Adjustable Suspension Arms

nicholas787 · Postby **nicholas787** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 10:10 am

2 Weeks ago i bought myself a Series 1 NB
1 Week ago i bought myself coilovers

Assuming that the factory suspension adjustment wouldnt be sufficient to give me the allignment setup i wanted, i went to Just Jap and bought a set of 'adjustable rear upper camber arms'.
Unfortunately they weren't great so i took them back.

Aside from the ones mx5 mania (which i cant justify paying 250$ for a small adjustment piece welded onto the stock arm), does anybody know of anywhere else that offers adjustable suspension arms for MX5s?

thanks

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 12:16 pm

What alignment setup do you want? If it's a track setup you should be fine as the mx-5 is pretty adjustable. If for drift you might need the adjustable arms.

nicholas787 · Postby **nicholas787** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 12:38 pm

bensale wrote:What alignment setup do you want? If it's a track setup you should be fine as the mx-5 is pretty adjustable. If for drift you might need the adjustable arms.

Im looking to set it up for grip, not so much drift
Whilst they have some decent adjustment from factory, I Lowered it a bit when putting in coilovers & now cant dial Out enough camber in the rear. In the front i cant get enough.

Just thought i'd poke around the online community before opening my wallet to a suspension specialist.

jerrah · Postby **jerrah** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:31 pm

What camber are you trying to achieve?

Jeo · Postby **Jeo** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:41 pm

And how low is it?

At the point where it's too low to get rid of enough of the natural camber from lowering, it's probably too low to get ideal handling anyway.

zossy1 · Postby **zossy1** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:02 pm

There are several purveyors of adjustable wishbones. What was wrong with the Just Jap ones?

Another alternative is to have some offset bushes made for either the upper and/or lower wishbone mounting points.

nicholas787 · Postby **nicholas787** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:03 pm

Jeo wrote:And how low is it?

At the point where it's too low to get rid of enough of the natural camber from lowering, it's probably too low to get ideal handling anyway.

I agree that the rear probably is lower than its optimum point. Havent measured it exactly.
I'll raise it by 1cm this afternoon and then post some pictures.

Whereas the front isn't lowered much at all. And Bob Jane couldnt get any negative camber...

Without trying to bad-mouth Just Jap i figure everyone here should probalby know.
The set of adjustable rear upper arms that i bought
1. Terrible Welds. I'm an electrician (apprentice) and would be able to do better.
2. Did not physically fit. One of the arms was too narrow (whrere bolting onto the chassis) by 2.5mm and the other by
4mm

Fortunately for me, Just Jap was very good in returning my money for the product, Since all the other mx5 arms they had were the same.

That being said, I've helped put completely adjustable suspension arms in a mates 200sx and they're all 100% spot on quality and without fitment issues.

Postby **Okibi** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:12 pm

Unless you're using R compound tyres you don't really need more chamber than what's achievable with the stock arms.

bigdog · Postby **bigdog** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:18 pm

First step is to take it to a decent wheel aligner (Stu at Spinning Wheel or Heasmans if you're in Sydney) and get their advice. If you are out of camber adjustment you could fit offset control arm bushes (Super Pro make them from memory and they give a lot of extra adjustment), or replacement arms if you really want to. Bob Jane T-Marts are not known for their wheel alignment accuracy.

nicholas787 · Postby **nicholas787** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:47 pm

I'm Not running R compound tires, but I'm sure the factory adjusters are sufficient if it were factory height.

I'll take it to the guy you've recommended and see what he says to do. The bushings may be the way to go. Or have someone weld in the adjustment system that Mania offers on their arms.

Postby **Okibi** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 4:08 pm

Just how much camber are you running?

My NB is as low as an MX-5 should be and has -1.5" I think.

Postby **NitroDann** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:16 pm

Everyone is tiptoeing around it. Im going to be blunt.

Mx5s go best with about 1 deg more in the rear than front. So your issue with more in the rear is right.

Also if you truly have gone so low you have crazy amounts of camber the handlings ruined anyway.

Also get it away from bob jane. Cant adjust the front camber !!! Bullshit.

2.5 degrees front and 3.something rear is heaps for anything less than big semislicks that you dont have.

Dann

nicholas787 · Postby **nicholas787** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:46 pm

NitroDann wrote:Everyone is tiptoeing around it. Im going to be blunt.

Mx5s go best with about 1 deg more in the rear than front. So your issue with more in the rear is right.

Also if you truly have gone so low you have crazy amounts of camber the handlings ruined anyway.

Also get it away from bob jane. Cant adjust the front camber !!! Bullshit.

2.5 degrees front and 3.something rear is heaps for anything less than big semislicks that you dont have.

Dann

2 Degrees on the rear
0 Degrees in the front.

I wont be going back to bob jane anytime ever.

The car isn't stupidly low

I wanted
1 front
1.5 rear
Each of those figures were unobtainable.
I was standing next to the screen as he made adjustments and pulling camber would throw out other settings too etc.

I'll have it done by the same guy my friends go to for their alignments and ill report back after that and see what they say about the setup

Postby **NitroDann** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:50 pm

1.5 degrees is EASY both ends even with stock ride height.

Of course, as you adjust camber castor will be affected this is normal.

You want something like 2 degrees front and 2.5 rear with absolutely maximum camber for a mild weekend warrior on street tyres. And zero toe whatsoever front and rear.

Or just go to spinning wheel.

Dann