Corner weight balancing and New Alignment.
06-03-10, 12:34 AM
#1
Corner weight balancing and New Alignment.
Well finally had a chance to get the car re corner weighed and balanced this time as I have coil overs, also did some suspension alignment done at the same time too here's the new results.
The car has gained 22lb from the extra heavy duty mufflers and also the strut tower bars.
As you can tell from the alignment, I'll be making some adjustable bars to move the rear end in and out and line it up properly.
The car definitely feels a lot more balanced now. I used to have a bit of an issue before where the car would handle right hand turns better than left hand ones. Also with the added camber that should help my high speed corners quite a bit. Funny thing about the camber, with me just eye balling it from the top I was .03 of a degree off difference from side to side. I had it about 1.75 degrees.
The car has gained 22lb from the extra heavy duty mufflers and also the strut tower bars.
As you can tell from the alignment, I'll be making some adjustable bars to move the rear end in and out and line it up properly.
The car definitely feels a lot more balanced now. I used to have a bit of an issue before where the car would handle right hand turns better than left hand ones. Also with the added camber that should help my high speed corners quite a bit. Funny thing about the camber, with me just eye balling it from the top I was .03 of a degree off difference from side to side. I had it about 1.75 degrees.
06-03-10, 11:32 AM
#7
I'm not sure on there, but the shop that I went to here was 300$ for alignment and corner weight balancing. He just charged a flat rate. I know alot of the other shops its what ever it take by the hour. It took mine about one and a half hour to setup.
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06-03-10, 12:45 PM
#8
Scott Howard
That price is what I pay on the average.
If the adjustable links don't work, you may want to try putting in a different rear end housing. I have heims on my trilink with panhard. I still had a problem, then found out my rear housing was slightly bent. You will definately beable to cure some of the toe problem, but probably not all of it with your existing housing. My rear end alignment now shows very little toe (if any) and between -.4 - -.5 camber left to right. Just sharing information.
If the adjustable links don't work, you may want to try putting in a different rear end housing. I have heims on my trilink with panhard. I still had a problem, then found out my rear housing was slightly bent. You will definately beable to cure some of the toe problem, but probably not all of it with your existing housing. My rear end alignment now shows very little toe (if any) and between -.4 - -.5 camber left to right. Just sharing information.
06-03-10, 04:36 PM
#10
hrm. I have the Mazdatrix old camberplates which are pretty identical to the respeed ones and I run 5* of camber without cutting the tops.
Wow guys! I was able to work out a deal promised to word of mouth the business while I was still in WA and got aligned to my specs for $50... never corner weighed her though. I just set it so all 4 heights were even with my fat *** in the car.
Wow guys! I was able to work out a deal promised to word of mouth the business while I was still in WA and got aligned to my specs for $50... never corner weighed her though. I just set it so all 4 heights were even with my fat *** in the car.
06-03-10, 06:27 PM
#11
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hrm. I have the Mazdatrix old camberplates which are pretty identical to the respeed ones and I run 5* of camber without cutting the tops.
Wow guys! I was able to work out a deal promised to word of mouth the business while I was still in WA and got aligned to my specs for $50... never corner weighed her though. I just set it so all 4 heights were even with my fat *** in the car.
Wow guys! I was able to work out a deal promised to word of mouth the business while I was still in WA and got aligned to my specs for $50... never corner weighed her though. I just set it so all 4 heights were even with my fat *** in the car.
06-03-10, 09:37 PM
#12
Alignment is cheap and about that price, its the corner weight cost that adds up. And yes height does affect it along with the position of top of camber. How much caster did you have? That will tell the position of the plates, more caster gets you closer to that edge.
06-04-10, 01:42 PM
#14
I'm running about 4.5* neg camber up front with ground control camber/caster plates and the top of the strut tower trimmed.
dj55b you'll need to heat and bend the rear axle housing to fix the toe. Don't go more than 1* neg camber each side or it'll wear out the axle bearings quickly.
The neg camber you have now will really help handeling, 1st gen pushes like a pig with stock alignment.
dj55b you'll need to heat and bend the rear axle housing to fix the toe. Don't go more than 1* neg camber each side or it'll wear out the axle bearings quickly.
The neg camber you have now will really help handeling, 1st gen pushes like a pig with stock alignment.
06-04-10, 02:07 PM
#15
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https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...t=camber+plate
you can see he had the plate backwards to start with, if its got caster they are sided too
seems like your alignment numbers are fine, so its not a big deal, but that could explain why your plates are maxed out and ours aren't.
could be ride height too
06-04-10, 02:32 PM
#16
No they are on there right, I'll try to snap some pictures. They are offset, and the grove goes more towards the inside of the car, and the caster goes to the back of the car. The nuts are also bigger on the Re-Speed effecting movement also.
