[tnax408]

Hey guys I just got my alignment and new tires. I'm on Rm1.25s. I'm curious to see if my camber are within specs for the fronts. Apparently, they could not adjust the front right because they said I needed camber plates. Is that correct, we can't get our cars into spec without those plates? or did they just not want to do the work? any help is appreciated, thanks!!! What should a typical DD settings be at for front and rear? I have camber arms too

 

[SkyactiveTwentyThirteen]

@tnax408
Are stock fronts adjustable?..or did you add front adjustable camber arms? I was told only rear need adjusting with a drop. I'm on RM 1.75" and I too am very interested to find out the answer to your questions. My report has some confusing elements to it as well.

I call next in line...
I look at tnax408's report and have even more questions regarding mine now. If someone could help us. I need to know if they even used the correct specs to do my 2013 2.0 sky...says 2007 mazda 3 L3 w/ TC. Why would they use that? They said mine were still within specs so did nothing and I can see my rears tilted in so... I need to better understand this so I can tell them to do it how I want or find someone who will if this isn't right. Is my camber really within specs even with this old model as the one they went by?

 

[BlackMZ3]

Hey guys I just got my alignment and new tires. I'm on Rm1.25s. I'm curious to see if my camber are within specs for the fronts. Apparently, they could not adjust the front right because they said I needed camber plates. Is that correct, we can't get our cars into spec without those plates? or did they just not want to do the work? any help is appreciated, thanks!!! What should a typical DD settings be at for front and rear? I have camber arms too

You definetley do not need camber plates to adjust the front within specs at all. They could have adjusted the fronts enough to be within specs unless something is bent up front. Honestly though they aren't bad because I did my own and left the front at -1.5 and the rear is at -2 and it doesn't drive bad at all and I don't have crappy wear on the tires either

 

[warlord]

Hey guys I just got my alignment and new tires. I'm on Rm1.25s. I'm curious to see if my camber are within specs for the fronts. Apparently, they could not adjust the front right because they said I needed camber plates. Is that correct, we can't get our cars into spec without those plates? or did they just not want to do the work? any help is appreciated, thanks!!! What should a typical DD settings be at for front and rear? I have camber arms too

All you need to do to get the front camber and caster even is jack up the right front, loosen the three 14mm strut bolts and move the strut outward about 4-5mm and backwards 2mm. Retighten the bolts and bring the car back in for the shop to set the toe again. Your rear camber is fine.

@tnax408
Are stock fronts adjustable?..or did you add front adjustable camber arms? I was told only rear need adjusting with a drop. I'm on RM 1.75" and I too am very interested to find out the answer to your questions. My report has some confusing elements to it as well.

I call next in line...
I look at tnax408's report and have even more questions regarding mine now. If someone could help us. I need to know if they even used the correct specs to do my 2013 2.0 sky...says 2007 mazda 3 L3 w/ TC. Why would they use that? They said mine were still within specs so did nothing and I can see my rears tilted in so... I need to better understand this so I can tell them to do it how I want or find someone who will if this isn't right. Is my camber really within specs even with this old model as the one they went by?

You need to move the right strut outward 4-5mm and forward 2mm. You need rear camber arms. When you get them make the left one the same length as the oem one and make the right one 5 full turns longer than the oem length. that will pretty much even out your camber side to side. Take the car back and ge the toe redone all the way around.

 

[tnax408]

All you need to do to get the front camber and caster even is jack up the right front, loosen the three 14mm strut bolts and move the strut outward about 4-5mm and backwards 2mm. Retighten the bolts and bring the car back in for the shop to set the toe again. Your rear camber is fine.

thanks. I have a 12k warranty, so I'll take advantage of redoing it. Should there be any neg. camber in the rear? Is there a degree that it should be at? I've read that some people have it at -1- -1.5 for handling purposes. Thanks for the help!

 

[tnax408]

You definetley do not need camber plates to adjust the front within specs at all. They could have adjusted the fronts enough to be within specs unless something is bent up front. Honestly though they aren't bad because I did my own and left the front at -1.5 and the rear is at -2 and it doesn't drive bad at all and I don't have crappy wear on the tires either

Before I got tires and an alignment, the car felt really good (maybe because it was out of specs or whatever), but now it feels loose, not as firm and confidant. I wonder if it's because there is less neg. camber in the rear now? Does neg. camber in the rear really affect the handling that much?

 

[SkyactiveTwentyThirteen]

All you need to do to get the front camber and caster even is jack up the right front, loosen the three 14mm strut bolts and move the strut outward about 4-5mm and backwards 2mm. Retighten the bolts and bring the car back in for the shop to set the toe again. Your rear camber is fine.

I got SPC adj rear camber arms installed when I got my Koni Str.t and RM 1.75 installed by the shop. They said they had to initially adjust camber arms up on the machine b/c they came out of box fully tightened or something to that effect. Waited 2 weeks for settling to go back for this alignment that I posted the report for. As I said, they lifted it and hooked up the machine just to print that out and tell me everything was still in spec and did nothing. Charged me 40 bucks (half off) for no work done.

I don't touch this work. I pay to get it done right. Did they not do the install correctly? Do I need to call them out and get them to fix it until it falls under specifications I give them? If so is there a link or can you tell me what correct camber, caster and toe my car should be set at? I know far too little about this, frustrating.

*I understand how to read the chart regarding what it says the specs are and should be within but I want it perfect if I'm paying that much for the work. Plus I don't trust something that says 2007 L3 when mine is 2013 L4. Thanks for the help Warlord

 

[color0]

You guys need to stop going to shitty shops and expecting perfect work. The "pedestrian" shops will look up the alignment specs, and alignment tolerances, that Mazda allows for the car, and if it falls within the specs, they will stop working on the car and send you on your way. A difference of 0.4deg camber left/right is not necessarily outside of the tolerances allowed by Mazda.

