[mnguyen]

I recently installed Road Magnet 1.25'' springs on my 2011 sedan and noticed that the rear is rather uneven with the front. My wheel gap in the front is about two fingers while the back is about 3 fingers. I took measurements before/after the install and while the front is lowered all around close to ~1.15'', the rear has only dropped .75''.

I know the Mazda3 comes from the factory with a higher rear, but based off of my measurements before the install, it seemed to be only a ~.25'' difference not ~.75''. It results in a pretty noticeable raked look when you stare at the car from the side. I searched around the threads and found someone with a similar problem:

http://mazda3revolution.com/forums/...sedan-lowered-w-road-magnet-springs-pics.html

Has anyone else experienced this problem or is my rear springs defective? If so, should I ask Road Magnet to place it with the same springs or try to get rid of the raked look by getting 1.75'' in the rear?

 

[swerv0428]

@ClaytonBrown

He had this problem and got road magnet to send him the 1.75 inch springs for the rear.

 

[ClaytonBrown]

Our fixes

Both me and the other guy who had this issue (whos thread who mentioned) both ended up going with 1.75 rears - the other guy ended up even. I'm still higher in the back w/ the 1.75 rears and 1.25 front. Road Mag customer service is great, they will send out the 1.75s quick - They wanted me to send in my 1.25 rears to see if they were defective, but since the 1.75's did not completely fix the problem, I doubt the springs are defective, it has to be something with our cars.. Hence I kept the 1.25 rears and if I ever trade it in I will have them if I need them.

When I have a full tank of gas my car does appear more even, but still not 100% -

Post some pics of your car-

Here's mine with 1.25's all around:

With 1.75's in the rear:

Also, the rear has more camber, which also now causes the wheel well to throw a larger shadow over the tire, which often makes the gap look even larger...


Future plan: Going to roll the fenders and go up a tire size or two as well as fix the camber by any means necessary.. likely to cost some bucks though

 

[mnguyen]

Hmm okay. Is your rear camber still within stock specs? I'm sort of leaning towards getting the 1.75'' for the rears, but am worried about needing a camber kit if I do that.

 

[mekanick]

With 1.75 springs youll be sitting at about -2.5 in the rear so youll definitely want to correct that unless you like tire wear
@warlord is the man with cheap camber arms. Hit him up

 

[My spoon is too big]

Future plan: Going to roll the fenders and go up a tire size or two as well as fix the camber by any means necessary.. likely to cost some bucks though

Look up @warlord 's camber arms for sale thread.


Sent from AutoGuide.com App

 

[ClaytonBrown]

Hmm okay. Is your rear camber still within stock specs? I'm sort of leaning towards getting the 1.75'' for the rears, but am worried about needing a camber kit if I do that.

I don't know a whole lot about 'stock specs', but I do know that I trust my guy at tire kingdom who tells me the camber is 'in the green' - however, that does mean it is not going to wear fast, in fact I'm getting my tires rotated tomorrow morning -

Looking at those camber arms now...

 

[tastic]

I was at -3.15 in the rear after drop with only RM1.25 before alignment/camber arm adjustment! :scared:

With 1.75 springs youll be sitting at about -2.5 in the rear so youll definitely want to correct that unless you like tire wear
@warlord is the man with cheap camber arms. Hit him up

 

[mekanick]

I was at -3.15 in the rear after drop with only RM1.25 before alignment/camber arm adjustment! :scared:

Thats possible too. Im going by what I experienced but it has a lot to do with how everything is put back together too. Like for the front I pulled the struts outward while tightening them down to reduce the negative camber and it worked

I don't know a whole lot about 'stock specs', but I do know that I trust my guy at tire kingdom who tells me the camber is 'in the green' - however, that does mean it is not going to wear fast, in fact I'm getting my tires rotated tomorrow morning -

Looking at those camber arms now...

"In the green" means nothing. 2.4 is in the green but I wouldnt run it. The alignment shop tried to pull that crap on me just so they wouldnt have to adjust it but I told them I wanted it down to at least 1.5. I'd check what youre actually at not just the color the machine or your guy tells you it is

 

[swerv0428]

I'm dropped 1.5 and my rear camber was - 2.6. Within mazdas specs but that was also wearing my the inside of the rear tires fast. Get camber arms you will need them no matter what.

 

[ClaytonBrown]

"In the green" means nothing. 2.4 is in the green but I wouldnt run it. The alignment shop tried to pull that crap on me just so they wouldnt have to adjust it but I told them I wanted it down to at least 1.5. I'd check what youre actually at not just the color the machine or your guy tells you it is

Yeah I figured as much as my tires are wearing a bit quick... Going to order the camber arms tomorrow I think

 

[swerv0428]

Yeah I figured as much as my tires are wearing a bit quick... Going to order the camber arms tomorrow I think

get them from warlord:banana 1:

 

[mnguyen]

Update: Received the 1.75'' rear springs in the mail yesterday and just got them installed this morning along with the rear camber arms (thanks warlord!). Although the wheel gap difference between the front and rear tires still exists, it's less visible than before (3 fingers to 2.5 fingers now). Hopefully once the rear springs settle, the difference will be negligible.

I don't think installation was done wrong either since the car has dropped a full 1.75'' in the back compared to stock. The clearance between the rear license plate to ground was 13.75'' and now is exactly at 12''.

Thanks for the help on this guys!

 

[swerv0428]

Glad you got it mostly fixed. Post a pic.

 

[mnguyen]

Two different set of pictures (sorry for the bad quality):

Before:





After:





What alignment specs are recommended? The shop that did mine for some reason set the left side of the car, front & rear, with -.4 more camber than the right of the car. I was thinking of going back to the shop and getting it re-aligned to -1 all around. The rear tires are still slightly '/--\'. :sad 1:

 

[mekanick]

What alignment specs are recommended? The shop that did mine for some reason set the left side of the car, front & rear, with -.4 more camber than the right of the car. I was thinking of going back to the shop and getting it re-aligned to -1 all around. The rear tires are still slightly '/--\'. :sad 1:

I would. Youre probably sitting at over 2 degrees negative since thats still in the green and they didnt want to adjust it. -1.5 will look very slightly in. -1 is what you want if you like your tires and dont drive it hard

 

[mnguyen]

Would setting it at -1 affect its handling much? I currently love how the car handles through corners and wouldn't want to sacrifice too much handling for the sake of tire life.

 

[mekanick]

I highly doubt you'd notice a decrease. Just have it set at -1.5. Tire wear wont be an issue and handling will be great

Just rotate your tires at every oil change and youll be fine

EDIT: Forgot to point out Im talking about the rear since thats the only ones you can really adjust. The front has some adjustment but its just in loosening the struts on the tower and moving them in or out. When I lowered mine I pulled them out as much as I could while tightening them so I ended up -1 on the front which is fine. Im sure if you push them in all the way you may gain a degree but then tires may wear