kdm123

I have run my C5 Z06 extensively in the past 18 months, doing about 15 events and running it really hard.

I am wondering if it is worthwhile to have the alignment checked. Could settings have changed over time? I don't necessarily feel anything being off.

The shop I will take it to is very good but also expensive, so I don't want to do it if there is no reason to.

mr.beachcomber

You didn't say what type of events your were running; however, I always like to have a baseline alignment check so I know what I've got before I start adding/subtracting toe at the front or rear of the car. If you're not going to modify your alignment AND you're not having any excessive tire wear problems, you probably don't need an alignment check unless it's for your own peace of mind.

In my experience, my C5's alignment didn't really change that much except for wear in the components even with all the potholes in my area on the Interstate system. YMMV.

rfn026

I check my alignment after every event. I'm looking for wear.

I was having a problem with rear camber and it turned out that the poly bushings had exited the building. I would not have caught this if I didn't check the alignment so often. Actually it took me two events to figure it out. Hey - I'm slow.



Richard Newton
Car Tech Stuff

Joshboody

You can easily check camber yourself with straight edge and level... after alignment mark 4 tire spots in garage and log the camber settings. Then when checking compare to these settings... won't be indicative of actual camber due to uneven floor but could tell if changed and need to visit shop. Front toe is pretty obvious when driving I think and caster related to camber. Rear toe may need to measure though.

Bill Dearborn

You can take this a little further. Find a spot on your garage floor that is as close to level as you can get. Then drive the car onto that location and mark where all 4 wheels are located. Once you have those spots marked back the car out and use a 6 ft long level sitting on two half inch drive 5/8 sockets to measure how level it is between the front tire marks and then between the rear tire marks. Buy some cheap vinyl floor tile (12x12x1/8 in) stack them in the tire marks to get the floor level from one side to the other. Now all you have to do is place the tiles on the floor in the marked locations with the exact number of tiles in each location that are required to get a level reading. Drive the car into place on top of the tiles and you have a level spot to measure camber. Get yourself a Sears 24 in Digital Laser Level and you will be able to set camber, caster and thrust angle. Buy some toe plates with tape measures included on eBay and you are all set to do your own alignments. All for around $120.

Bill

Joshboody

I use a bucket of water and tubing taped to ruler to level. Above I was suggesting easy method to check alignment. But doing your own is great... took me a few times to get comfortable doing it and now fairly simple.

There's an Infiniti dealership that checks cars in the service lane and agreed no prob to measure vette. Very curious to check my work.

0Anthony @ LGMotorsports

Yes, you should always go back and check the alignment.

While you probably don't need to do it quite as much as we do on the race cars but if you have the tools to check it at home I would do it prior to the weekend and then once you get the car home just to make sure nothing moved or was bent during the event.

During a race weekend for us, I think we have the car on the scale pad checking and doing changes at least 2-3 times a day depending on how the car is running.

Supercharged111

Even this slacker checks his alignment between every event. Alignment is everything, kinda like people who always want to do a tune last. That's free money just sitting on the table.

Matt_27

If you still have those stock camber eccentrics, I recommend marking them with a paint pen so you can easily see when (not if) they slip. That will throw your camber and toe out and quickly wear your tires.