Alignment in the Bay Area

[Paul Mcmenamy]

OK, my 88 MR2 needs an alignment. My 87 is fucking TRUE, its great, but my new 88 had been bumped, pulled hard left when I got it. i did a garage alignment and it drives straight but it is going to have to be done right. I have done most of the work needed on this car within a budget but this seems like the area that I am going to have to bite the bullet, and thats fine, it will really make a difference in the performance of the car.

So, first of all, down the street there is a garage that has a sign that says 'alinement'

Needless to say, i am not going there.

But the real reason I ask here is I figure someone might be able to offer some advice as well as lead me the right direction.

I will be using this car as a performance vessel. I got both of my MR2's for use in the mountain raods here, for fun in the sun driving. Since my 87 is in such good shape and I use it as a commuter, performance upgrades will probably be limited to my new 88. I got some nice 15" Momos on it. In the future, I am going to look at getting some new springs to lower it a bit.

Question #1: Should I get new springs BEFORE an alignment? Will the car need to be aligned again if it is lowered? A race car would, but I dont know about this thing. (A race car would be easy to align too, doh!! )

Question #2, Shocks: This 88 feels good when you load a corner, but it is sloppy at all other times. I have a shimmy that develops at speed that is most likely to be fixed when I get a pro alignment. When i took the drivers front off after buying the car, i found the stabilizer link completely DISCONNECTED. I bolted it up and it felt better. But it is still sloppy. So, what is the story with factory shocks? Do they wear? What kind of shocks are most popular on these cars. I might do some Solo with this car, so i would be talking about perforance shocks, but I dont think I will need to get into adjustable ones.

Suggestions?

[ToyotaTechGeek]

answer #1 ABSOLUTELY!
ok, here's the short & skinny:
unless you are going to go and campaign the snot out of your car, the progressive TRD springs along with a set of Tokico HP (blues) will be fine. the money you save from opting for the Illuminas would be best served in buying a nice set of High&Tight Polyurethane bushings found at www.twosrus.com
i have compiled a nice alignment set-up that is a nice balance between autocross/street and track use. it leans more towards road race settings. also, i found that using a nice set of staggered tires has greatly improved my overall driving experience. i am using Potenza RE750 195/50/15's front and RE 730 205/50/15's on the rear. i also have a set of 205/40/17's (front) and 215/40/17's rear for street/bling. lemme find those settings if you wanna try them. i will post in a bit! also, i welded-up a nice bit of support on the front crossmember. it felt really nice on the road course up in canada last year!

[ToyotaTechGeek]

ok: here's one set of alignment specs that worked for me...still looking for other specs...
Front:
Max positive castor
1.5* negative camber
1/16" toe Out

Rear:
1.5* negative camber
1/16" toe In

ah!!! and i guess i should say that i'm in an 89 SC with the high&tight poly bushings with the Tokico HP's and TRD progressive rate springs and i listed the tire/wheel combo's i'm running. i also am running Performance Friction front brake pads with Bradi rotors and in the rear, i have Power Stop cross-drilled rotors with Axis Metal Master pads and the Willwood brake proportioning valve