Hello! I am a noob with a 2004 RX8. I have a lifetime alignment with my local Firestone and they are tired of seeing me to say the least!

The problem is that no matter how perfect my toe/camber/caster is, The car still wants to drift to the driver side. I am starting to think the bushings are failing, causing the car to have slop, or affecting how the alignment is being "done".

Has anyone had a similar issue? I am starting to think bushings are to blame.

Last question, has anyone bought the Drop Engineering bushings? They are only like 75 for the fronts. Any reviews?

Mazda RX8 Front Upper Control Arm Bushing Kit, 2003-2008, by Drop Engineering

Mazda RX8 Front Lower Control Arm Bushing Kit, 2003-2008, by Drop Engineering

 

Unless the alignment guy is a klutz, he'd spot any worn parts. Especially since you keep coming back with the problem.

Could be a bad tire. I had that happen once, on a new car. The tire dealer swapped the front tires around and identified the bad one.

Ken

 

Could be a few things but if the shop is competent, then it could just be something called Radial Pull.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=12

 

If you are there so often that they are sick of seeing you, you cannot expect that you are getting a quality alignment. There are ways to "cheat" the way the printout looks to shut you up and make you leave.

Just because the printout looks good, and the guy says you're all set, doesn't mean that car is actually good.

First thing and cheapest thing to do is hunt down a radial pull as linked above from 9k.

If that doesn't do it, bite the bullet and pay a different shop to check all the bushings and have the alignment checked. Don't be scared to tell them you may be getting effed over by the first shop. Believe it or not but they will actually be more tedious in checking for a problem. Mechanics like to be able to find something wrong that somebody else missed. They take pride in "being a better detective."

 

I "know" the guy who is doing the alignment, but I guess he is too lazy to start really checking the car when it is up in the air on the rack. I will take it to another shop, should have thought of that earlier actually. Does anyone have any reviews of the bushings I posted, or solid bushings in general when installed on these cars?

 

Ended up hanging out with my friend who does the alignments last night, he is planning on driving my car to work next week and taking his time with it. Anyone with reviews about drop engineering? I am sure that this guy will help me find the problem, and I would rather go with something aftermarket instead of the soft OEM stuff.

 

I had pull once ended up being the tire on the back end of the car. I thought same as you alignment after the tech found every thing to be within spec tolerances he told me it could be a tire so we changed the back two tires and no more pull. Check your air pressure to I have noticed when a tire gets a little lower than the other side (3lbs psi or less I have noticed pull). This factor increases when it's a back tire.

 

be sure to keep even tire pressure in the rear. Even if you only keep 25psi in your tires, be sure both sides are equal. Uneven tire pressure can cause binding in the LSD

 

Most common cause of stuff like this is shitty tires or tires that were damaged or have uneven wear.