Camber adjustment on a Miata

I was thinking to myself "would it be possible to adjust the camber of a Miata at home? I've seen the round dics thingys on the camber bolts and just happen to think of it. Is it possible?

It is but....

the bolts on the front control arms adjust both camber and caster.

the bolts on the rear control arms adjust both toe and camber.

I'll look into this and learn about it and really study it. I'll talk to a buddy of mine who races Spec Miata and see if there is a comfortable ground to have a good setup that's suitable for comp and for street. Any one know of a good setting for the 2 that wont wear tires unevenly?

In reply to miataman86:

I've been running the Flyin' Miata alignment for about 5 years. It is an excellent compromise - I get about 10% more wear on the inner edges of the tires over the outers if I'm doing all street driving. A couple of autocrosses and it evens out. http://www.flyinmiata.com/tech/alignment.php

It is very easy to change the camber at home. It is not easy to tell what you have changed it to.

If you want a good alignment, you need good tools and a nice, flat, level surface. I tried doing my own alignment and quickly realized it was better left to a shop with the proper equipment.

Exactly. Easy to change, difficult to measure. Caster is a bit of a pain.

However, on the front wheels, the front adjuster primarily affects camber and the rear primarily affects caster. If you're in an experimenting mood, get something to measure the camber (you can do it with an iPhone running the free Handy Level app if you're careful) and play around with that front cam. You can always set it back if you mark the cams first.

You'll have to readjust the toe when you mess with the camber, but toe is easy. Toe plates are inexpensive and easy to duplicate and the tie rod length doesn't affect any other alignment settings.

In the rear, you'll have a bit more back and forth between camber and toe but it's fairly easy to understand how they interact. If you adjust both cams the same amount, you'll have little effect on the toe.

I plan on marking the cams first. I plan on running the "sport" setup for street with a setup for track/autoX as well. I plan on marking both spots with white (street) and yellow (track/comp) model kit paint for reference. How's that sound for a plan?

Sounds like a good one. You can get paint markers at auto parts store that make things really easy.

I already have some model kit paints at home that I will be using. When I go to align it all up, I'm gonna look into the help of the owner of the race team I'm under team support with to help set me up properly and hopefully, get it corner scaled if I need to.

Wonder if they have the Handy Level for Android...