Holeshot121

I'm going to a local shop this week for an alignment. The techs there aren't really known for their mechanical prowess, but they will set it to my specs instead of factory specs. A friend is now sort of a manager there and said that he would allow me to go in the shop and supervise the work.

My question is - what are the tricks and whatnot to getting everything dialed in? For example, I think I remember reading that for the rear, you have to adjust the toe arms and the camber bolts at the same time or something like that? Is there a certain procedure for the front, like caster THEN camber THEN toe? Anything else I should know? Thanks for any help!

Scigheras

As a starting point, I suggest you read this https://robrobinette.com/S2000Alignment.htm

Viggen

For the front the right order is Caster>Camber>Toe.

For the rear it is Camber>Toe, with the particularity that the camber is set with the control arm bolt and the toe is set by adjusting the lower arm and control arm turning the bolts in opposite direction. Not too many shops do it the right way, adjusting the camber with the lower arm bolt and then the toe with the control arm only ---> Reason for many mechanics saying they can't achieve the values and that the frame must be bent or so

PS. Rob's page says it wrong, rear toe and camber adjuster are swapped.

Car Analogy

One thing I always wondered...the rear camber is adjusted with the lower control arm bolt, then afterwards the toe is adjusted with a combination of toe arm bolt and that same control arm bolt. Doesn't that mess up the camber when you adjust the toe?

How does the alignment shop adjust both of these things when adjusting one changes setting of the other?

flanders

Toe arm affects toe much more than camber and it's the same but opposite for the camber bolt.
Even the most basic mechanics should figure it out after turning them back and forward a few times

Holeshot121

Thanks for the info. I ended up getting it aligned somewhere else today because they could get me in sooner. I didn't want to wait til the day before an event in case something broke or needed work. I couldn't watch them at this place though. Going to pick it up later today. The guy called me and said he could only get -2 camber in the front because he was running out of tie rod adjustment to keep zero toe. I was looking for -2.25 - 2.5, but I still street drive a fair amount, so maybe I'm better off anyway. We'll see what the sheet says when I pick it up tonight.

Holeshot121

So everything looks good except for my rear camber. My car is lowered - about 13" from hub to fender all around. I set it at 13.5 but it must have settled a bit. Apparently at this ride height, the LEAST amount of negative camber I can get in the rear is 2.7*. I guess I should raise my ride height a bit at some point.

s2000Junky

-2 front and -2.7 rear isn't bad at all. Especially if its a dual duty street/track car. Minimal toe is just as important for tire longevity and predictable handling.

Holeshot121

That's sort of what I was thinking. I wasn't planning on going right back for another alignment. I'll let it play out and see how the tires wear. As you said, it is a dual duty car. As for toe, I went with 0 front and a touch of rear toe-in (ended up at 0.43* total).

s2000Junky

Yep, you might find the insides still wearing a bit quicker then you would like at that rear. I run half of that toe. 0.1 a side.