Dancosenzo

I just purchased this s2k and going through a number of maintenance and cheap up efforts. I took the car for an alignment and the driver rear camber didn’t have enough adjustment to get into the min camber spec. The passenger rear they were able to get pull it in more and get it into spec. However visually when you look at both wheels they look very different. Any thoughts or advice on where to start digging in?

Alignment shop says it’s in spec however visually the tire appears to taper in at the top of the wheel well. I think the QP has had some bondo work so not sure if that is misleading to the eye as well.

Driver rear with camber issue

B serious

Has the car been crashed? Maybe something is bent. Spindles bend first.

Or maybe the subframe is shifted.

Dancosenzo

it does have accident history appears to be in the front the worst. Looks like bumper and that QP has had some work done but doesn’t look serious. How can I tell if spindles are bent ?

Jub

If your rear QP has bondo in it and that side wheel does not align correctly, that is a pretty clear indication of previous accident damage. I think checking subframe alignment would be my first go. If it checks out, start trying to source some used control arms/spindles.

If you don't want to do it, you'll need to find a real mechanic shop, not firestone alignments. Either an indy shop that you have a good rep with or a performance shop is your best bet.

Dancosenzo

I took it to a Firestone type place and all alignment came back into spec besides the driver rear camber. It’s a bit off from min rear camber spec -1.1 vs min -1.3z The passenger side which is the side that looks tilted inward was aligned correctly, just the physical wheel tire just looks really off.

rpg51

I would not make any rash decisions based on the Firestone type alignment. Find a good respected alignment guy in your area. Someone that that the sports car enthusiasts recommend. See what he can do. Go form there.

Jub

What is your end goal here? Is it to make sure the alignment sheet says you're within spec or to make certain that nothing is bent?

Firestone being in spec means that the technician crossed into the "green" area on the spec sheet. They literally set up the machine to account for anything within factory tolerance to being "green" even if it is on the limit of what is acceptable. For the S2k, the spec is pretty wide. Beyond that, it is a sports car so things are meant to be precise. I'm not going to spout off an exact recommended spec, as that is preference that is up for debate. Whatever spec you have, I think being symmetrical on both sides is pretty important and you should at least expect the possibility of being symmetrical.

Firestone and the like are not in the business of understanding why alignment specs should exist or what composes them. Certain independent shops may be and performance shops should be but aren't necessarily. Firestone only cares about alignments as far as it affects their ability to make tires last beyond the warranty period. If it weren't for that concern, they wouldn't care about an alignment at all. That mostly comes down to the toe spec but the point is they don't care for precision, they care for their bottom line. I'd recommend finding specs that you'd like and taking it to someone that is in the business of doing a precise alignment beyond making it "within specs." Someone that actually cares may be able to give you guidance as to the next steps of figuring out why your alignment isn't able to be "green". That is likely to be laborious and expensive if you're paying someone else. You could pay a shop enough to take apart the rear end and measure a bunch of crap that could cost the same amount as buying a used rear end and slapping the parts on yourself.

Personally, I'd first inspect that the subframe is tight and centered. If it has been all along, I'd suck it up and piece together a used AP2 rear right corner and then put it on an alignment rack at a better shop. You could spend a ton of time measuring a bunch of crap but idk what exactly you'd be measuring up against and you'd probably still be taking apart the rear end anyways. If after replacing, your alignment is perfect, your old parts are trash. If you still have the same problem, your old parts are probably good and you have a different problem.

Dancosenzo

I am most concerned with determining what could be bent or damaged. I wanted to post the comparison photos of the rear wheels to see if they looked normal or not. I know from the alignment that the driver rear has too much positive camber because of a issue with the camber bolt. They said it didn’t have enough adjustment in the bolt.

Rear driver wheel- To my eye this tire appears to not have as much negative camber which it shouldn’t because the alignment shop was unable to adjust it
correctly.

Since the passenger rear wheel is technically within a wide spec range (green) . I am trying to determine what is normal. To me the tire angles have a drastic difference. Should I be focusing on 1 side vs the other? Or both ? The difference is what causes me concern.



Passenger rear wheel with negative camber the alignment shop was able to adjust it.


thanks for everyone’s help I’ll work on finding a better alignment shop that can take a look at itS

B serious

You're sure one of the front wheels didn't make it to the rear or something?

Carbon Blue

Im guessing your rear sub frame bolts are loose and your subframe has shifted greatly, check those, realign, and then retorque. Member on here had a similar problem.