Does anyone know what is causing this?
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 5,386
Likes: 2
From: San Angelo TX
Does anyone know what is causing this?
Imagine you are looking headon at my car. The front tires lean in like this:
\------/
You can probably see it in my sig pic.
It's pretty weird. the bottom of the tires are inward about 1/4" to 1/2" compared to the top. I want to get this fixed but dont want to throw money at things that it's not. Would you say this is an alignment problem or could it be the casters?
BTW: my car tracks straight in case that helps any.
[Modified by IcemanZ06, 2:38 PM 6/20/2002]
\------/
You can probably see it in my sig pic.
It's pretty weird. the bottom of the tires are inward about 1/4" to 1/2" compared to the top. I want to get this fixed but dont want to throw money at things that it's not. Would you say this is an alignment problem or could it be the casters?
BTW: my car tracks straight in case that helps any.
[Modified by IcemanZ06, 2:38 PM 6/20/2002]
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 177
Likes: 0
From: Escondido CA
Re: Does anyone know what is causing this? (IcemanZ06)
Looks like the caster is off --an alignment shop could remedy this. A caster prob will cause pull but only if one side is more than the other. It will also kill the treadwear life of the front tire(s) That is darn weird. Have any front suspension mods been done? I usually only see this with a do it yourself raise or lower kit.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 5,386
Likes: 2
From: San Angelo TX
Re: Does anyone know what is causing this? (xzvs)
Nope, no mods that I know of. Just got the car a week and a half ago and noticed it on saturday. Car tracks straight and tire wear looks fine.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 9,713
Likes: 3
From: Sachse Texas
Cruise-In I Veteran
Cruise-In II Veteran
Re: Does anyone know what is causing this? (IcemanZ06)
Go have an alignment done. The back should have a little of it, but the front should look pretty dead on.
Advanced
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 55
Likes: 0
From: Pflugerville TX
Re: Does anyone know what is causing this? (IcemanZ06)
This is a lot of positive camber. Maybe ok for road course, but not for normal driving. Adjusted with shims. Caster is the angle of the center of the wheel to the center of support, front to back.
:cheers:
Dennis GS-598
:cheers:
Dennis GS-598
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 5,386
Likes: 2
From: San Angelo TX
Re: Does anyone know what is causing this? (GS-598)
This is a lot of positive camber. Maybe ok for road course, but not for normal driving. Adjusted with shims. Caster is the angle of the center of the wheel to the center of support, front to back.
:cheers:
Dennis GS-598
:cheers:
Dennis GS-598
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Advanced
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 55
Likes: 0
From: Pflugerville TX
Re: Does anyone know what is causing this? (IcemanZ06)
After I sent the first reply, I looked again at your drawing. I was thinking of the tires being in at the top. Your situation is probably NOT very good for road course or anything else! I can't quote the alignment specs but they should be easy to find.
Good Luck,
Dennis GS-598
Good Luck,
Dennis GS-598
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 5,386
Likes: 2
From: San Angelo TX
Re: Does anyone know what is causing this? (GS-598)
Ok, thanks everyone. I'll pull the specs from VBP's web page and have the front readjusted. Thought the handling was kinda weird. Guess that would be why.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
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From: Athens AL
C7 of the Year - Unmodified Finalist 2021
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Re: Does anyone know what is causing this? (IcemanZ06)
yeah its just a caster problem, you will begin to notice more treadwear on one side of the tire
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,013
Likes: 0
From: Pa
Re: Does anyone know what is causing this? (IcemanZ06)
I took my car to get it aligned and we actually took out 5 shims total.
I took Glock’s advice, and went to Firestone and got their lifetime warranty alignment for about $130.00. The had a laser unit that was really cool.
I was going to do it myself, and the money I paid was well worth it. Do yourself a favor and buy some shims at the part store before you go, luckily I didn’t need any, but it seemed that they never did front end camber—caster before.
I took in my own specs that I wanted it set to. There is some information in this C4 tech on alignment. There is also a vette brakes website out there with some good info.
It took us three hours to get everything where I wanted it. The service manager told me when I was paying that he never seen a car take that long to get aligned. He got this weird look on his face when I told him I was going to be back in a few weeks to change things around a little. :lol:
It looks like you definitely need additional shims. It almost looks like for some reason that there isn’t any in there at all.
I took Glock’s advice, and went to Firestone and got their lifetime warranty alignment for about $130.00. The had a laser unit that was really cool.
I was going to do it myself, and the money I paid was well worth it. Do yourself a favor and buy some shims at the part store before you go, luckily I didn’t need any, but it seemed that they never did front end camber—caster before.
I took in my own specs that I wanted it set to. There is some information in this C4 tech on alignment. There is also a vette brakes website out there with some good info.
