Opinions on corner balancing
#1
Opinions on corner balancing
Hi all.
I bought my RX-8 primarily for track usage. It’s just an enthusiast ride for me. I won’t be participating in any racing, competitions, etc. I’m joining a member-based Track and just want to have fun and burn some stress. I’ll mostly drive it to/from the track 1-2 times a month and maybe a couple other days a month.
Anyways, I obviously plan to align the car very aggressively, but is it worth getting the car corner-balanced for my purposes?
(Yes, it has coilovers)
thanks!!
I bought my RX-8 primarily for track usage. It’s just an enthusiast ride for me. I won’t be participating in any racing, competitions, etc. I’m joining a member-based Track and just want to have fun and burn some stress. I’ll mostly drive it to/from the track 1-2 times a month and maybe a couple other days a month.
Anyways, I obviously plan to align the car very aggressively, but is it worth getting the car corner-balanced for my purposes?
(Yes, it has coilovers)
thanks!!
#2
Hi all.
I bought my RX-8 primarily for track usage. It’s just an enthusiast ride for me. I won’t be participating in any racing, competitions, etc. I’m joining a member-based Track and just want to have fun and burn some stress. I’ll mostly drive it to/from the track 1-2 times a month and maybe a couple other days a month.
Anyways, I obviously plan to align the car very aggressively, but is it worth getting the car corner-balanced for my purposes?
(Yes, it has coilovers)
thanks!!
I bought my RX-8 primarily for track usage. It’s just an enthusiast ride for me. I won’t be participating in any racing, competitions, etc. I’m joining a member-based Track and just want to have fun and burn some stress. I’ll mostly drive it to/from the track 1-2 times a month and maybe a couple other days a month.
Anyways, I obviously plan to align the car very aggressively, but is it worth getting the car corner-balanced for my purposes?
(Yes, it has coilovers)
thanks!!
#5
Water Foul
Yes. Corner balance it with the sway bars disconnected, then re-connect them with them sitting level and no resistance on the end links (carefully adjust them to the proper link) to prevent binding.
Many shops claim to know how to corner balance a car, but do a poor job. I always watch them and make sure they do it properly. Done well, it is very much worth doing.
Many shops claim to know how to corner balance a car, but do a poor job. I always watch them and make sure they do it properly. Done well, it is very much worth doing.
#7
If you don't want to pay for a corner balance job, simply setting the shock collars at equal heights on left and right corners will get you really close (then adjust rear rake for balance). Don't try to get the fender lip height the same or everything will be messed up.
#8
Water Foul
I ended up with Flyin' Miata MX-5 links on mine. They are reverse threaded and lasted at least a few years. Whitelines were too long for proper adjustment and the ball joints went bad almost immediately. The bolt size on Racing Beat links is larger than stock, so many bars must be drilled to make them fit, which can be a pain. There are lot of good MX-5 links out there, and they will be the right length.
#9
If you have access to some scales, then it is still worth it. I've found using a laser level, floor tiles and wood to level it, and some bin bags as slip plates to be quite successful... However, unless you can borrow some scales, it's probably not worth paying a shop over carefully setting the shock heights. This is of course somewhat dependent on your budget and what a local shop would charge.
Regarding adjustable end links. I don't have those, corner balanced with them disconnected, and there is very little tension through the links (it's quite easy to get them in by hand). I guess I should check how much they changed the corner weights when connected (I didn't check that).
Last edited by blu3dragon; 07-30-2019 at 12:23 PM.
#10
Took a quick look. which ones are better
I assume I would need NC Flyin' Miata MX-5 end links for total of $200 front/back.
Looks like racing beat now makes adjustable ones that should fit as well for $190 front/back.
I assume I would need NC Flyin' Miata MX-5 end links for total of $200 front/back.
Looks like racing beat now makes adjustable ones that should fit as well for $190 front/back.
#11
No respecter of malarkey
iTrader: (25)
I would not recommend Racing Beat. The studs are not oversize on the standard links, just the oversize links (duh) and maybe they changed them since it was quite a few years back, but I bought (and returned) a set of those particular links when they first came in FOB and the center turnbuckle wasn’t a turnbuckle; same std thread type on both sides rather than the proper LH/RH thread type. In order for the rear links to be short enough they won’t have a center turnbuckle adjuster; usually just a combined male-female end set directly connected. Flyin Miata gets close enough with their shortest turnbuckle set though.
#12
GoodWin also sells them, they look very similar to racing beat ones but are not listed as such?
RoadsterSport endlink adjustable range: 112mm (max. length with long stud) to 75mm (min. length with short stud)
* 75mm length is 5mm shorter than even the Racing Beat rear endlinks.
RoadsterSport endlink adjustable range: 112mm (max. length with long stud) to 75mm (min. length with short stud)
* 75mm length is 5mm shorter than even the Racing Beat rear endlinks.
Last edited by Nadrealista; 07-31-2019 at 09:59 AM.
#13
I ended up with standard heim joints from McMaster, joined together male/female as Mark says. Downsides are they will tend to wear out faster than the sealed joints and they have less range for misalignment than the sealed ball and socket joints, but they are a lot cheaper and they have plenty of misalignment range for the rear bar.
#14
When you go for your rake adjustment, are you focusing on same delta between front and back on each side? or same height left to right? (so if for example it's an extra 1/8 height on the driver front, also have an extra 1/8 of height on driver rear?)
#15
I don't know what Tamra did but when I played with rake, from a corner balanced car, I'd just raise each rear spring collar the same amount.
#16
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