Alignment specs, am I off?
Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
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Joined: Nov 2006
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From: Pineville, LA
Alignment specs, am I off? Koni sa shocks all around, strano springs with rear isolators, adj phb, poly lcas with relo brackets set on middle setting, and new tie rods, upper and lower ball joints with 275 and 335 tires.
Left side is -1.3 camber
right side is -2.2
left side is 5.9 caster
right side is 5.1
left side is 0.00 toe
right side is -0.01
cross camber is 0.9
cross caster is 0.7
Still having a slight pulling issue on uneven roads. It will follow whatever dip or uneveness in road. Anything wrong with specs?
Left side is -1.3 camber
right side is -2.2
left side is 5.9 caster
right side is 5.1
left side is 0.00 toe
right side is -0.01
cross camber is 0.9
cross caster is 0.7
Still having a slight pulling issue on uneven roads. It will follow whatever dip or uneveness in road. Anything wrong with specs?
Teching In
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 13
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I'm no expert but -2.2 camber on the right sounds a little excessive for strano springs. My car is lowered more than that and I have about -1.2 camber on each of the fronts. Toe is spot on though. I run 275's in the front as well and no matter what, they follow the road. It might not be your alignment, it might just be tire size. I'll wait and see what the experts say
your camber is WAY off. for street, at most youd want -1.
your caster is also way off. all you need is +4 or so.
a little toe in will keep it from tracking and wandering. you dont need 0 toe for street driving.
get a better alignment with some specs and youll see the difference.
your caster is also way off. all you need is +4 or so.
a little toe in will keep it from tracking and wandering. you dont need 0 toe for street driving.
get a better alignment with some specs and youll see the difference.
Staging Lane
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 84
Likes: 0
From: Waco, Texas
your camber is WAY off. for street, at most youd want -1.
your caster is also way off. all you need is +4 or so.
a little toe in will keep it from tracking and wandering. you dont need 0 toe for street driving.
get a better alignment with some specs and youll see the difference.
your caster is also way off. all you need is +4 or so.
a little toe in will keep it from tracking and wandering. you dont need 0 toe for street driving.
get a better alignment with some specs and youll see the difference.
From the looks of it you car is pulling hard to the right? Its best to have the camber pretty close to even, (mine is around .5-1 degree on both sides) and caster should run around the 4-5 degree marker on your driver side, and about .3 -.5 degrees on your passenger side higher... (opposite of what you have)
P.S. I confirmed these measurements with the Hunter alignment machine I have at work.
Any more questions?
Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
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From: Pineville, LA
The alignment shop said they maxed out the caster and couldnt get it below that number. Why won't it go any farther? My car doesn't pull on straight line but ANY uneven roads it will take all my effort to keep it going straight. I just put new upper and lower ball joints in and tie rod ends. After they aligned it the wheel was slanted and the caster numbers were in the 6's and after they corrected the wheel, the specs went down.
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the answers you get will verry a lot,I will state the setting I like.
I am lowered 1 3/4 to 2" around,I run close to OE settings
I run about
left camber +0.30, right +0.30
left caster +4.50, right+ 5.00
toe +0.08
rear thrust +0.03
275/40/17 wear perfect, tracks perfect, NOT a single spot of abnormal wear @43k miles,
anyone close come by and drive it
now to your setting: that amount of - camber MAY help IF your are running the twistes, I beleave a little too much, if you can not lower the caster setting at least set a little more on right than on left, toe should be a little + to help stop some of the wandering
again just my $ 0.02' Johnny
I am lowered 1 3/4 to 2" around,I run close to OE settings
I run about
left camber +0.30, right +0.30
left caster +4.50, right+ 5.00
toe +0.08
rear thrust +0.03
275/40/17 wear perfect, tracks perfect, NOT a single spot of abnormal wear @43k miles,
anyone close come by and drive it
now to your setting: that amount of - camber MAY help IF your are running the twistes, I beleave a little too much, if you can not lower the caster setting at least set a little more on right than on left, toe should be a little + to help stop some of the wandering
again just my $ 0.02' Johnny
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Verdad Gallardo Staging Lane
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 84
Likes: 0
From: Waco, Texas
If your alignment shop said that they moved the caster as low as they can, they are probably right... because there isnt much to move on these f-bodys. (only lower control arms are adjustable...) you need to get you camber to 0 to -1 degrees, (0 for everyday driving, -1 for handling) and if you can, get your cross caster to the driver side, (driver side being .3 - .5 degrees lower than passenger side) you may still have a road walk slightly... but it wont wear your tires...
Also you might have a bent strut, control arm, or knuckle... these can all partner up in making it impossible to align these cars.
I'm not saying that you do but just keep that in mind.
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 381
Likes: 15
From: Oshawa (Home of the 5th-gen)
When you say that the caster is maxed, that's with both mounts shoved all the way IN??? I would expect the #'s to be lower.
Having caster between 5 - 6° is GREAT, as long as A) it's even, or B) a little higher on the right than on the left.
Same goes for camber ... lots is great, IF you want the car to really corner well (do you auto-x or do track days??) ... otherwise, anything from ~0.0° to -1.0° would be fine, and again, EVEN on both sides (not a ~1° spread between the two sides).
I agree with Drift King above ... your car probably pulls slightly right?
Tell us WHAT you want your car to do, and then we can work on a better alignment for you
.
Having caster between 5 - 6° is GREAT, as long as A) it's even, or B) a little higher on the right than on the left.
