Need to rant...

[rjastra2]

So, you are using a mixture of two peoples settings and you don't like it?

[16bit]

i got a wheel alignment for my nb by fulcrum - they are good.

[bigdog]

If I have read your post correctly you are running an NC with standard suspension. CB's recommended alignment specs are as follows:

As for your standard alignment, if you land in the 0.75 – 1.0 negative camber front range and 1.0 - 1.25 rear that will do. Go for 1 – 2mm total toe in on the rear and 0mm toe on the front. Caster should be up around 6.5 degrees.

This is what you should be asking for - if you have asked for anything different camber wise or toe wise then you could have made the problem worse. The fact that something was loose won't help matters, but if you have been to a recommended aligner, and he has used those specs and the print out confirms this, then something else is wrong with the car - eg stuffed shock, broken spring, broken sway bar mount, broken shock mount etc. The other thing that will have a big effect is tyres and tyre pressures - are they worn? What pressure are you running?

What was the car like for the first 20000km? did it handle well prior to the alignment change?

I can't recommend a wheel aligner in other states (Spinning Wheel or Straight Talk are the go in Sydney), I'll leave that to others, but my guess is still on something else being wrong.

[JBT]

One of the ongoing problems you may be facing is that those doing the alignment may have uncalibrated or poorly calibrated equipment. I've seen this happen on a couple of occasions.

A Mazda dealer had 3 goes at getting our Astina right and couldn't. Eventually a guy came out from state head office and, without putting the car on the alignment machinery, could see that it was way out of wack. It ended up going to Fulcrum here to be done right - no problems since.

Our previous MX-5 (NA) got completely screwed up after an alignment as part of a body repair (after a small biff). It didn't need it but it was being paid for by insurance as a check that all was OK. It had previously been aligned by Fulcrum. When the report said that the camber settings were \"waaaayyyy out\" I was a immediately wary. Sure enough, these dickheads actually set the front to .5 degree positive on the left and 1.3 negative camber on the right but their machine said .9 degree negative left and right. Yep, it pulled left at any speed. The rear toe settings were something like 10mm toe in but the machine indicated .5 mm toe in each side.

In both cases the equipment was out of calibration.

[bruce]

Its seems to me more like a black art to get these things right.

[DAJ333]

Does anybody know a decent wheel alignment/dealer that will actually listen to me and check the problem thoroughly without making me feel like a prick for complaining ...

Pedders Hawthorn. Jack will listen to you, will probably suggest a change or two, which you are well advised to consider.

[JBT]

Oh and I forgot to mention that the appalling pre-delivery service on the NC had the alignment way out too. The improvement after Fulcrum adjusted it was obvious.

[Juffa]

Does anybody know a decent wheel alignment/dealer that will actually listen to me and check the problem thoroughly without making me feel like a prick for complaining ...

Pedders Hawthorn. Jack will listen to you, will probably suggest a change or two, which you are well advised to consider.

Second that recommendation......I have used Pedders Hawthorn for a number of cars.

Also, could the dodgy alignments affected the tyre wear, which is now impacting on how the car feels?

J

[rjastra2]

Is what he's said on the money? Or should I be asking for mine back? If their advice is dodgy I think the Vic club should seriously reconsidering recommending them :/ I'll be driving it like this for another week or two then I'm going to Pedders Hawthorn where I can confirm all this advice..

Are you an expert or not at wheel alignments? Please decide

[KIJIMA]

RJ, pull your head in and stop being an unhelpful smart arse!
Rather than be your usually smug self, why not try to help kudos, being a keyboard warrior alog with your snide comments just isnt helpful.

Kudos, I will go out on a limb here and recommend somone, and I hate recommending somone, especialy since you have had the troubles you've already described, but I reckon you will get resolution with these guys.

You need to speak to Chris Albertini @ Centerline suspension. They do brilliant setups and will either do the setup youve asked for, or recomend what they believe your car should be setup, depending on the driving you do.

They just completed fitting a tein protype suspension system to one of my best mates cars, an MPS6's and its changed the car dramatically. Its gone from what felt like a heavy GT car to a much more nimble machine with more grip and far less body roll. Chris also runs race cars, he does suspension work on some of the V8 supercar teams and he is nothing short of brilliant, so your in good hands

The only catch wil be they are in thomastown on lipton drive, and chris will no doubt want your car for the enitre day, as he will want to test drive it several times before he is happy with it. You might want to at least ring them, and when you speak to chris, let him know you were recommended by darrin who has the MPS6 with the teins he just fitted this week.

http://www.centrelinesuspension.com.au/

Goodluck, and I hope this helps.

~ Dan

[AJ]

personally, i'd get it put back to factory specs & start again if i were you, looks like it started off badly & went downhill from there, it seems to me that it's been hacked so many times now that noone knows where it should be, including yourself, & now you have yourself so wound up that it won't matter what ANYONE does, you won't be happy with it........i know a few owners have been ticked off about dealer settings, & i'll get the whole \"yeah we know your car is perfect AJ\" bullshit, but the wheel alignment settings haven't been touched on our NC right from new & it's still exactly how i like it (given that the car isn't tracked), it has slight understeer which is totally predictable & overcome with judicious use of the right foot, the tyres are wearing perfectly with no sign of scrubbing on any corner & on a decent piece of straight road, both hands can be taken off the wheel & it won't wander at all...............IF i was going to track it on a regular basis, yes, i would want it sharpened up a bit, which of course would detract from it's normal on road predictability......................i guess my question would be, what do you want out of it???

[Fatty]

re kijima's recommendation - chris at centreline has been recommended to me by a couple of the motorsport guys in the mx5 club too. i'll be taking my car there when i get the new suspension installed.

[KIJIMA]

Kudos, let us know how you go. Also, you need to update your sig.

[jules]

RJ, pull your head in and stop being an unhelpful smart arse!
Rather than be your usually smug self, why not try to help kudos, being a keyboard warrior alog with your snide comments just isnt helpful.

Ouch....Go Kijima.

Jules

[Juffa]

Kudo,

Good to see that Jack hasn't lost the touch. If I wasn't living in Chelsea I would still be using his services.

J