My car has camber and toe all over the place!! Eeep!

So I just had a service on monday. However after they did god only knows what to it...... It now feels like rubbish to drive. The steering wheel is now off centre when driving straight. So with little options in canberra I took it down to pedders and got the 28 point check. Here are the results.


Rear axle. Left Right
Camber -2*14' -1*33'
Individual Toe -1.3mm -0.3mm
Total Toe -1.6mm
Geometrical driving axis. +0*05'

Front Axle
Camber -1*16' -2*15'
Individual Toe +1.5mm +4.5mm
Total Toe +6.0mm

So it would seem that everything is all over the place. So time to get it fixed. Any recommendations?

Get the place you took it to originally to fix free of charge and demand to know wtf they did to it in the first place.


from
MMMPPPSSSEXY

I only have one recommendation for you, dont let Mazda do anything with your alignment, balance rotation stuff. I always tell them dont do it when I take it for service and Ive always taken my car to Jax at Phillip who Im more than happy with.

Couldn't Pedders fix that up while they had the car?


Sent from my iBrain using Tapatelepathy

I agree with Artemis, dont put up with that, tell them what its like to drive and say your not happy with the end result.

http://tapatalk.com/mu/af22b9dd-29d7-e9cb.jpg

This was my last alignment at Mazda. Fulcrum Suspension dude said it looked good. Not sure how it compares to yours, but thought it might help.

The pedders guy said the car was not camber adjustable and they had no kits that could fix it. Will be back to mazda tomorrow as dad has the car today.

Checking out your pic in relations to mine now Yeldarb.

Fark are you sure one of their guys didn't take it a bit too hard round a bend and potentially hit a gutter???

you're right they don't have camber adjustment but doesn't mean it should be out by that much, should have a look to see if anything is bent or perhaps a bush could be worn out???

Sounds a bit iffy to me, taking it to Mazda then getting it back driving like that....

Only thing they said they did was rotate the tyres as the front had the inside worn out of them... Time to hoist it and poke about somehow...

is your car lowered???

Nope. Well I have not lowered it, previous owner could of but looks stock height next to my sisters MPS3

Are you driving a 3 or 6 mps?

When i read this post, i immediately thought they must have rotated your tyres at the service. Not surprising your s**t everywhere as the servicing dept probably didn't do a wheel alignment when they rotated your tyres + your tyres are probably scrubs in to a point where any changes (i.e. rotations) would mean your steering will be out.

SPC and KMAC make aftermarket kits to make the camber adjustable front and rear on the 3. - K-MAC Front & Rear Suspension kits to suit Mazda or SPC Camber Arm: MS3, Mazda 3

I would think that with the above for a 3, Superpro may come out with a kit -assume looking at the rear camber link, adjustability could be had with a new offset bushes and a eccentric bolt. The same would be for the front too, so I would probably want to give fulcrum in QLD a call and ask whether they do any camber bushes for the 3.

The 6 is a little different, you have several options for front camber, namely: lower your car, Superpro front camber kit, or KMAC kits. Rear camber is adjustable on the 6 already.

---------- Post added at 02:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:45 PM ----------

oh, I should not forget whiteline: Whiteline Automotive - performance handling and suspension products. car spring coil shock damper swaybar sway bar anti-sway bush bushes australia australian whiteline automotive performance road holding turn-in camber caster toe in vehicle hot 4 v8

Although not sure if this is for front or rear, or both...

Is a MPS3. So looking like the only way I will fix it is aftermarket camber kits?

Thanks for the links by the way

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Malicioso

Fark are you sure one of their guys didn't take it a bit too hard round a bend and potentially hit a gutter???

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This is exactly what I was thinking. I'd be getting someone to check for bent or damaged control arms and linkages. A simple tyre rotation or even a bad alignment won't make the steering track like the OP described.... Get someone to check if the car is crabbing. This also suggests the suspension or chassis geometry has changed :(

looking at the current settings. it look like when the toe is adjusted correctly, the camber will come in line also. don't go out and buy camber kits just cos the camber is out. with the toe that far from where it is supposed to be, the camber will be effected also.

when was the last time the car actually had a wheel aligment? if you have bad uneven wear due to poor alignemt settings, or unmaintained alignment, this will disguise the poor steering/driving feeling. once the wheels are rotated, the disguise is gone.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rfzd

Is a MPS3. So looking like the only way I will fix it is aftermarket camber kits?

Thanks for the links by the way

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I've got a Gen II with inside tyre wear issues. I've had quotes for aftermarket camber kits, but for now Fulcrum Browns Plains are managing my new KU36's with the wheel alignment (only got 19,000km & 14 months out of the OEM tyres). They're aware of my issue and have done the wheel alignment to hopefully help with the problem. Below is the printout of what they did. I'm 2,000km into the new tyres and so far, after some slight molesting, they don't feel as though they are wearing on the inside :p. I've also been a bit more vigilent with checking my tyre pressure this time around.

http://i973.photobucket.com/albums/a...Alignment2.jpg

Is heading into capital steering and suspension tomorrow morning to get another check to see if they come up the same.

The reason I have no put new tyres on is if that does not fix the problem as in the rotation and balance and all that then will just be eating at the new tyres so would rather avoid that, but will get them lined up and ready to go.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rfzd

Is heading into capital steering and suspension tomorrow morning to get another check to see if they come up the same.

The reason I have no put new tyres on is if that does not fix the problem as in the rotation and balance and all that then will just be eating at the new tyres so would rather avoid that, but will get them lined up and ready to go.

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I hope you get a solution for your issue!

I didn't really have a choice with new tyres. The OEM were illegal by the time I was fully aware of the issue, no thanks to Mazda service department, who passed my tyres as ok on a service done a week earlier :norty:. So I have learnt the hard way to make sure I'm checking my own tyres and not to trust the people I took them to to have them rotated and a wheel alignments done every 5,000km.

I've just got mine back from being re-aligned.
Noticed a slight vibration through the car while getting up to speed (60kph)

Below are the specs and therefore, the reason for the vibration.

BEFORE:
Rear Camber: LH -02°29' RH -02°04'
Front Camber: LH -01°40' RH 00° 58'

AFTER:
Rear Camber: LH -02°08' RH -02°25'
Front Camber: LH -01°23' RH 01° 25'



BEFORE:
Rear Toe: total +4.1mm
Front Toe: total -3.7mm

AFTER:
Rear Toe: total +4.9mm
Front Toe: total +1.3mm



It has been recommended to invest in some adjustable rear camber arms, to ensure correct settings and increased tyre wear.


Anyone have any suggestions on good adjustable camber arms to buy and where from?


Muz

There has been so links to some in one of the previous posts that I might look into as well just for late times.

Just got my car back from Capital Steering and Suspension. Total quote to fix is $1400.

For new bushes, new RHF strut, new RHF knuckle, new Bearing wheel, new ring bearing retainer, new hub wheel and new mazda 3 castor bar brushes.

How ever they have experiment with the Toe a bit while it was there and is now no longer scary feeling to drive...