Same goes for camber ... lots is great, IF you want the car to really corner well (do you auto-x or do track days??) ... otherwise, anything from ~0.0° to -1.0° would be fine, and again, EVEN on both sides (not a ~1° spread between the two sides).
I agree with Drift King above ... your car probably pulls slightly right?
Tell us WHAT you want your car to do, and then we can work on a better alignment for you
. Staging Lane
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 84
Likes: 0
From: Waco, Texas
When you say that the caster is maxed, that's with both mounts shoved all the way IN??? I would expect the #'s to be lower.
Having caster between 5 - 6° is GREAT, as long as A) it's even, or B) a little higher on the right than on the left.
Same goes for camber ... lots is great, IF you want the car to really corner well (do you auto-x or do track days??) ... otherwise, anything from ~0.0° to -1.0° would be fine, and again, EVEN on both sides (not a ~1° spread between the two sides).
I agree with Drift King above ... your car probably pulls slightly right?
Tell us WHAT you want your car to do, and then we can work on a better alignment for you.
Having caster between 5 - 6° is GREAT, as long as A) it's even, or B) a little higher on the right than on the left.
Same goes for camber ... lots is great, IF you want the car to really corner well (do you auto-x or do track days??) ... otherwise, anything from ~0.0° to -1.0° would be fine, and again, EVEN on both sides (not a ~1° spread between the two sides).
I agree with Drift King above ... your car probably pulls slightly right?
Tell us WHAT you want your car to do, and then we can work on a better alignment for you
.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 503
Likes: 54
From: TX
Equal on both sides.
Caster +4.5 on the left, +5.0 on the right
Toe +.04 on both sides.
The car should drive straight, and wear tires evenly.
Staging Lane
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 84
Likes: 0
From: Waco, Texas
get them to get the caster as low as possible, with a cross of about .3* (pass side higher)
set your toe
and that will take care of your pulling problem, unless something is bent, and if the toe and camber is set corectly, you wont have abnormal tire wear.
Staging Lane
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 84
Likes: 0
From: Waco, Texas
This is where my thinking is where you have something bent, or the guys that did your alignment arent pulling as much adjustment as they can out of the lower control arms... If I remember right when I did my alignment, I set my caster around 5.5 cause I couldnt get it any lower, my thinking was because I need new ball joints and control arm bushings, I didnt really think much of it, my cross was correct so I just dropped it at that...
Have you made any changes to the camber, compared to the specs you originally posted? You have to keep in mind that the camber AND caster are both adjusted by essentially rotating the lower control arm in an arc, while the upper control arm stays stationary.
Moving the camber WILL have an effect on the caster. For instance if you were to decrease your LH camber, going to a setting closer to "0", you would also lessen the caster somewhat, because you're rotating the lower ball joint rearward, with respect to the upper joint.
Setting camber/caster is essentially a balancing act. The factory provided adjustability, within a degree or so, of their specified "ideal" set-up. And, you have to keep in mind, the factory's "ideal" set-up is based on street driving.
For what it's worth, I run:
Camber......... 0* both sides;
Caster.......... 5* LH side; 5.5* RH side;
Toe in.......... 0.04* both sides
TECH Regular
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 457
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From: Boston, MA
Set Camber to -.5 same both sides.
Set Caster to same both sides...5 to 5.9 is fine, just get then the same.
Zero toe is good, toe in will feel numb, toe out will wander a bit.
I use -1.00 camber for pretty agressive street driving and wear dead across with 32 psi cold in the front tires and 29 psi rear.
This cross caster stuff is bull. Camber and Caster differences are what cause the car to pull. Roads stant both ways. Make the caster and camber the same L and R and you may have to move the wheel a bit left or right (very slight) depending on the road slant, but it will not pull.
If you already have uneven wear on your front tires, you will follow ruts worse than with evenly worn tires.
Set Caster to same both sides...5 to 5.9 is fine, just get then the same.
Zero toe is good, toe in will feel numb, toe out will wander a bit.
I use -1.00 camber for pretty agressive street driving and wear dead across with 32 psi cold in the front tires and 29 psi rear.
This cross caster stuff is bull. Camber and Caster differences are what cause the car to pull. Roads stant both ways. Make the caster and camber the same L and R and you may have to move the wheel a bit left or right (very slight) depending on the road slant, but it will not pull.
If you already have uneven wear on your front tires, you will follow ruts worse than with evenly worn tires.
Set Camber to -.5 same both sides.
Set Caster to same both sides...5 to 5.9 is fine, just get then the same.Zero toe is good, toe in will feel numb, toe out will wander a bit.
I use -1.00 camber for pretty agressive street driving and wear dead across with 32 psi cold in the front tires and 29 psi rear.
This cross caster stuff is bull. Camber and Caster differences are what cause the car to pull. Roads stant both ways. Make the caster and camber the same L and R and you may have to move the wheel a bit left or right (very slight) depending on the road slant, but it will not pull.
If you already have uneven wear on your front tires, you will follow ruts worse than with evenly worn tires.
Set Caster to same both sides...5 to 5.9 is fine, just get then the same.Zero toe is good, toe in will feel numb, toe out will wander a bit.
I use -1.00 camber for pretty agressive street driving and wear dead across with 32 psi cold in the front tires and 29 psi rear.
This cross caster stuff is bull. Camber and Caster differences are what cause the car to pull. Roads stant both ways. Make the caster and camber the same L and R and you may have to move the wheel a bit left or right (very slight) depending on the road slant, but it will not pull.
If you already have uneven wear on your front tires, you will follow ruts worse than with evenly worn tires.