Alignment Recommendations

[clownheart]

I have new struts, lower ball joints and tie rods on my car. It's overdue for an alignment. Where can I find somebody familiar with the camber bolts on the miata? The last time I took it to a general local shop it seems they played with it and learned as they went. The first time I actually took a look at the camber bolts it looks like some are leaning too far and others are right in the middle; they are really inconsistent but for 100$ the shop did what they could to reduce tire wear and align the steering wheel properly. I would like the next alignment to be done correctly, without these improvisations.

[Agent☣Orange]

Just curious: have you had the steering wheel off? Are you sure it is aligned at 12 o clock with the tires straight? If not, you can adjust the tie rod ends at home. I'm not sure about your area but most places will do a factory alignment but you really have a choice depending on how you prefer your Miata set up. I know the racers here would prefer a little more negative camber while the tire preservers (normal city driving) would opt for less camber.

If you're indicating the the camber bolts are way out of whack from each other, it seems like something else needs looked at before a final alignment.

[Jaysz28]

I agree with AO.

Camber bolts out of whack usually indicate that the upper (inner) control arm bolt is bent or the rear (lower) outer bolt is bent.

I do my own miata alignments at the shop, but we normally don't do alignments on street cars, just race cars.

I take my street cars to West Coast Alignment on Fowler street in fort myers. They do a great job.

[clownheart]

Went to PAM Motor in Fort Myers by Daniels Pkwy. It cost 120$ for the 4 way alignment with the Hunter machine. They spent probably close to an hour aligning the car and weren't able to get the driver side rear camber to spec. Car feels very unstable above 60 mph. It feels as if the suspension is doesn't settle and the steering wheel starts oscillating. Drove on the highway today and had to slow down to about 50 mph because it started swaying a lot. Unsafe. *sigh* Now I have to limp it everywhere until I find out what went wrong with this "professional" alignment.

[kung fu jesus]

If you lived in Atlanta, I would give you 4 shops that are not only familiar with Miatas and settings according to usage, but also allow you sit in the car while it’s done. 3 of those 4 use a Hunter rig. The range is 120-150 depending on what they need to do and lower if you are a return customer in run in certain circles.

[Jaysz28]

Take it to West Coast Alignment. Ask them to test drive it before they align it

They don't use computerized stuff. They use old fashion tape measures and test drives to make things right.

They did my autocross alignments on my miata for years until I started doing my own.

[clownheart]

Take it to West Coast Alignment. Ask them to test drive it before they align it

They don't use computerized stuff. They use old fashion tape measures and test drives to make things right.

They did my autocross alignments on my miata for years until I started doing my own.

That's the kind of work ethic I like to see. I'm going to follow Agent Orange's post and check if I align the outer tie rods to correct the steering position. If it continues to pull right then I'll take it to the shop.

[Agent☣Orange]

Well, I was just talking about final steering alignment. If you have one camber bolt setting vastly different from the other, I would have looked into bushings first. If they are new and it still can't be aligned then there's frame damage. Since your car is old, I would be replacing ALL the old rubber before a final alignment.

The steering wheel centering issue is just secondary. If after a proper alignment, the steering wheel isn't centered, I would take it back. If it's centered at the shop but not at home, then I would perform the procedure with equal turns on the tie rod ends. You would already know if the steering was really out of whack, e.g. two-full-turns max on one side versus three or four full turns max to the other side. The clockspring is delicate and must be centered with finesse.

[clownheart]

Well, I was just talking about final steering alignment. If you have one camber bolt setting vastly different from the other, I would have looked into bushings first. If they are new and it still can't be aligned then there's frame damage. Since your car is old, I would be replacing ALL the old rubber before a final alignment.

The steering wheel centering issue is just secondary. If after a proper alignment, the steering wheel isn't centered, I would take it back. If it's centered at the shop but not at home, then I would perform the procedure with equal turns on the tie rod ends. You would already know if the steering was really out of whack, e.g. two-full-turns max on one side versus three or four full turns max to the other side. The clockspring is delicate and must be centered with finesse.

Thanks this is still an ongoing issue and I just replaced the inner tie rods. Passenger side was very worn out.