Camber adjustment advice

Discussions relating to MX5 Tyre choice, Wheels, Brakes Suspension components and other items to keep you going around corners, stuck to the ground or stopping on a dime.

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MrGrey
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Camber adjustment advice

Post by MrGrey » Thu Mar 19, 2015 10:38 pm

okie dokie, its that time of year again for me to get my 6 monthly warrant of fitness and it looks like I will have to get 2 new front tires. Basically they have worn themselves below the passable depth on the insides but the outsides are still legal tread depth which makes me think that my lowered springs have thrown my camber settings out of whack.

-How hard is this to fix?

-Is this something I can fix myself or pay a professional to do?

-If a professional is required, who would do it and would anyone have any ballpark idea of how much it would cost to have set correctly?

-My current wheels are 15x6.5 38et offset and I wish to upgrade at some point to 15x7 0et and was wondering (if professional setting is required) whether I should wait until I get the new rims before having the camber aligned (because I assume the offset plays a major factor?)

Thank you for your suggestions and input :)

siren676
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Post by siren676 » Thu Mar 19, 2015 10:47 pm

Did you get an alignment after lowering it? Toe out will chew through the inner edge more than camber will.

Best to take it for an alignment, 4 wheel alignments are usually $60-80, they may even offer a discounted rate when you get new tyres
1990 NA6C MX5

MrGrey
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Post by MrGrey » Fri Mar 20, 2015 12:37 am

Thanks siren, I will give that a try :)
The tires I am after are $120 each, fitted and balanced so I will try and brow beat them into balancing the rears for me as well while they are at it considering I will be throwing $240 their way.

I am confident i will get my way as they will want the business and I like to consider myself a reasonably good (but fair) negotiator.

I will sort this out tomorrow morning and will keep an eye on them for signs of uneven wear.... fingers crossed you are bang on the money as usual :)

MrGrey
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Post by MrGrey » Fri Mar 20, 2015 10:21 am

well, I just got 2 new tyre put on the front and asked the guy at the tyre shop about his thoughts on the matter, He agreed that the tyre balance was an important factor but said that because I had lowered the car from its original height, that I should factor that in as a cause as well.

He gave me a business card for a local garage that can sort out the camber issues so I went around and had a chat with them and I was quoted a whopping $65 to balance all the wheels and set the camber correctly so I figure that as my car has probably never had its camber checked and adjusted in its 25 year life, that $65 is a pittance to pay for having it correctly set (not to mention the cost savings from potential uneven wear on my front tyres)

Initially I was just going to get the new tyres fitted and balanced and be done with it, but as the work is relatively cheap, I figure what the hell :)

once again, thanks for your input siren
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4A-GE
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Post by 4A-GE » Fri Mar 20, 2015 12:30 pm

I went to bridgestone new lynn (not that much good to you but your bridgestone might be) and asked for the most aggressive alignment they can do.
They did it for $50 because I mentioned a business sent me there. 8)
Car feels awesome.
Try that.

(205/50/15, 15x6.5 +34, kyb oem replacements + dobi springs)

CordedBowl
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Post by CordedBowl » Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:12 pm

949 have some alignment sheets for street/track duty if you're looking for something to aim for.

MrGrey
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Post by MrGrey » Sun Mar 22, 2015 1:47 pm

excuse my ignorance but who is 949?

I am more than happy to have some alignment sheets to reference but as I am basically just doing daily driving, my main focus is on getting the camber set so that I get even wear on the front tyres (because it kinda sucked having to replace both of my front tyres when 3/4's of the tyre still had perfectly fine legal tread depth.

Angreal
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Post by Angreal » Sun Mar 22, 2015 2:15 pm

949 racing. I think flyin miata have less aggressive specs on their website. Lowering springs would've changed the alignment and I think it's worthwhile spending $60 to get more grip and even tyre wear

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