Find a reputable race shop if you want a good alignment, and tell them exactly the camber, caster and toe you're looking for. A good tech should be able to max out the machine's sensitivity. On most Hunter machines that means camber and caster are +/- 0.1 deg, and toe is +/- 0.01deg. If you ask for that tolerance you can weed out the shitty shops -- "we're just going to go to the specs" -- vs. the real, serious outfits -- "who do you think we are? Of course we can do +/- 0.01!" -- very easily.

For people who don't know what settings to choose, do this. A general rule-of-thumb for a daily driven street car.

Start with the following settings:

Front Camber 0.5deg
Rear Camber 0deg
Front Caster MAX (as much as you can manage; make it symmetrical)
Front Toe 0deg
Rear Toe 0deg

Add 1deg of camber, front and rear, for every time in a week that you corner really hard for a continuous stretch of time. So if you just putt around normally, stick with 0.5deg/0deg camber. If once in a while you'll go for an AutoX or canyon run then you can get away with 1.5deg/1deg. If you're attacking the turns all the time, then you should allow yourself 2.5deg/2deg to keep the tire wear even.

Having just destroyed my tires in the last 3000 miles, I no longer think it's a good idea to run any significant semblance of toe, in or out, on the car. Unless you're seriously racing the thing, just stick to 0.00deg toe all around.

 

[SkyactiveTwentyThirteen]

(delete) 2nd thought...nevermind I should know better than to keep asking. Thanks again Warlord for the help.

 

[tnax408]

You guys need to stop going to shitty shops and expecting perfect work. The "pedestrian" shops will look up the alignment specs, and alignment tolerances, that Mazda allows for the car, and if it falls within the specs, they will stop working on the car and send you on your way. A difference of 0.4deg camber left/right is not necessarily outside of the tolerances allowed by Mazda.

Find a reputable race shop if you want a good alignment, and tell them exactly the camber, caster and toe you're looking for. A good tech should be able to max out the machine's sensitivity. On most Hunter machines that means camber and caster are +/- 0.1 deg, and toe is +/- 0.01deg. If you ask for that tolerance you can weed out the shitty shops -- "we're just going to go to the specs" -- vs. the real, serious outfits -- "who do you think we are? Of course we can do +/- 0.01!" -- very easily.

For people who don't know what settings to choose, do this. A general rule-of-thumb for a daily driven street car.

Start with the following settings:

Front Camber 0.5deg
Rear Camber 0deg
Front Caster MAX (as much as you can manage; make it symmetrical)
Front Toe 0deg
Rear Toe 0deg

Add 1deg of camber, front and rear, for every time in a week that you corner really hard for a continuous stretch of time. So if you just putt around normally, stick with 0.5deg/0deg camber. If once in a while you'll go for an AutoX or canyon run then you can get away with 1.5deg/1deg. If you're attacking the turns all the time, then you should allow yourself 2.5deg/2deg to keep the tire wear even.

Having just destroyed my tires in the last 3000 miles, I no longer think it's a good idea to run any significant semblance of toe, in or out, on the car. Unless you're seriously racing the thing, just stick to 0.00deg toe all around.

Thanks bud. I found a few tuner places around my area. :cheesy:

 

[SkyactiveTwentyThirteen]

You guys need to stop going to shitty shops and expecting perfect work. The "pedestrian" shops will look up the alignment specs, and alignment tolerances, that Mazda allows for the car, and if it falls within the specs, they will stop working on the car and send you on your way. A difference of 0.4deg camber left/right is not necessarily outside of the tolerances allowed by Mazda.

Find a reputable race shop if you want a good alignment, and tell them exactly the camber, caster and toe you're looking for. A good tech should be able to max out the machine's sensitivity. On most Hunter machines that means camber and caster are +/- 0.1 deg, and toe is +/- 0.01deg. If you ask for that tolerance you can weed out the shitty shops -- "we're just going to go to the specs" -- vs. the real, serious outfits -- "who do you think we are? Of course we can do +/- 0.01!" -- very easily.

For people who don't know what settings to choose, do this. A general rule-of-thumb for a daily driven street car.

Start with the following settings:

Front Camber 0.5deg
Rear Camber 0deg
Front Caster MAX (as much as you can manage; make it symmetrical)
Front Toe 0deg
Rear Toe 0deg

Add 1deg of camber, front and rear, for every time in a week that you corner really hard for a continuous stretch of time. So if you just putt around normally, stick with 0.5deg/0deg camber. If once in a while you'll go for an AutoX or canyon run then you can get away with 1.5deg/1deg. If you're attacking the turns all the time, then you should allow yourself 2.5deg/2deg to keep the tire wear even.

Having just destroyed my tires in the last 3000 miles, I no longer think it's a good idea to run any significant semblance of toe, in or out, on the car. Unless you're seriously racing the thing, just stick to 0.00deg toe all around.

Perfectly explained! Thank you :thumbup 1:

 

[deepblue3]

Before I got tires and an alignment, the car felt really good (maybe because it was out of specs or whatever), but now it feels loose, not as firm and confidant. I wonder if it's because there is less neg. camber in the rear now? Does neg. camber in the rear really affect the handling that much?

the camber is better now than it was before the alignment. The difference you are feeling is probably in the rear toe. Big change but the car should be the way it is now which allows more rotation and how mazda designed it to be. Your previous rear toe caused the rear to stick very well but refused to change direction so you felt a lot of stability but the tires pushing against each other in the rear is very bad for wear and does not let the car rotate as it should.

color0's suggestion is excellent. I guess I need 2-2.5* of camber lol... a slight amount of rear toe-in can help with high way stability so maybe 0.0 is too hardcore for daily driver, lol...