4 Wheel Alignment - Recommendations for Toe-In, Caster, Camber
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Instructor
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From: Melbourne Victoria
4 Wheel Alignment - Recommendations for Toe-In, Caster, Camber
Well after 4 weeks on the new suspension the final adjustments have been made and it's time to get everything aligned. I'm having it done in the morning (it's now 12.00 midnight here) so any suggestions would be gratefully accepted. Use the car for both street/track, lowered 1", coilovers with Bilstein shocks.
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From: Austin Texas
Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Recommendations for Toe-In, Caster, Camber (Ruby_Roadster)
I have mine set at:
Caster - Maximum (mine is somewhere around +7.5).
Camber - Set to -.75 front & rear.
Toe - 0 (zero) front & rear.
With these settings, the car is very neutral. The toe settings make it wander a little in the road ruts. If you want to take care of that, set the toe at the factory specs.
The higher caster settings makes the car turn a little harder but the wheel snaps back to center very quickly. You can just take your hand of the wheel and it centers instantly (a good thing to have at the track).
I don't have any adverse tire wear with these settings. A set of tires lasts me about 3-4 years (just long enough for the tires to get hard). I don't drive it very easy, but I'm not prone to spinning them a lot either.
Caster - Maximum (mine is somewhere around +7.5).
Camber - Set to -.75 front & rear.
Toe - 0 (zero) front & rear.
With these settings, the car is very neutral. The toe settings make it wander a little in the road ruts. If you want to take care of that, set the toe at the factory specs.
The higher caster settings makes the car turn a little harder but the wheel snaps back to center very quickly. You can just take your hand of the wheel and it centers instantly (a good thing to have at the track).
I don't have any adverse tire wear with these settings. A set of tires lasts me about 3-4 years (just long enough for the tires to get hard). I don't drive it very easy, but I'm not prone to spinning them a lot either.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2001
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From: Melbourne Victoria
Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Recommendations for Toe-In, Caster, Camber (Joe90)
Thanks Joe - done to as close as possible to your specs this morning. Taking it on a run tomorrow (Wed) to see how the settings compare to last time. Will let you know how it performs.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2001
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From: Melbourne Victoria
Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Recommendations for Toe-In, Caster, Camber (Joe90)
Got as close as possible to your settings - Caster=+7.0, Camber=-.70, Toe=1.3mm(nearly a 1/16) - what a difference. Now with everything together it really handles even better that after the new suspension and lowering. Thanks for the advice - I've written these settings down so I don't forget in future.
With the Toe, I'll try it for a while and if necessary bring it back closer to 0 depending on how it feels after a few weeks.
[Modified by Ruby_Roadster, 8:23 AM 1/18/2002]
With the Toe, I'll try it for a while and if necessary bring it back closer to 0 depending on how it feels after a few weeks.
[Modified by Ruby_Roadster, 8:23 AM 1/18/2002]
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 4,564
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From: Austin Texas
Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Recommendations for Toe-In, Caster, Camber (Ruby_Roadster)
Glad to hear it is working fine.
Just be aware that the closer you get to zero on the toe settings the "twitchier" the car will be on the road. It is prone to wandering a little in the ruts, but the turn-in is excellent. I've seen many SCCA guys toe-out the front wheels to give them even faster turning response. The bad side to that is they couldn't even possibly try to drive the car on the street without taking it back for another adjustment. I found that the zero-toe setting was as close as I could get to their settings while still being able to drive the car home afterwards.
How's Melbourne? I have a few friends who were with the RAAF in Queensland. What a group of wildmen they were. They came to Texas with a recon air meet we threw here, and did we ever party.
Those fools brought a C-130 full of Bundeberg Rum and Castlemain 4X. I might have to send you some cash so you can ship me a few bottles of Bundy! It really goes down well with a Coke :lol: I nursed the 3 bottles they left me for over 4 years before the well dried up. :(
Just be aware that the closer you get to zero on the toe settings the "twitchier" the car will be on the road. It is prone to wandering a little in the ruts, but the turn-in is excellent. I've seen many SCCA guys toe-out the front wheels to give them even faster turning response. The bad side to that is they couldn't even possibly try to drive the car on the street without taking it back for another adjustment. I found that the zero-toe setting was as close as I could get to their settings while still being able to drive the car home afterwards.
How's Melbourne? I have a few friends who were with the RAAF in Queensland. What a group of wildmen they were. They came to Texas with a recon air meet we threw here, and did we ever party.
Those fools brought a C-130 full of Bundeberg Rum and Castlemain 4X. I might have to send you some cash so you can ship me a few bottles of Bundy! It really goes down well with a Coke :lol: I nursed the 3 bottles they left me for over 4 years before the well dried up. :(
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Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 3,570
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From: Austin, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Houston, Dallas, Hong Kong, Elgin, etc.. Texas
Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Recommendations for Toe-In, Caster, Camber (Ruby_Roadster)
My alignment is very close to yours and I am very happy with the way the car handles now. I tried toe-in set to zero in the back, but on the highway, the rear wheels seemed to have a mind of their own. Spooky sometimes. So, I reset the toe to 1/16 inch and camber to .5 degrees and I like that setting for the street.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 197
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From: Melbourne Victoria
Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Recommendations for Toe-In, Caster, Camber (Joe90)
AHHH - Bundy & Coke, takes me back to my youth. I'm into good reds now, love a couple of beers as a starter and then savour the flavour of our great Australian reds. 3 bottles lasted you 4 years - but then no doubt you did enjoy them :cheers:
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