Miata alignment question: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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May 10, 2011 11:56 a.m. ea_sport Reader

I bought a '96 Miata with the old FM stage 2.5 kit (the one with KYB AGX) and I am trying to get about -1.5 - -2.00 camber in the front and in the back and 0 toe in the front and 1/16 - 1/8 toe in for the back. However, the mechanic who tried to do the alignment yesterday told me that he couldn't do it since the car was too low so when he tried to change the camber it affected the toe and vice versa. He said that I needed a coil over kit so that the height could be adjusted to adjust the camber and toe.

Anyhow, is there any truth to this? Can I still get the right alignment set-up with the current suspension? Thanks guys.
May 10, 2011 12:30 p.m. CGLockRacer Reader

I'm going to be "training" the place I go to tomorrow.

In the rear, max out the front and rear camber bolts to negative camber. Adjust the front one for toe (maybe rear if needed). Then adjust BOTH AT THE SAME TIME AND DIRECTION (keeps toe correct) to get camber in spec.

In the front, max out the rear bolt for most positive caster (need to measure during adjustments), and the front for most negative camber. Get caster even. Then adjust front bolt for camber. Toe is done with tierods.

Make sure the cams stay inside the horseshoes to prevent bolt slip.

If the car is not low enough, you may not get your target camber. However, the above is the method I used when aligning my old SM.
May 10, 2011 5:10 p.m. Keith SuperDork

In the front, camber and toe are independent. In the rear, they aren't really connected - there are two adjusters for each rear wheel. Move them both the same way, and you'll adjust camber. Move them in opposite ways and you'll adjust toe.

The pre-2006 spring manufacturer shipped us a couple of batches of springs that proved to have sagging problems. Email me with the measurement between the middle of the wheel and the bottom of the fender lip and we'll see if you're in the correct ballpark for height.