0 rear and 2mm front but since the new rear sway bar its been taily and ive had to wind back the rear dampers to get some more grip there... i really need to pick more brains about what i should be running for the track as far as toe goes

[Jimmy]

Thanks for the reply irwin83r, much appreciated. Just checked the car again and its not a crack. It is actually a thin bit of rubber which would probably indicate the bush is rooted. (although i havent had any problems with steering or heard any noises until now) If these need replacing, do you reckon i just go with the super pro alignment kit?

Im taking the car to CarCo first thing tomoz to hopefully get a verdict.

Driving wise, im a fairly \"spirited\" driver. Living in Canberra really has its benefits with all the winding hilly roads just 5 min out of town. I like to go for a long blast whenever i can which usually ends up being once or twic a week. The rest is round town. Im currently using Yoko S-Drive on Au lightweight rims (15\"). The car is still on stock suspension (for the time being). As the tyres cost me close to $800, i wouldnt mind them lasting a while but i understand that my driving style will shorten their life span a lot.

Atm, i dont have the cash to do a lot of \"repairs\" to fix the alignment but it will happen by the end of year. In the mean time, the car steers fine and tyre wear is even with my current alignment but was hoping for some proven figures for my camber limit.

Heres my current alignment. Want to change it coz its way to twitchy for my liking. Although, having said that it was loads of fun on the track with very average tyes! Im looking at bringing the rear camber down to just under -1. Thoughts?

Front
Camber: -0.4
Caster: +5
Toe: 0.15

Rear
Camber: -1.5
Toe: 0.35

[Jaron]

I would also like to know peoples own pref to specs as I will be getting a wheel alignment in the next week or so... I don't really care about daily driving, would just like more grip than I currently have.

[butters]

my car set up:
tein ss, white line adjustable sway front and rear plus lsd.

after putting in the lsd i found my car very taily which is a trait with the teins plus rear sway. i now run my front sway on the medium setting and the rear on soft (i like it)

to help combat some oversteer i run -1.5 rear camber with -1.2 front (old setting of -1.2 all round)

rear toe-in was increased from 2 to 3mm total (0 toe on front)

front castor was reduced from 4.5 to 3.5: this just makes the non power steer easier around town

As far as your stock car goes i'd say solve the inital front end problem. try for -1 to -1.5 camber equal front and rear, 0 toe on front and 2mm toe-in on the rear. this should give you a fairly neutral feel, if you want less oversteer try increasing the rear toe in or negative camber.

[Jimmy]

Well, i got them to check to see if anything was bent/isnt how it should be and got them to compare to good parts borrowed from carco. They compared everything and nothing was bent/broken. Obvisouly my issue still sucks so an alignment kit will be going in later in the year to get the camber i want.

[irwin83r]

Well, i got them to check to see if anything was bent/isnt how it should be and got them to compare to good parts borrowed from carco. They compared everything and nothing was bent/broken. Obvisouly my issue still sucks so an alignment kit will be going in later in the year to get the camber i want.

remember as everyone keeps pointing out if you are going to lower the car in the future you will get more camber from that also. you prolly wont need offset bushes if your not going to run semi slick tyres

[Jaron]

Ps : I am running front & rear whiteline sways, king springs with ped shocks & front strut bar if that helps ?