Mazda tire rant

one more thing, accurate, thanks for your explaination.

this part

"Two degrees of negative camber is too much for tire wear. It is only good when you are cornering hard, as the weight of the car on that side pushes the tire sideways and makes it lean more to the outside at the top. If the tire is leaning in to begin with, and it leans toward the outside when cornering, the tire will ideally be straight up and down when cornering. This is good for entering your local hill climb race, or trying to keep up with wannabe Mario Andrettis out on some windy hill country road."

REALLY makes sense out of that bizarre statement the Mazda rep told me over the phone. He/she(can't remember), said very politely "sir that is not a mini-van, it is a wagon".

So, because they can say it is a wagon, and some wagons race in those little dirt car races, that's how they make sense of it, I guess.

Really weird. I think I might call Mazda back and ask them to prove it's a wagon and ask they what wagons are used for.
 
Orange....that "true rotate" will cost big bucks when its all said and done at the end of your tire life. I would definatly rotate them every 5k miles according to the owners manual. i think its crossing the front to the rear and the rear go strait forward.
******Disclaimer please**************
Please dont go into a mazda dealership and say you have been talking to me about mazda not doing anything to correct this. Lets just keep this here if you want to mention me for the sake of my job.
I left the part number at work but the price for those camber plates are $300 and change. I could install them for you through my dealer for about $102 plus tax and shop supplies which i have no control over. you will also need an alignment. about $70 i believe.
email me at [email protected] and we can figure out the lagistics of getting your car fixed. i think what we can do is get an alignment under warranty if you say excessive tire wear then if its within specs we can go the camber plate route. let me know if i can be of further assistance.
rick
 
no problem, I finally located a part that actually mentions the Mazda 5. There are plenty of camber kits for Mazda 3s, but this one appears to be what you are talking about:


Ford Focus/Mazda3/Mazda5 SPC Forged Rear Control Arm Camber Kit

Brand: Specialty Products (SPC)
Part Id: 67420 (set of two)
List Price: $343.92
Our price: $194.99
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Description: These high strength forged rear arms are perfect for tuners or installers that need extended camber ranges on these popular platforms. Complete with OE style bushings installed for a factory type ride.

Fitment includes Mazdaspeed3
Adjustment Range (Degrees): -1.5 to +5.0
 
that sounds good. nice price too. the 3 and the 5 are vitually identical suspension components so any of them will work but that one looks good. let me know if i can help install it for you. if youu have any iother questions about your cars or any cars let me know( they are all the same anyway). you have a really good car in the 5. the tire issue is by far the biggest headache. the only other recomendation i have is make sure the oil is changed very regularly. synthetic wouldnt be a bad idea but it isnt necessary. these motors are built with pretty tight tolerances so they like goood clean fresh oil. also be weary of jiffy lube type places that use oil filter claw wrenches to take off the filter. these cars have a paper element that is in a plastic cartridge that if you dont use a proper size filter wrench the plastic housing is breaking. lots of jiffy lubes buying motors for our customers.

sorry for the typos....new laptop...smaller key board. still trying to get used to it. and to think i alomost got a netbook....sheesh
 
I'm not in the Austin area. Should I just present the idea to my local tire man and see if he can do it? Or my local ASE certified mechanic? IOW, it looks to me from reading the directions that a good general mechanic could put it on in an hour. Is that correct?
 
yeah. there is nothing special about it. just someone trust to do a good correct alignment. i suggest setting the rear camber to 0 degrees or maybe just a little negative. no more then -1.0 degrees
good luck
 

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