I just replaced the upper mounts on the front struts of my 80 and I can visually tell that camber is way off on one side. The Haynes manual says there should be marks but my mounts don't have any. I have noticed that the mounts do not fit centered in the hole. My question is, where should the wider gap be between the hole and the mount? I think that will fix my camber.
Thanks

 

Jack up the car and you should be able to get enough force on the strut top to turn it, then drop the car back down and check camber and toe in. Repeat until its correct.

 

You mean take off the top nuts and drop the trut assembly down then rotate the mount?
I figured there would be a direction where the wide gap around the circle should be placed.
Thanks

 

You can adjust camber and caster with this plate. The idea is to get the same amount of camber and caster on both sides of the car. If you can't get the camber you want you can slot the cross member and fill it with a mig. If you need further caster adjustment you can change the tension struts around (I think; if not you can always force them to change).

If everything is out of whack and you can't get the car to pull strait. You might have body damage. Last I checked Maaco does body alignment for $50 in the door and the price goes up from there.

 

I'm thinking that in most cases the center of the strut should be toward the inside and toward the rear of the opening, putting the wider gap on the outside front. The mark on the top of the strut should be a very small triangle.

 

Theres also a notch if I remember right.

 

When I replaced my strut mounts I noticed there were no marks. I emailed the manufacturer (KYB I believe) and they told their mounts are symmetrical unlike the stock ones. No idea if that is right or not. My camber is visually different too.

 

the stock/Mazda ones are visibly offset, so you don't really need the mark, or you could read the FSM and make your own

 

Mine are visually offset but have no mark. Anyone have a picture of theirs? That will tell us where the wide gap goes.
Thanks

 

There is no set position. Its an alignment thing.

 

Agree with Qingdao - the reason why Mazda make these offset is to allow flexibility to adjust to differences in frame orientation and wheel/tire combinations. The OP will need to measure camber (or eyeball) and then try to get as close to even between both sides as possible. Given the manufacturing methods employed back in the early 1980's, this is not unusual to make mounts designed to fit a wide variation in tolerance.

In comparison, my brother has an Infiniti G35 coupe that has no adjustability in the front suspension arms or struts at all - because the car was built to such tight tolerances, when you replace an A-arm, it aligns to the frame perfectly (as long as the frame is straight).

Point being, you should adjust them to get as much neutral camber as possible on both sides.

 

most older cars have no adjustability, my MGB, Tr3, etc you can only do toe.

BMW's also, you can only do toe, and if a camber adjustment is needed, they have a factory tool, which is like a giant prybar to bend the struts

 

There is a small triangle arrow mark - it's real east to miss even on pristine units.

 

Thanks man. I'll look again tonight but I don't think I have anything like that on mine... I assume that arrow is pointing towards the outside of the engine bay and slightly back towards the windshield?

One of my problem is that I replaced all the bushings with ES polys so nothing is really going back the way it was since the old rubber bushings were in horrible shape.

 

Another quick question: The "tension rods" that go from the front bumper area to each of the A-arms.. They have two large rubber bushings on each side of the bracket.. How are they supposed to be adjusted? I installed the poly bushings and wondering if you just squish the bushing a bit and go on?
Thanks again

 

you should look in the FSM, there's a measurement. page 13:8

http://foxed.ca/rx7manual/manuals/19...Suspension.pdf

failing that, you would adjust so that the control arm is centered in the subframe.

 

So I played with them yesterday and moved the strut mount around and the front tire is still off. If I put a straight edge on it, the bottom is about 1 inch away from the straight edge. You guys think may be I just need to run the car and allow the suspension to settle? Both sides of the car show about the same camber. If I put lowering springs on it, would this change the camber enough? I do want to lower it some as it sits a bit high now...
Thanks

 

the stock camber spec is +1 degree of camber...

 

That's the left mount. The arrow on mine points forward and outboard - - but as pointed out eariler, this is an adjustment, not a default setting. The FSM shows the four possible positions for each and what effect they have on caster and camber.

You pre-set the forward nut to a specific distance from the rod end as specc'd in the FSM, then you tighten the rear nut to a specified, and fairly high, torque - - which requires a damn big crow's-foot socket, and a capable torque wrench.

It also would seem to depend on the bushings having a specific compressibility, which probably changes when you switch from OEM rubber to urethane.

 

OK, I moved my upper mount all around and the wheel still angles in at the bottom. I wonder if the mounts are the issue?
Thanks

 

Are you letting the front suspension adequately settle/cycle after lowering back to the ground & before measuring? Takes a bit of rolling and bouncing to get things at operational height after jacking.

1* of camber amounts to around 0.4" across the 23" diameter of a 205/50-15 tire - exact measurement depends on tire outer diameter. Negative camber of course is "top in."

 

No I haven't driven the car, just bounced it a bit. I am actually positive on camber with the top out. I will wait until I get my carb back and run it a bit.
Thanks

 

try rolling it a few feet either way