Front Strut mount orientation

[anonamiss]

Grrrr I've spent weeks now pissing around with a little issue here and a little issue there then took a 1600km trip and realized my car was eating my brand new front tires like glazed dohnuts >:( So i took it in for an alignment (i had changed out the struts and mounts not long before my trip) the mechanic tells me he couldnt do the alignment because something is out of whack with the camber and he ran out of adjustment on the tie rod... i put them back in the same way the last set came out (obv) but i was wondering why the tabs/notches on one mount were parallel to the firewall while the other side was parallel to the fender.... so i need to know if anyone knows what the factory orientation is for the mount position? I was looking in the manual but it has 3 positions and im not sure which is the standard and technically there should be 4 positions... so maybe the 4th is the standard? Anyone had this issue before?

[MX_Sid]

Strut mount direction depends on what needs to be done. My MX has been lowered about 1.5" and my front strut mounts have the odd side in, IIRC. Somewhere on this site someone explains how rotating them effects alignment. If you have one out ov the car and set it on level ground, you can see how it is designed to "adjust". Rotating it around changes which direction it "points" the strut assembly.

If you are lowered, you probably need some pillow ball mounts, or the poor man fix is to oval out the spindle where the strut bolts to it. Otherwise, maybe find a reputable shop that you can trust. Any good alignment shop can oval out your spindles, I had mine done pretty cheap (well, cheaper than pillow ball mounts...)

What is your suspension set up?


BTW; I think I read on clubprotege that the control arms/ball joint is uniquely longer (wider wheel base) than the protege. Has anyone tried swapping those to compensate for camber instead ov fancy mounts or ovaling the spindle? Just a thought.