Kincaid

Well got my 17 inch rims on today.

38 offset and no rub. Go figure

Also have an Eibach Pro kit drop.

Needless to say I need an alignment. Pop over to a close shop today and they say they can't do it because the car has 17's and is dropped. They say they don't have any specs on it to enter into the comp.

What's up with that? Surely this isn't the same with all places?

Would Mazda be able to do it? The steering wheel shakes a bit so it definitely needs it.

Thanks.

rodslinger

That's a load of crap. Take it to a legitimate shop. They are just too lazy to try to correct the camber if it's out because of lowering it.

orangealpha

Crap, i need to get an alignment as well, and im planning on taken it to the dealership. But i have a feeling their gonna feed me that same load about not being able to do it because of my setup.

ARD MP5

Kincaid,

FYI, if the wheel shakes I'd check to see if you got the hub rings for the drive wheels. Without these it's possible that's what's causing the vibration. This is the most common problem.

You should have gotten some plastic rings to place over the hub which helps in centering the wheel onto the hubpad.

As for alignment alot of places just won't touch modified vehicles. Sucks. Go to a performance shop that does this type of stuff.

Rishie

Brubeck

Yeah, in these kinds of cases, I'm most positive that it's worth the extra buck to go to a good place that can do it right.

When I had my Pro5 in the shop to replace those bent struts, the guy couldn't do the alignment, so he took it to the dealer where I got the car. They forgot to tighten one of the wheels down and it was wobbling like crazy by the time the guy got it back to the shop. They had to have it re-aligned, and it was in the shop an extra two days. Even then, they didn't exactly do the greatest job.

Kincaid

ARD: Yep, I've already got centering rings ordered for them.

And as for a performance shop, we don't actually have one here. lol.

I'm going to check Mazda next business day. They'll probably do it. They've been good to me so far.

And I'm starting to think they mislabelled the offset on these rims. They were supposed to be 40. But they came in with a 38 offset label. But I've got no rubbing at all with the drop. So I'm starting to think it's a higher offset than 38.

Thanks for the help guys. I thought that guy was full of it.

protetype

Big-O Tire is the only place here locally that will do a dropped car other than a performance shop. We've (my sister and i) taken our cars to other places before to try to get alignments, and Big-O is the only place we can roll into without a line of bullshit about the car being dropped. both of us had 17's with drops.

ZackyFarms16

how do you check if you have these? gotta buy em seperate or will they put em on when they put on your new rims/springs

protetype

most places *should* use them if you buy them and have that place put em on. Rishie sent them with my rims. if you have a place put em on.. just ask for em.

speedbump

I'm so fortunate that live about a mile from Rishie's shop, and I've learned SO MUCH just from him and the "wheelguruu", in fact Rishie's shop is the ONLY fab shop that I'll let work on my vivid yellow project car. If I had gone to the local "Big O" or "Discount Tire", I would have possibly had a HUGE problem in choosing the proper wheels and the suspension pieces that FIT my car.

Case in point: When Rishie & Sean were installing my Rota, Sub - Zero's they took the time to explain about the "HUB-RING" and what it does. It may not be a "major" deal, but I did learn something that is improtant about MY CAR. Thanks.

Later, Speedbump
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2002 Protege5
vivid yellow/ 5speed
17x7.5 Rota Sub-Zero's
215/40HR17 Kumho 711 BK Ecsta's
H & R Sport kit springs
Bosal cat-back exhaust system
MoMo shifter & Belt cover

Future Mods
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B & M Quick Shift Kit
AutoEXE carbon fibre spliter