06-05-10, 01:27 AM
#18
Ya, as you know I don't really care much as which class i fit in, but more getting quicker and achieving personal records.
Also there is a second issue that I see with cutting the top strut tower area. That area is where all the force from the Re-Speed triangulated strut tower bar goes right into. And with that area just being a single point, it would be easier to flex that sheet metal without that ridge supporting it. A way to improvise this if needed though is to make sure you have a 1/4" plate that wraps around and holds onto at least another 2 strut top bolts to make sure that doesn't happen.
Also there is a second issue that I see with cutting the top strut tower area. That area is where all the force from the Re-Speed triangulated strut tower bar goes right into. And with that area just being a single point, it would be easier to flex that sheet metal without that ridge supporting it. A way to improvise this if needed though is to make sure you have a 1/4" plate that wraps around and holds onto at least another 2 strut top bolts to make sure that doesn't happen.
06-05-10, 01:12 PM
#19
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Y. And with that area just being a single point, it would be easier to flex that sheet metal without that ridge supporting it. A way to improvise this if needed though is to make sure you have a 1/4" plate that wraps around and holds onto at least another 2 strut top bolts to make sure that doesn't happen.
we just picked up an E46 race car, and i guess those things bend strut towers stock, its bad enough BMW sells a reinforcement.
06-07-10, 01:30 AM
#23
All I can say is WOW!!! The car has never been so stable, balanced, and predictable in its entire life! Absolutely no drama at the track yesterday with it. I point the car and steers right into it, over steer is only induce with more throttle and never by itself now, jump on the turtles and its extremely stable coming off of it, the only thing that needs more work is the driver . I'll get my rusty bum into shape sooner or later.
I'm still braking too early, well that was till I started pushing it more and more but that wasn't till after the actual competition and I got stuck in 3" of water and on grass. Had to get towed out lol first time ever. I finally started to take the chicane straight through now jumping over the turtles without any drama coming out. On all the tight corners (~60mph) I was all over most of the big guys that have been there for years. Even my passengers started complaining because the guys in front of us were slowing us down on the infield. On the faster corners ... well lets just say yours truly needs to upgrade his ***** perhaps lol.
Most importantly for me though out of that day is that I got my first trophy and its a first in class Now if I can fix my transmission issues, I'd be set. Second and third gears just love to grind now. also I didn't realize how hot things really got in the back of the hatch there. I went to reach over to grab something and place my hand right in the area where the piping of the exhaust bends over the axles and pretty much burned my hand on it!!
. I'll get my rusty bum into shape sooner or later. I'm still braking too early, well that was till I started pushing it more and more but that wasn't till after the actual competition and I got stuck in 3" of water and on grass. Had to get towed out lol first time ever. I finally started to take the chicane straight through now jumping over the turtles without any drama coming out. On all the tight corners (~60mph) I was all over most of the big guys that have been there for years. Even my passengers started complaining because the guys in front of us were slowing us down on the infield. On the faster corners ... well lets just say yours truly needs to upgrade his ***** perhaps lol.
Most importantly for me though out of that day is that I got my first trophy and its a first in class
Now if I can fix my transmission issues, I'd be set. Second and third gears just love to grind now. also I didn't realize how hot things really got in the back of the hatch there. I went to reach over to grab something and place my hand right in the area where the piping of the exhaust bends over the axles and pretty much burned my hand on it!!
06-07-10, 10:39 AM
#24
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Welcome to the world of Respeed suspension.
For the tranny grinding, have you tried running the 50/50 mix of gear lube/ATF?
If the issue is clogged, gooped up synchros, that will get them cleaned out and
working right again. I run this mixture full time in my tranny.
Been doing this for a couple of decades now, and it always makes an improvement
in the performance of the tranny.
Do you think you can use those lower links? If you get to my place early enough,
we can even swap them in Friday night before the Saturday race if you want.
Can't wait to see all of your new toys first hand.
For the tranny grinding, have you tried running the 50/50 mix of gear lube/ATF?
If the issue is clogged, gooped up synchros, that will get them cleaned out and
working right again. I run this mixture full time in my tranny.
Been doing this for a couple of decades now, and it always makes an improvement
in the performance of the tranny.
Do you think you can use those lower links? If you get to my place early enough,
we can even swap them in Friday night before the Saturday race if you want.
Can't wait to see all of your new toys first hand.