Alignment advice needed.

[spiritorb]

Hello all. I have a concern about my 2019 ES alignment that has been bugging me. I had an alignment done at the dealer under warranty as there was some feathering on the front tires. The toe setting was out, and this was corrected. The rear toe is well within specs. My concern is with the front camber. The left side is at-0.3 deg. on the left, and-0.7 deg. on the right. I realize that this is not adjustable. My question is this. Do I need to have a Camber kit installed to correct this? The side with -0.7 deg. is at the minimum spec. I am having an alignment done soon, as I just purchased 4 new all weather tires. The dealer alignment was done in Aug. of this year. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as I am not an expert by any means on steering geometry.

[PityOnU]

You are correct in that you will need a camber kit installed to adjust camber on the front wheels. A "camber kit" for our cars is actually just a fancy looking bolt.

Be ready to get absolutely wrecked on installation and adjustment. I had gone to Les Schwab and ended up paying ~$400 to get the bolts put in and the alignment done. I think about $160 of that was just for the bolts. So, smart money is on buying and installing the camber adjustment bolts yourself before getting the wheels aligned. You will end up paying probably about 1/3 of what I did if you can.

[spiritorb]

You are correct in that you will need a camber kit installed to adjust camber on the front wheels. A "camber kit" for our cars is actually just a fancy looking bolt.

Be ready to get absolutely wrecked on installation and adjustment. I had gone to Les Schwab and ended up paying ~$400 to get the bolts put in and the alignment done. I think about $160 of that was just for the bolts. So, smart money is on buying and installing the camber adjustment bolts yourself before getting the wheels aligned. You will end up paying probably about 1/3 of what I did if you can.

Thanks. I figured as much. I already have two Mevotech Premium camber kits(The bolt type kit). My only reservation with this type of kit, is that some members of this forum had said that these type of kits are problematic. I have bought the top style of kit in the link you posted.(Bolt and washer style.)

[PityOnU]

Thanks. I figured as much. I already have two Mevotech Premium camber kits(The bolt type kit). My only reservation with this type of kit, is that some members of this forum had said that these type of kits are problematic. I have bought the top style of kit in the link you posted.(Bolt and washer style.)

Cool. Hopefully it was just a coincidence that you bought the Moog kit, or that you did the research and decided upon that one yourself - I had shared the link just as an example as it had the picture. Please don't take it as a recommendation!

W.r.t. cam bolts, people are generally concerned about them as (dependent on the type of bolt) there's nothing really locking them into place other than friction. This means that, given a big enough jolt, they can shift and set you out of alignment again. But, honestly, they should be fine in terms of road use. Especially anything you would be doing in a Mirage.

Am I suggesting that you can apply that sweet Confederate flag decal to your roof, take your Mirage off sick jumps, and then still expect everything to be in alignment? Absolutely not. But for just pottering around town and driving to work, they will be more than adequate.

If you are really concerned about it, most places will do an alignment check (not the actual alignment) for free. Just make a point of swinging by your local establishment every couple of months. Some places will even come with a guarantee re: the alignment, and will readjust it for free given there has been a change within a short enough time frame.

[spiritorb]

It was actually two Mevotech Supreme kits that I bought. I didn't buy the cheapy kits just the high quality kits. Yes, my Mirage is just a to and from work and grocery getter, so no worries about abuse. The kits are the style represented in the top bolt style in the Moog link you posted. IE single eccentric bolt with locking washer and nut.

[foama]

Hello all. I have a concern about my 2019 ES alignment that has been bugging me. I had an alignment done at the dealer under warranty as there was some feathering on the front tires. The toe setting was out, and this was corrected. The rear toe is well within specs. My concern is with the front camber. The left side is at-0.3 deg. on the left, and-0.7 deg. on the right. I realize that this is not adjustable. My question is this. Do I need to have a Camber kit installed to correct this? The side with -0.7 deg. is at the minimum spec. I am having an alignment done soon, as I just purchased 4 new all weather tires. The dealer alignment was done in Aug. of this year. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as I am not an expert by any means on steering geometry.

At -0.3°/-0.7° front camber you don't really have to worry. Difference is less than half a degree, three-quarters is permitted in Mitsu specs. You could leave it as it is, but if you are a perfectionist like me, you would prefer it correct!
If you yourself or a really knowledgable alignment joint wanted to correct the -0.7 to also become -0.3°, you will probably find loosening and retightening the two bolts on the join at the bottom of the shock absorber/ top of the knuckle will provide enough room for adjustment just as the car is right now. In this way I have adjusted mine. You do not always need a camber bolt to adjust it, there is usually up to one degree of adjustment possible without camber bolts! I went a bit further than OEM spec to adjust front camber and toe-in to neutral, that being zero camber and zero toe. That is best for economy and handling doesn't suffer noticeably.

Of course you could put in the set of camber bolts you already have, or at least one, and get the 0.7° camber to match the other side, or even better, put both in, an adjust to neutral.

NB: If you touch camber, toe will automatically change, so toe must be adjusted after you are finished with adjusting camber!

You may want to look at the how-to's for camber, toe, and caster. We have one how-to each in this forum, and probably after reading and understanding you can do it very accurately and easily yourself!

See:

https://mirageforum.com/forum/showth...ure-and-adjust

[spiritorb]

I will have an alignment shop do this, as I am not really conversant on chassis work. I also live in a strata, where work on vehicles is not allowed under bylaw rules. Thanks for the info!