It looks like I may have a bent spindle on this car. One side would go to -2 camber and the other was -1.3. Castor was 4.5 (max) and 3.5 (max). Something is off....

Good to find it now, than a month down the road when you're trying to figure out why the inside of one tire is showing air.

Yea, but it still sucks. Now I have to find two known good spindles and swap them out. I'll likely replace the castor bushings just for grins and then I have to figure out if I want to do new upper control arms.


Edit:

I just found a pair for sale on Ebay. They say 60 day return policy and free shipping. For $69/ea, I ordered a pair. Maybe I can line them all up and figure out which ones don't match (laying on the garage floor on the bearing flanges). Then I'll touch up the paint and install them.

Funny. People laugh at me for cleaning and painting the replacement parts. Well, my wife, at least. I'm glad to know it still happens in the world.

I would have refinished the upper control arm mounts (they had a little rust....the only rust on this car) if I hadn't been in a hurry to get the shocks on it so I could get back to driving it. If I tear the whole nose down, I'll likely buff the rust off and redo those while I'm in there. You're not the only one with automotive OCD. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

I guess I should get castor and camber bushings for the lower control arms (they don't seem excessively worn, but they are from 2002) and maybe fresh balljoints while I'm in there. If it's worth doing....

Well, I have new Moog Problem Solver control arm bushings, new Problem Solver balljoints (ordered from Stranoparts.com and on my door step the next day), two new-to-me spindles are on the way and I'm waiting for a set of Moog tie rod ends to arrive (I forgot about them until later). I also had a Moog alignment tool delivered (the shop didn't have one, but they ordered their own the day I was there) so I can just take it with me from now on. That came from Jegs and arrived at my door the next day (drop shipped I believe).

Has anybody ever swapped the front control arm bushings with a balljoint press? I've done that on a 3rd gen, but I wondered if I might get lucky on the 4th gen too?

Now, who wants to help me tear down the front end....again? (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Okay, so I had to go look up 'Moog alignment tool'. Never heard of such a thing. How does that work? Kind of curious now, since we have a 4th Gen.

It engages a hole in the LCA and a hole in the K member to allow you to set camber. There is a second hole in the LCA (A arm) and a second hole in the K member to do castor. This is a "turnbuckle" that allows you to push the arm out or pull it in so you can hold a camber or castor setting while you tighten things down.

The tool is U shaped and you turn the middle adjusting nut to either push or pull the ends...I got one when I bought my car

It's the tool that no alignment shop has and tells you after they already your car already on the rack.

This post has been edited by Steve91T: Jul 10 2016, 02:47 AM

I might have a set of stock upper arms, would have to check

Thanks! I already ordered a set of Global West upper arms. Though I may wind up trying something new....(that's all I can say for now).

My wife and I met Ryan, Ramey, Jerry and the rest of the UMI crew for dinner on Saturday night while we watched all the street rods from the Goodguys event doing burnouts in front of the restaurant (there was a silver Chevy II that sounded like a ProStock car during burnouts....it was a monster). It was a fun evening with a great bunch of guys. Today we met them at the Goodguys event where we got to ride along in the Camaro and the Pontiac. Both are impressive cars that make excellent power and quite a bit of grip. I drug along my pyrometer for tire temps and some minor pressure adjustments (I hope we were helpful). Ryan and the crew drove the wheels off of them both in a field of very fast cars. It was a fun day with a great bunch of diehard gearheads.

Thanks Ryan/UMI for having us along!!!

Kevin, It was great to finally meet you and Mollie. It's crazy how you can be online friends and never meet at times. I appreciate the tire pressure help and the driving advice, it helped us a lot to gain some time... now if we were just more consistent drivers you may have seen better results! But we are learning at each event.

It was a great weekend, that is what the events are all about, meeting new people, having fun and testing. Columbus is such a great event for the night life, the cars, the burn outs and the giant car shows at the hotels.

We better see that convertible out there next year for All American Sunday (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/cool2.gif)

By then I should be ready. I never did see if the silver C5 convertible had a roll bar in it and I couldn't tell with the top up.

I had so much fun riding with you guys that I realized I kinda miss this stuff. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) Uh oh.... (we know where that leads) (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/drink.gif)

Ahh yes,I keep forgetting about the roll bar rule...

By then I may just give up and put a 4 point in it. It's not the worst idea from a safety standpoint. If I bought a new Miata, I'd have one in it ASAP (they are common and they fit well in those cars). The backseat is my main hangup. I hate the idea of installing one, but it's likely a good idea (or I'm going to need to find another car to go with this one.... (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/banghead.gif) ).

Just how big a deal is the rear seat? It's next to unusable anyway. They screwed up and put the bolt-in 4-point we have in the 95 with the seat back down. It will in no way allow the seat back to fold back upright. OTOH, the pups don't really mind the platform to sit/stand on when 'bye-bye in the racecar'. :-)

With the bolt-in 4-point, we were able to add harnesses. I picked up a pair of seats that the PO had shoulder harness cutouts installed in. They are great for autocross, and even these seats feel better than the Corbeau 1-piece seat that came with the car.

(IMG:http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rrkgbbfdwrgkrrsxgddbwddrbddf,vi/bwggwqstkxrrsswdfdtxskfgkttdw/5/1331095/12314515/driverseattopdown1-vi.jpg)

(IMG:http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rrkgbbgsbwgbsfbxgddbwddrbddf,vi/rdgsqskwdxwtfdwdfsgxbsgbrssfg/5/1331095/12314515/IMG_1631-vi.jpg)

(IMG:http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rrkgbbgtktkgdswxgddbwddrbddf,vi/skwfgrttsxbsfsskdbqxsbqwbwgbd/5/1331095/12314515/IMG_1634-vi.jpg)

Wolf Racecraft makes a bar that bolts to the front seat mount bolts that allows you to use a crotch strap. Not the best configuration, since it doesn't come up inside the seat bottom, but better than nothing.

Crotch Strap Bracket for F-Body

We hauled my nephew home from my parents house in it and picked him up once or twice. It's a 2 mile drive, but it was handy to have the back seat available. Otherwise, it's useless. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Is your crew going to do any of the Optima events (or have you already)??

I would love to be able to see that 4th gen monster in action on MAV TV!!