A few weeks ago, took the car in for alignment with some specific settings (agressive street). After trying make the tech understand what I wanted, the manager came out to tell me they wouldn't be able to align per my specs because the camber would be to far out and that I had a bad lower ball joint. I eventually gave up. Replaced the ball joints (all four) 2 weeks ago, but that's another story. So I bought a camber/caster gauge, searched the forum for instructions, found level spots in the garage (using 12 x 12 tiles) and spent the weekend, checking and re-checking.
Finally ended with these-
L/F - -.25* camber; +4.0* caster; 3/32" toe out
R/F - -.25* camber; +4.1* caster; 3/32" toe out
L/R - -.5* camber; 1/16" toe in
R/R - -.5* camber; 1/16" toe in
The 1st challenge was finding the center of the suspension with out raising or moving the car. After all was said and done, measuring to the center of each hub, after all the alignment was complete, the rears are 7/8" overall wider than the fronts (7/16" each side).
The 2nd challenge was finding the right combination of shims to decrease camber, make the caster even when finding the 0* point and coming up with the same * left and right.
For my first attempt, although time consuming, it went pretty well. And I learned even more about my "obsession"
Subman

 

Good for you! I've had problems for years getting alignments done; "we only set to factory specs". I'm thinking about doing my own too from now on. P.S. You may well know what you're after; sounds like an Auto-cross set-up, but if you find that it "tracks" too much, you might bring the front toe closer to 0* or even 1/16" toe-in. Good luck.

 

I just had mine done yesterday (paid for it)... $100, so it wasn't too bad. I haven't driven much, so I don't know if I'll notice any difference in the handling characteristics of the car. The tech did say my rears were *way* out, though...

 

For those that do not do their own alignments which probably include the majority of the population, I suggest purchasing a lifetime alignment from Firestone. There are other tire stores that sell them, but Firestone is nationwide and there are more of them than any other competitor.

You need to be careful if you opt to do this because Firestone has many franchises and if you purchase the lifetime alignment from one of those franchises, and then you move or simply pull into a Firestone location that is corporate owned, they will NOT honor your lifetime alignment. The only Firestone shop that will honor it is the one where it was purchased.

So now, whenever I buy a new or used car and want to get a lifetime alignment, I ensure that the Firestone store is corporate owned. And the odd thing is that the franchises must honor the corporate lifetime alignments but not vice versa.

Firestone sometimes has a sale on their lifetime aligment and this is obviously the best time to purchase it. If you intend to keep your car for several years, it makes perfect fiscal sense to spend the money on this. Paying for two alignments will cost more than paying for one lifetime. So, in my eyes, there's nothing to consider.

I unfortunately learned all this the hard way, ONCE!

 

For those that do not do their own alignments which probably include the majority of the population, I suggest purchasing a lifetime alignment from Firestone. There are other tire stores that sell them, but Firestone is nationwide and there are more of them than any other competitor.

Thar's where I went. This store has always done a good job for me. i've sent wifey, daughter and M-I-L without hesitation. I think the tech just got lazy. That, and I don't think they know much about Corvettes.

 

subman, which camber gauge did you get and from where??

:

 

I've had the lifetime alignments (and the 5-year alignments, before they had lifetime alignments) on about a dozen cars over the last 20 years, and have gotten friends and family to buy dozens more. Have used them at all kinds of Firestones all across the country and have never had any problems with them being honored.

 

This is generally true. And most of them will only align to factory specs. There are a few good Firestones left if you look around, but ever since Bridgestone bought them they have gone way downhill.