I was hoping you guys could help me out. I'm a novice on wheel alignment stuff.

I took my '02 S in last week to have a four wheel alignment done because the front tires were wearing excessively on the insides and the right rear was wearing evenly across, but faster than the left rear. The specs from the work order are as follows:

Before:

Camber
L.F. 1/2-
R.F. 7/8-
L.R. 1 1/4-
R.R. 1 7/8-

Caster
L.F. 7 3/4+
R.F. 7 1/2+

Toe
F IN 1/8
R IN 1/8

After:

Camber
L.F. 1/8-
R.F. 1/8-
L.R. 1-
R.R. 1-

Caster
L.F. 7 3/4+
R.F. 8 1/4+

Toe
F IN 1/8
R IN 1/8

I tried searching the forums to see if the before and after were close to U.S. factory specifications, but everything in the forums and the helm manual are in degrees and minutes. How do the fractions given on the work order translate degrees and minutes? and was the car within factory specs before the alignment and is the car within factory specs now? If not, how significant of a difference is the current settings vs. the factory specs.

Personally, I think the car handles like crap now. I'd be willing to sacrifice a little tire life for better handling. If the car is still not within factory specs, should I take it back to the alignment shop and request that they readjust it? Will they do it as part of the alignment that I paid for or are they going try and charge me again? It's only been a week.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Your final numbers look like the technician addressed your concerns. I think the front camber is now set on the low side, but everything else looks about right. It is normal for the inside edge of the front tires to wear more (due to the camber) and it is normal for the right rear tire to wear more than the front (due to the slightly uneven torque split of the Torsen LSD).

How many miles are on the car? Usually people get about 10-15k miles on the rears and 15-25k miles on the fronts before they are worn out.

 

is that how soon we're suppose to change tires? that's like changing tires every year round. would that depends on the tire's treadwear too?

 

i am going to get an alignment next since i just lowered my car about two inches. is there anything that i should know before hand or anything i should tell them to do? should i just leave the car alone? it handles about the same as it did before i lowered it except for it seems like the back of the car has more tendency to kick out around corners. at the same time i am getting the alignment done i am also going to have the tires switched from one side to the other. the inside of both rears have no tread left but the outsides are like brand new and i have over 10k on them. the fronts are holding up really good. if anyone knows what settings i should have for the alignment please let me know. thanks
kristian

 

Elam011,

The tire wear you cite is perfectly normal for the S2000. I've been through several sets of tires on the S2000 and this is what I've witnessed. Others with the car have had the same effect.

I think you're better off with your original alignment. The spec is 0 deg 30 min (30 minutes translates to 1/2 degree), plus or minus 10 min (1/6 deg), so what you had before is spot on--the 7/8 on R.F. is probably close enough. Spec for rear is 1 and a half degrees. The camber you have now is truly too small for the S.

Toe looks OK. Caster is a bit high, as spec is 6 deg.

Stan