I posted this in "Members Corner" but I then thought that maybe the racers on this site would be more knowlegable on this subject.

Does anyone from Oregon know of any good places around the Portland area to get an alignment? I need one real soon - the place I got it done at last time did a terrible job. Also, does anyone know of a place I can get the car corner weighted?

And finally, what are the normal costs of the alignment and the costs of a corner weighting.

BTW, I have Zeal B2s w/ Progress Alignment kit.

Thanks, and if any non-local guys could help me out with the prices of an average alignment, that'd be great to.

 

There's a couple of places for an alignment.
Alignment Specialties in Aloha. I had my GSR aligned after installing an Ingalls kit, and they seemed competent enough.
A-n-T Tire near the Hawthorne bridge is well thought of by the racing community, and I've heard good things about them.

I know that Competition Motorsports has the equipment to corner weight, but I don't know what they charge. They are located north of the Rose Garden on Page.

There seems to be a variety of 'speed' shops popping up on the west side, but I don't know anything about them. They may offer alignment and corner weighting.

This may also help...
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=348368

 

Call A-n-T tire. ask for Fred. They handle the majority of race tire sales in the area. They would know...

Also down on MLK, there is a auto body shop called Stright Line. They do race repair and would also be in the know...

I got a guy over at Acura of Portland who does my race set ups, so I don't have any personal knowledge of the local shops...

Ron Brown @ Competition Motorsports can cornerweight. The rates are usually in the $50.00 per hour range.

Is this a street car?

 

Its a street car for now. I'm going to try my first autocross this weekend, and I wanted to get an alignment before I went. I had also hoped to get new tires but I can't seem to find more than 2 Azenis in the area, which is what I wanted to get mounted on my stock wheels. Unfortunately, my idiotic "modifying" of my car has bumped me all the way up to Street Modified, so far as I can tell. So this weekend will just be for fun. Its technically just a "practice" weekend anyway.

Do you guys have any suggestions on alignment specs? I want to keep the tire wear to a minimum but want an alignment that will yield good performance and control.

Do you guys have websites or phone numbers of these shops? Do you think I can get the car corner weighted before this weekend?

Also, if any of you know where I can find 2 Falken Azenis before this weekend, itd be great. ANT only seems to have two last time I called.

Thanks for the replys and sorry for the late response!


[Modified by Type Rizzle, 11:15 PM 3/3/2003]

 

bump

 

 

Discount Tire, A -n- T, and Sears are the only local ones that I know that carry them. I'm sure that Sears will have to order them. If you've got the time, you might try the Seattle/Tacoma area.
Given the forecast for rain this weekend, I wouldn't worry about the Azenis too much, since you really need to drive on them a little before you'll get the best grip. Order them now, and you'll likely have them before the next event in April.

I don't know about different camber settings on the Type R, since it's stock, but on my GSR, I ran -1 degree with no problems of tire wear.

Yellow pages is your best bet, I don't think any of them have websites.

I hope that helps.

 

Tire Factory can get them to me in 2-4 business days, and for just a LITTLE more than A-n-T would charge.

The only reason I'm trying to get them before this weekend is because my RE010s are very worn on the inside edges due to a poor alignment. They assured me they were "in spec" but forgot to print out a readout . I have another alignment scheduled for Thursday.

I read a rule about tire wear in the rule book. Hopefully I misread, but is it true that you can't run if your tires are worn past the point of measurable tread depth? Because I don't have any tread left on the edges.

 

The rule is more for race tires, since the 'tread' will wear down to nothing resulting in effectively a 'slick' tire. It's not a problem for you to worry about though.

If they can get them here in time, I'd recommend A -n- T tire since it's always good to support the locals.

Did you have the car aligned to 'factory specs', then get the tire wear? Where did you have the previous alignment done?

 

Yeah I made sure they were within "factory spec", and they assured me they were. But if they were indeed in spec, would I see <U>any</U> adverse tire wear? Its not like I can compare what I have to true "factory spec" because I never got a printout.

However (and hopefully not 'unfortunately'), I am getting the alignment done at the same place, Alignment Specialties. The reason behind this is that they have come highly recomended by VW friends that I have, and I'm told that they are one of the few places that doesn't scoff at lowered cars. Plus, they are close to home. This time, I'm giving them specs I want, and demanding a printout. Hopefully, it all goes well.

What do you think of these specs?

FRONT:
1/8" TOTAL toe out
-1.5 degrees camber

REAR:
0 toe
0 to -.5 degrees camber

Please keep in mind that I hope to keep tire wear as close to "factory spec" as possible, while still reaping some performance benefits.


[Modified by Type Rizzle, 8:56 PM 3/4/2003]

 

I had them do my GSR, and I was quite happy with them. Don't know what would have happened. At -1 degree, I was still getting 'a little' more wear than I'd expect but nothing alarming. It's probably something I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't swapping Azenis on every other weekend.

I think you're probably safe going to -1 on the rears, since you'll still wear down the fronts quicker. The manual states camber = 0 +/- 1 degree.

Until you've got more seat time and experience with autocrossing, I wouldn't worry about the toe-in. If I remember right the toe-in will make it twitchy on the roads.

 

I meant toe OUT. But I'll head your instructions, since you are more experienced with the ITR.

FRONT:
0 toe
-1 camber

REAR:
0 toe
-.5 camber

What about those^^?

 

Get 1/8" total toe out in the front, -1.5 front camber.

Rear should be fine.

 

I'm no expert, I've only had the R since last November.

Come on out to the Autocrosses and talk to people. Everyone out there is fun and willing to help and offer setup advice.