Alignment adjustment
 

My alignment seems to be a little off. With the steering wheel perfectly straight, it pulls slightly right. While going straight, the wheel is a few degrees to the left. How do I adjust to get my alignment more correct? Do I adjust the tie rod on one side? Do I go in toward the the car, or outboard away from the car?

If you want the job done right, find a good alignment shop and pay the money to have all four wheels aligned. The FD is real sensitive about alignment. For example, my FD was pulling right moderately. Got it up on the alignment rack and it turns out that all four wheels were aligned within factory spec, but the rears were off to the left slightly and the fronts to the right just a hair. The result was a moderate right pull.

Talk to the guys in the Washington club about good places to go.

-bill

Even in the Bay Area, it only costs $100 to get a 4-wheel alignment at a very good shop that sets up a lot of RX-7s in the area. Don't mess around with it -- get it done right. Go to a performance shop that is used to aligning sports/track cars.

I had the alignment done on my 93 yesterday. I had installed lowering springs (.75 in front and 1.25 in back). I got the alignment specs off of"Lighting in a World of Thunder" web site. It made a world of difference. Cost me $125.00.

Larz, I'd suggest giving Performance Buyers Club in Chantilly a call. They did my custom 4 wheel alignment and I couldn't be happier. It ran about $100, but it was done right.

The guy even took the time to check out my car underneath for any problems while it was on the lift. They have lots of Miata and RX7 experience there.

http://www.performancebuyers.com/
1-800-359-4093

How far away is chantilly from DC?

In this age of the internet you can't put the address in Mapquest and find exact driving directions? I think they even have directions on PBC's web site. To answer your question, Chantilly is close to DC.

Well, my previous post was a written a bit hastily. To answer the original question: I'll second the recommendation for Performance Buyers Club, they'll do a stock or custom alignment (for additional cost, still at or just below $100) and do it right. I've had my last 2 custom alignments done there and was able to sit in the car while it was being done.

Government computer. Proxy blocks the majority of usefull sites. I knew you were going to say that. Thanks for reccomending the shop. I'll see if I can get in there next week.

I should have realized that. :-) Internet access on my work computer is blocked for many sites, thankfully Mapquest is not one of them.

Without traffic (good luck) it should be about 40 minutes I guess. Take 66W to 28N basically.

damn you all pay mad money for your alignments..i am an alignment technician at a local tires plus and we charge 65 bucks for a 4 wheel alignment and i know all my friends come to me and the rest of the guys at my shop and we all do a great job...i mean if you take it to any shop and pay for a cheap alignment and the car doesnt go straight then the alignment tech didnt adjust the car to spec...or your suspension is fucked up...so either way if you pay a cheap amount like 65 bucks and your car doesnt go straight you can just say hey i paid for my car to go straight so i am not leaving till it goes straight...end of conversation and i know that always works. well thats just my .02 on trying to help you all save money...ohh and look in the newspaper for local shop alignment discounts...i know i have done alignments as cheap as 25 bucks that have taken me around 2 hours to do...damn porsche's

That's great. Everywhere I have ever been as well as friends in other states always pay about $100 :shrug:

You guys only ask $65 for a four wheel alignment that involves caster, camber and toe in on the front as well as camber and toe in on the rear? I know plenty of shops who will do a "four wheel alignment" for $70 or less, but once you start adjusting camber at both ends the price goes to about $100.

And most regular service shops (at least around here) don't like to use settings other than manufacturer specifications either, or let you sit in the car while they do it.

Right. The main difference between a standard and custom alignment is that the standard just has to be in the range of manufacturer's specs, a custom is an alignment to EXACTLY a certain set of numbers. It usually means making an adjustment, then rechecking all settings that could be effected. This is repeated until the car meets all the numbers. Obviously it takes longer than a standard alignment and you'll pay for it. With shop rates in our area of $80+/hr, the $100 dollar number makes sense.