Wheel Alignment

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Feb 20, 2003 | 02:06 AM

jutammel

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From: Finland

Wheel Alignment

Hi guys!

I was wondering what are the recommended wheel alignment numbers for my -88 coupe :confused:

thanks

Feb 20, 2003 | 02:26 AM

CorvetteZ51Racer

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From: Houston TX

Re: Wheel Alignment (jutammel)

Wow, that's an open question! What do you use the car for, and what are you trying to get out of it? Is it a street car where you're concerned about best tire wear? Do you do a fair bit of high speed driving where you need high speed stability? Do you street drive, but do so spiritedly and so want a mix of good handling and tire wear? Do you race the car more than street drive and therefore are concerned primarily with handling, and if so is it high speed track driving, or low speed?

When I'm looking primarily at tire wear, I use about 0.5 deg negative camber, ~6 degrees negative castor, and 1/8" toe in up front: 0 degrees camber and 1/8" toe in out back. When I'm tracking the car (high speed) I go with 1.5 degrees negative camber, 6 degrees positive castor, and 0 toe up front: 2 degrees negative camber and 1/8" toe in out back. For low speed, I go 1.8 deg neg camber, 6 degrees positive castor, 1/8" toe out up front: 4 degrees neg camber and 1/8" toe in out back.

Feb 20, 2003 | 02:44 AM

jutammel

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From: Finland

Re: Wheel Alignment (CorvetteZ51Racer)

Car is a daily driver (during summer months I mean). My driving usually happens in 35-75 mph range. What i want is stability becouse my car "shakes" a bit when i drive over 90 mph.

[Modified by jutammel, 7:57 AM 2/20/2003]

Feb 20, 2003 | 08:23 AM

vader86

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From: Athens AL

C7 of the Year - Unmodified Finalist 2021

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Re: Wheel Alignment (jutammel)

That shake is not necessarily your alignment, its a very common problem for C4s to shake at high speeds. Id run a search on it, you might find something to fix it.

Feb 20, 2003 | 08:27 AM

gtsyellow

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From: down that one road next to that big tree

Re: Wheel Alignment (jutammel)

Quote:

my first thoughts on that are: tires, ball joints, loose suspension parts, shot shocks. the alignments would show signs like, weird tire wear, darty at high speed etc. most C4s have too much negitive camber in the rear and too little in the front from factory. at least the ones i've seen do. zero toe to slightly toed out in the front with .25deg negitive camber would be nice for a mostly highway driven cruiser. the rear you could set up with zero toe and zero camber with just a hint of negitive. hard street driven cars use the same toe but half a degree in the rear and almost one degree negitive in the front.

i have no idea how 51 got 2deg neg in the front. i have NO shims up there & have 1 deg. maybe i should double check it on the rack.

[Modified by gtsyellow, 5:28 AM 2/20/2003]

Feb 20, 2003 | 10:54 AM

luvmy92

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From: Oviedo FL

Re: Wheel Alignment (gtsyellow)

With a lowered front-end you can get quite a bit of negative on your front tires. I have never had more than -1.8 degrees of camber up front but would guess there is more there (I don't have any shims either). I normally use about .5 degree less camber than my front setting in the rear. I use zero toe in the front when road racing and maybe 1/16" toe-out when autocrossing. For the rear, my toe is set to about 1/16" toe-in.

I won't get a lot of mileage out of my tires with this setup, but that's the compromise I'm willing to make for a nice handling track car...

Mike

[Modified by luvmy92, 9:55 AM 2/20/2003]

Feb 20, 2003 | 04:58 PM

FlyboyZR1

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From: Minneapolis MN

Re: Wheel Alignment (jutammel)

http://www.vettebrakes.com/align.htm

Feb 20, 2003 | 06:25 PM

Rearview

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From: College Station TX

Re: Wheel Alignment

My car is a daily driver (until I fix the $100 car I just bought) :) and I autocross it about 10 times a year. I have a medium performance alignment I think. I have 1 degree fo negative camber up front with as much caster as I could get (6.x I believe) and I have just a little bit of toe out. In the rear I have .6 degrees negative camber. It works pretty well, especially on race tires. :)

I've been doing a LOT of highway driving lately, and the inside edge of my front tires is wearing just a little more than ther rest, but with mildly hard driving around town, they should wear pretty evenly.

[Modified by Rearview, 5:28 PM 2/20/2003]