Reposting here to see if anyone has any ideas. Installed J's camber joints and got the car aligned and ever since I've had really bad memory steering. Steering wheel will only center until around 15 degrees from center and then its like a big dead area. I'm kinda doubting its two bad ball joints but I just don't know what else to look at. Alignment is good with 6.5+ degrees of camber and zero toe, although I'm having it re-aligned this week just in case. Any ideas on steps I can take to track this down?

 

What is your caster like on both sides? Caster is the spec that determines self centering behavior and if it's really uneven or low, it could be causing what you're experiencing. I believe stock spec is 5.5-6 degrees or so. I run 6.5-7 degrees but my SPC joint is set up in a way to allow it. Idk what you can expect for the J's but running on the high side will give more self centering and will weight more under load which has more "feel."

 

Last alignment was 6.7 on the left, 7.1 on the right. Plenty of caster.

 

May want to edit your <Alignment is good with 6.5+ degrees of camber and zero toe>?

 

Last alignment or current alignment? You can't assume it's the same. Adjusting camber will impact caster most likely. There is no "just adjust the camber."

I can't comment as to if that amount of imbalance would be problematic or not. I don't think .4 degrees is that extreme but I think the wheels having different caster has an impact on centering and feel.

 

Alignment was done right after camber joint install. While I don’t love the imbalance being that far over stock I can’t imagine that’s the cause. I’ve got another alignment Friday but I highly doubt I’ll see this issue reverse after.

 

??

Just looking for the same answers again?

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-un.../#post24985854


The ball joints have extra striction. Remember?

 

Just wanted to see if there were any other thought from folks that dont frequent under the hood. I've talked to multiple people with the same camber joints and no issues like this reported.

I got the car back from alignment today and I have to say it feels better, but not quite as it was so maybe a compounding of alignment and stiff joints. Is there any chance there's a point where too much caster with a lot of camber could produce this effect? For today's alignment he backed down my caster a bit to get it to -3 camber up front and the car self-centers better. However everything I can find says more caster = faster/better self centering.

I wouldnt read too much into the initial values as I raised the car up on all four corners between the last alignment and today's with the ball joints being installed prior to my last alignment.

 

Front end looks good. The only thing that bothers me about that rear alignment is the rear toe. .05 degrees and .10 degrees each side. One side has double the other. Maybe it's fine but if I'm paying the $$ that custom alignments usually cost, I'd like them to be closer to equal or at least one not doubling the other.

 

I have a car with Megan racing RCA joints

They're massively stiff. My car also has a track spec alignment (-3.7 deg front camber and 6.2ish caster). It doesn't completely return to center by itself.

If that helps.

I'm just asking...not trying to be cheeky. But why does this bother you? You must have spent like hundreds of dollars on alignments and so much time on this issue. Its not gonna go away by doing the same thing over and over.

What about just going back to stock ball joints? There's not really much of a point of all this geometric correction for a car that's not being used for track use and lap times.