Here's an interesting issue that I've recently developed. After replacing all of the suspension bushings (installed prothane kit) and taking the car in for an alignment, it appears that I've lost some caster adjustment range on the driver's side. According to the tech, the driver's side caster is maxing out at ~4.7* , while the passenger side is able to go all the way to 6*. He had no issues setting the camber (-2*) and toe (0) to spec (settings I've been running previously, but was able to get 5.5* of caster as well). I've done a visual inspection and nothing looks damaged.

What do you guys think the problem is? I bent something removing/installing the arms? Improper reinstallation of caster bolt/sleeve? Compliance bushing not installed correctly or binding?

Thank you in advance,
Adam.

 

Ha, same thing happened to me. I have not gone back to investigate, just settled for the 4.5 caster lol. I did energy ones.

 

Your tech made a booboo the problem is that caster has to be re-measured after every adjustment. This isn't necessary on the brand new hunter racks. But on older machines, you have to make an adjustment, then re measure caster, then adjust again until you have what you want.

 

Hey, Anton! I actually meant to ask you about this issue when we were talking about bushings at gridlife, but forgot. I wonder if there's something about these ES/prothane compliance bushings that's causing it...

Interesting. So what is the proper alignment sequence, so I can guide the tech next time?

Thanks for the replies!

 

Ideally you'd do caster first because it's a pain in the ass to measure and adjust.

The ASE correct way to do it is
1.)Caster, steering sweep, adjust, repeat until correct
2.)Front camber
3.)Rear camber
4.)Rear toe
5.)Front toe

The new machines have some really cool features that make the process much faster and simpler.
The new sensors can do the compensation in half the steps and can measure caster with only doing one steering sweep. This allows you to start at the rear and then do the front. Most alignment shops just do toe and go, so their techs always do rear toe, then front toe, so to save time they get the thrust angle and the steer ahead angle and get the car out. Our cars are a little more involved because there are more things to adjust, don't get me wrong though you can start at the rear and finish in the front. It's just easier to get the caster out of the way first.

 

Adam Im pretty sure Thalmanns knows how to alignments on our cars, they see S2000's very frequently and race cars in general. I really don't think Justin is doing it wrong.

 

It's easy as cake to align our cars. The hardest part is getting caster because aside from the Miata and some other exotics our cars are the only modern cars with caster adjustment. When I first started doing alignments on my car I thought there was something wrong because I couldn't get the caster above 4.5 degrees. My teacher at the time taught me to do a steering sweep every time I adjust caster. It's also something they ask you in ASE tests, which I've taken, and passed obvious.

 

Alright, I'll keep that in mind for when I go to realign the car in a few weeks.

I know for a fact that Justin does great work, and he was able to get me at ~5.5* last year with no problem. That's why I'm led to believe there is an underlying issue that's limiting the caster adjustment, aside from the procedure.

Any other possibilities?

 

Eccentric bolts installed 180* off when you installed the new compliance bushings? I've heard of it happening before...

 

Ok, now that is something that has been running through my head. I figured that it didn't matter which way the sleeve went it, as long as the eccentric parts of the sleeve and nut were facing the same way, but now I'm starting to double guess myself. I'm getting the car realigned next Friday, so I'm thinking of swapping the sleeve and nut around and see if it makes a difference.