It took us three hours to get everything where I wanted it. The service manager told me when I was paying that he never seen a car take that long to get aligned. He got this weird look on his face when I told him I was going to be back in a few weeks to change things around a little. :lol:
It looks like you definitely need additional shims. It almost looks like for some reason that there isn’t any in there at all.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 5,386
Likes: 2
From: San Angelo TX
Re: Does anyone know what is causing this? (Quasar92Blue)
I took my car to get it aligned and we actually took out 5 shims total.
I took Glock’s advice, and went to Firestone and got their lifetime warranty alignment for about $130.00. The had a laser unit that was really cool.
I was going to do it myself, and the money I paid was well worth it. Do yourself a favor and buy some shims at the part store before you go, luckily I didn’t need any, but it seemed that they never did front end camber—caster before.
I took in my own specs that I wanted it set to. There is some information in this C4 tech on alignment. There is also a vette brakes website out there with some good info.
It took us three hours to get everything where I wanted it. The service manager told me when I was paying that he never seen a car take that long to get aligned. He got this weird look on his face when I told him I was going to be back in a few weeks to change things around a little. :lol:
It looks like you definitely need additional shims. It almost looks like for some reason that there isn’t any in there at all.
I took Glock’s advice, and went to Firestone and got their lifetime warranty alignment for about $130.00. The had a laser unit that was really cool.
I was going to do it myself, and the money I paid was well worth it. Do yourself a favor and buy some shims at the part store before you go, luckily I didn’t need any, but it seemed that they never did front end camber—caster before.
I took in my own specs that I wanted it set to. There is some information in this C4 tech on alignment. There is also a vette brakes website out there with some good info.
It took us three hours to get everything where I wanted it. The service manager told me when I was paying that he never seen a car take that long to get aligned. He got this weird look on his face when I told him I was going to be back in a few weeks to change things around a little. :lol:
It looks like you definitely need additional shims. It almost looks like for some reason that there isn’t any in there at all.
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 105
Likes: 1
From: Leesburg VA
Advanced Street Alignment Specs
I had my '94 aligned according to a Vette Brakes article.
http://64.35.86.141/newsa.htm
I used the advanced street setting and it did really change how the car drives for the better. I love the turn in characteristics. One note, my alignment shop would NOT give me their standard 1 year warranty because these are not OEM specs. The above site also lists Daily Driver Specs and Competition "guidelines".
Good luck!
Ken
I quote:
"Advanced Street: For a sportier feel, Vette Brakes’ recommends these settings that will give you quicker steering response and minimum tire wear. As we mentioned before, if the vehicle is “darty” especially under braking then toe the vehicle in. By toeing the vehicle in you will lose some “turn-in” qualities gained by these initial specs. The driver must feel comfortable with the feedback from the car, so adjust accordingly.
Front:
Toe: 0”
Camber .25 degrees negative
Caster 5-7 degrees positive
Rear:
Toe: 1/8 inch toe-in
Camber: .50 degrees negative
"
[Modified by rockken_vette, 3:44 AM 6/21/2002]
http://64.35.86.141/newsa.htm
I used the advanced street setting and it did really change how the car drives for the better. I love the turn in characteristics. One note, my alignment shop would NOT give me their standard 1 year warranty because these are not OEM specs. The above site also lists Daily Driver Specs and Competition "guidelines".
Good luck!
Ken
I quote:
"Advanced Street: For a sportier feel, Vette Brakes’ recommends these settings that will give you quicker steering response and minimum tire wear. As we mentioned before, if the vehicle is “darty” especially under braking then toe the vehicle in. By toeing the vehicle in you will lose some “turn-in” qualities gained by these initial specs. The driver must feel comfortable with the feedback from the car, so adjust accordingly.
Front:
Toe: 0”
Camber .25 degrees negative
Caster 5-7 degrees positive
Rear:
Toe: 1/8 inch toe-in
Camber: .50 degrees negative
"
[Modified by rockken_vette, 3:44 AM 6/21/2002]
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,013
Likes: 0
From: Pa
Re: Does anyone know what is causing this? (IcemanZ06)
hmm, very interesting post. So Firestone gave you a lifetime warranty on the alignment? This sounds awesome since Corvettes are notorious for not holding an alignment for very long. Was this for a Front end or 4 wheel alignment? Thanks for the advice about buying my own shims. I will definatly check into this option since I've been wanting to lower the car too so maybe I can kill two birds with one stone. :cheers:
I talked to them over the phone before I went down and told them that I wanted it set to my own specs, and they didn’t seem to have a problem with it. I don’t think that they knew what they were getting into.
The car handles and responds much better now. After I get my camber brace installed I am going to take it back to have everything rechecked.
The one thing that I regret is that I didn’t take my camera with me. Oh well, I’m too lazy to post pics anyway.