Well, I went to the shop today to try to get an alignment that would help my autocrossing without too much penalty on the street. I have an '01 with a Comptech FSB and V710's 225/265. I had decided to go for:

F Caster: Max up to 6.5*
F Camber: -1.5*
F Toe: 0
R Camber: -2.25*
R Toe: .25" in

I've had the car for two years now, and the steering wheel has always been a little off center. And it pulled ever so slightly to the left.

My measurements before the alignment were:
Front Right Caster: 6.08*
Front Right Camber: -0.52*
Front Right Toe: 1/32" out
Front Left Caster: 3.64*
Front Left Camber: 0.02*
Front Left Toe: 1/8" out
Rear Right Camber: -1.48*
Rear Right Toe: 5/32 in
Rear Left Camber: -1.20*
Rear Left Toe: 7/32" in

So, as the mechanic is trying to fix the front left caster, he says that the eccentric is in BACKWARDS! He fixes it as best he can, but he can't get close to 6* of caster. And he can't back the right caster off enough to match the left. So, we end up with:

F Caster Left: 3.91*
F Caster Right: 4.57*
F Camber: -1.30*
F Toe: 0
R Camber: -2.25*
R Toe: .25" in

He says if we want more caster, we've got to give up camber, or bend the frame.

At this point, I was sure that since the right front and right rear are nearly dead-on to the factory specs while the left rear is a little off and the left front is way off (including a backwards part), the car must have been wrecked or curbed before I purchased it. But the guys at the shop disagree. They think it came from the factory like that.

Questions:

1. Do you think it came from the factory like that?
2. I purchased the car from a Honda Dealer as a certified car with a warranty. Is this covered?
3. For autocrossing, did I make the right decision to keep camber (-1.3*) at the expense of caster (~4*)? Or should I have gotten them to put in more caster at the expense of camber?
4. If it will take bending the frame to fix, should I even bother pursuing this with Honda?

I realize that this might just as appropriately be posted in UTH, but thought I'd start here because it's an alignment for autox.

Thanks!

 

Can't help you with your caster problem, but you might want to rethink the .25 toe out in the back. That sounds like a recipe for disaster! I run .25 toe IN and still have some issues keeping the back end behind me.

 

I don't understand what he means by the eccentric being in backwards. You can rotate it 360*.

 

S2000s can get 6degrees of caster all day long and twice on Sunday. Most common cause of an inability to get more than 4 or 5 degrees is one or more bent lower a-arms (not necessarily visibly bent, just tweaked enough that it messes up fine adjustments).

Actually that's the second-most common cause -- the most common is an alignment tech that's not experienced enough (in general or with S2000s specifically), or who doesn't have the right equipment. Might try a race shop or alignment-only shop.

 

Whoops... you're right. I had my in's and out's backwards in the post. Edited.

 

Yeah, I didn't either. Unfortunately, I was in the car and didn't jump out to see what he was talking about.

 

So it seems he just didn't rotate it enough. If I recall correctly, max caster is achieved when the high point of the lobe is pointing in-board perpendicularly.

 

Well, the shop is an alignment shop and has a good reputation, their equipment is top-notch, and the tech was very experienced (although probably not with S2000's). He had three other guys looking at the suspension, and the whole alignment took 1.5 hours.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'm thinking that given your two possibilities (bent a-arm or bent technician), I think it's more likely to be the a-arm.

But, either way, sounds like I should take it to the Honda dealer so they can fix the a-arm if that's the problem or have a tech that's more experienced with an S2000 if that's the problem. I didn't want to do that because I thought my Comptech FSB and the hitch brackets would be a giveaway that I autocross which might lead to them crying abuse if I ever brought the car in under warranty for a mechanical problem (so how much you tow with that thing?). I guess I'll put the oe FSB back in first and remove the brackets.

Thanks for response.

 

One does not "fix" an a-arm. One just replaces it. And it would certainly not be done under warranty. Furthermore, most dealers are not at all familiar with doing a performance alignment on an S2000.

 

Yes, I should have written "fix the a-arm PROBLEM", or "REPLACE the a-arm". Thanks for your valuable insights into grammar and usage. I'm sure that cleared up quite a bit of confusion for those reading this.

But more to the point, why would it not be under warranty if they sold me a car with a bent a-arm?