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C6 using C5 alignment specs?

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Old 07-07-2005, 05:26 PM
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Virt
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Default Is it ok for a C6 to use C5 alignment specs?

I just took my C6 in for an alignment job after I had lowered it using the stock bolts. The alignment shop decided to use the 2001-2004 vette alignment specs since they did not have access to the 2005 alignment specs. They gave me a printout of the specs they set my car to:

Front
Camber(Both): -0.7°
Cross Camber: 0°
Caster (Left): 6.9°
Caster (Right): 7.4°
Cross Caster: -.4°
Toe (Left): .02in
Toe (Right): .01in
Total Toe: .03in
SAI (Both): 9.2°
Included Angle (Left): 8.5°
Included Angle (Right): 8.6°

Rear
Camber: -0.3°
Toe (Left): .01in
Toe (Right): .02in
Total Toe: .03in
Thrust Angle: -0.01°

From another thread here on the forum I was able to retrieve these alignment specs for the C6:

2005 C6 Wheel Alignment Specifications
Front
Camber: -0.45° ± 0.60°
Camber Cross Tolerance: ± 0.60°
Caster: 7.90° ± 0.60°
Caster Cross Tolerance: ± 0.60°
Total Toe: +0.10° ± 0.20°
Steering Wheel Angle: 0° ± 3.50°
Thrust Angle: --

Rear
Camber: -0.45° ± 0.50°
Camber Cross Tolerance: ± 0.50°
Caster: --
Caster Cross Tolerance: --
Total Toe: 0.00° ± 0.20°
Steering Wheel Angle: --
Thrust Angle: 0.0° ± 0.20°


Can someone tell me if the difference is enough for me to go back and have them change it again? The shop is Roger Kraus Racing in Castro Valley, CA.

Last edited by Virt; 07-07-2005 at 05:37 PM.
Old 07-07-2005, 11:04 PM
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aggie88
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A bit more neg camber in front really isn't bad. I am surprised GM wants the front tires of a performance car so straight up anyway. The toes are within range. For strictly street driving, the settings look good. I would get them to get the caster in front matched to get a net 0 cross caster.
Old 07-08-2005, 01:21 AM
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Bill Dearborn
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The settings are within the C6 tolerance range other than the one caster angle. The C6 was designed with a little more caster angle than the C5. The C6 can also run a little more negative camber than the C5 due to the newer softer run flats. The base C5 camber was -.25 deg Vs the C6 -.45 deg.
Bill
Old 07-08-2005, 11:05 AM
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MitchAlsup
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Front Caster is too low, giving a light steering feel (e.g. slightly disconnected from the road).

Cross caster (not being zero) leads to the car wanting to turn while driving straight down the road. So you might feel that you have to apply a couple of onces of force on the steering wheel to drive straight.

Front Camber is a little low, leading to a slow response to steering inputs.

Front Toe is a little low, leading to no dead zone in the center, so the car might want to wander on flat level roads a bit.

BTW, the reason for the relatively low Camber numbers in the factory spec is the sidewall stiffness of the runcraps only giving good cornering performance when standing rather straight up. Non RunCraps don't need these low camber numbers.
Old 07-08-2005, 12:23 PM
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Virt
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Thanks for the responses. I spoke with the owner of the shop and he said that in his experience, a bit of cross caster keeps the car going straight down most roads since most roads have a bit of a crown in them (for water drainage I suppose). I guess I'll try these out for a while and see how it feels. They did get rid of my right pull which I had straight from the dealer though.

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