Chris84a Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 Evening chaps, coming here somewhat in desperation, in the hope someone might be able to offer some enlightenment! I've got a 99' MX-5 (mk2), a few months ago I managed to aquaplane into a kerb, the wheels were turned to the right and the near side alloy smacked into the kerb, putting a big old crack in the alloy. Seemed like a good excuse to buy 4 new Mazda issue alloys and tyres, however the car was pulling badly to the left. Had the wheels and alignment checked by the tyre shop, all fine, so I took it to a geometry specialist, who sorted all of the mis-alignments, except the camber. The guy just could not get the camber to line up, and suggested something must be bent but he didn't know enough about Mazdas to tell me what. The car drives better than it did now, but it does still pull left, turns left on braking, and feels pretty unsafe in the wet and at speeds over 60mph. When I got under the car it looks as though the left suspension arm might be ever so slightly bent, but I couldn't be sure. Anyone out there had a similar experience or have any ideas what is likely to be the problem? Last thing I want to do is replace an expensive part, get it re-aligned and find it wasn't the part responsible! Any help hugely appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 29, 2012 Report Share Posted November 29, 2012 Hello and welcome to wim. Do you have any numbers from the geometry, we can triangulate with the front camber, castor and SAI positions to find the bent component. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris84a Posted November 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 Cheers Tony. Have just realised I got it wrong on my original post, it was the caster, not the camber. Stats were as follows: Front: Camber: 0.03 - 0.02 Caster: 3.38 - 5.32 (was 0.23 - 5.32 before alignment) Toe: 0.09 - 0.09 Total Toe: 0.18 Steer Ahead: 0.00 Rear: Camber: -1.08 - -1.06 Toe: 0.08 - 0.10 Total Toe: 0.18 Thrust angle -0.01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 One of two things going on here, either the wishbone is bent or the sub-frame has moved. The way to check this is witness marks at the mounting points where the bolts anchor the sub-frame, or if the OSF castor is fully adjusted with toward the negative position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris84a Posted December 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Cheers, so if it's the wishbone I'm going to need to get myself one of these: http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/front-lower-suspension-mk1225-p-1541.html There's no evidence of a bent subframe, and when the geometry was done the mechanic said he couldn't adjust the caster anymore than he had so sounds like that might be the problem, then again I don't remember him touching the OSF, only the NSF.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Providing the OSF castor is not maxed out toward negative then it's a fair bet the problem is the NSF wishbone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.