Last week I posted about a month-long alignment problem that I was having and asked for assistance; unfortunately forgot to post it in this forum at the time, so I thought I would post the final developments here.

Original post: https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-and-drivers-education-forum/288807-i-need-heeeelp-please.html

Last Tuesday, I took the car to the dealer, HBL/Tysons Corner in VA. They carefully listened to my story and took me into the shop and work with the technician in aligning the car; they were very cordial.

we first checked the alignment as it was and it turned to be similarly out of whack as in previous ~15 or so alignment with thrust angle close to 0.2 . The tech, then alignment the car with my target numbers and first thing we noticed was that both front and rear camber was maxed out, which is what I wanted. However, at the previous shop those max numbers were reading -1.1 f and -2.2 rear; at the HBL's Hunter system it read -0.9 and -1.9 r. So, there was some sign of relief from me.

After the alignment, the tech drove the car for about 4 miles, came back, put it on the machine again, and the number were not changed . One final tweaking of toe front and rear, I was out of the shop with relief but still part of brain was cautious in celebrating early.

I noticed that the car felt like it was tracking nearly perfectly but the steering wheel was not quite straight. Next morning, I took the car in, they made sure the steering wheel was dead center and checked all the numbers again and found that they were as we had left them the day before.

I have driven for about 300 mi. since then and the car feels just perfect old self with the precision that I used to remember. In the mean time we checked the part # for toe and camber eccentric bolts, they are the same; hence Z-man, we were not above the toe/camber limit to create instability.

The tech could only speculate about the problems I have had and all of the reasons centered around either the lift or the alignment machine; in his opinion, the car is perfectly fine

I truly appreciate everyone's opinions and the help that you guys offered. Thank you very much. I just hope that some day I can assist somebody as much as you have assisted me.

Thank you.

 

glad you got it all resolved.

 

Thanks Mooty.

By the way, have you installed the 996 GT3 rear bar on your car yet? I am wondering about the length the potential of it hitting the control arms.

 

no, i have stock bar front and rear.
i am not sure rear will fit (either 997 or 996 gt3)?
anyone know of any adj bar out there for this car?

 

H&R has an adjustable 22mm rear bar; part number 71168-2

 

FT: Thanks for the update. I feel better now.

I've had my Cayman aligned 4 times; twice each at two different shops. Both shops have nearly new Hunter machines and qualfied techs, and I worked with them each time the car was aligned. I think the car is aligned properly now, but one shop must have a problem with their machine's camber calibration, if not toe as well. Their printout showed front camber near 1 degree on both sides, but my eyeball and a Smart camber gauge measured about a half a degree on the left, and over 1 degree on the right. A Hunter machine at another shop verified the Smart camber gauge measures, so we realigned everything with that machine. I informed the first shop about our findings and suggested that they may wish to have their machine's calibration checked.

 

so most ppl retain OEM non adj front bar?


with regard to hunter machines. i know of 3 in my area that are not calibrated correctly, that is that don't match the smart string numbers.

 

OE front w/ bigger rear (mostly autocross guys).

They (H&R) do have a front bar as well; 24mm non-adjustable, 70168-2

Unfortunately (as I'm sure you know) there just aren't a lot of choices at the moment.

 

thx for the info.

 

The H&R bars are 24mm front, which is 0.5 smaller in diameter with same thickness (to my best knowledge) to stock Cayman front bar, hence it is not the best option. The rear bar, I believe is the same 22mm thick bar as in the 997 GT3. The 996 and very likely the 997 rear bars do fit the 987S Boxster, hence should fit the Cayman, but probably it would wise to get height-adj. end-links, because the control bars are very close to the bar's ends.

I think the best route to go would be to get the GT3 rear bar only, two-way adjustable, 22mm thick with, I think, 0.3 mm thicker sidewalls. SCCA Solo guys are out of luck, unless they order a custom-built one, which is not that difficult, but would cost nearly 2 or 3 times more.

 

Same here Jim; I am glad your's is fixed as well; it can get to be a very annoying problem.

 

Anytime. I read far more than I post... your contributions here and at Cayman Club have helped me and thousands of others. Thank you.

 

FT: Glad you got it resolved. I guess my guess at the issue wasn't the issue. (How's that for redundancy...)

Have fun with the car! And if you ever are on vacation and er, need someone to rotate the tires for you, I'd gladly volunteer my time and services!
-Z.

 

Thank you very much Z-man.

I am going to need help: next Watkins Glen DE, I am going to need a strong instructor