Some mechanic friends have pointed out and I have really started to notice that my driver's side front tire in particular is not wearing too well. Essentially it's wearing more on the outer edge than I believe it should. The rears seem to wear fine and the passneger side front appears to be OK.

The driver side front does have somewhat of an inflation issue, it tends to give up about 10 PSI off of the others and then stabilize around there. I understand that this could be part of the problem but it seems like this would also create an excess of wear on the inside edge as well, which is not happening.

I need two new tires anyway, I just don't really want to put new ones on it if they aren't going to wear right.

Anybody have a ballpark on what it costs to have one of these cars aligned?

 

Seems like I paid about $90

 

That's not too terrible. I was expecting to have to pay the corvette tax.

 

I recently had a shop in NE NJ install 4 GY Eagles and do the 4-wheel alignment. The tires cost $25 each for M&B and alignment was $100.

 

I just talked with the shop that I would likely have do the work. He said that it may be the inflation issue on the tire but he would recommend that I have it aligned if I've never had it done before (of course he would)

Anyway he said that it's typically $59.99 but can be as much as $150 depending on any parts they might need, shims and such for the Vette. Enter the previously mentioned Corvette tax

Oh well, I'll probably have it done anway just to be sure. It's 12 years old, I can't expect it to be perfectly aligned.

 

I find it amazing how well a Vette DOES hold its alignment.

I had mine done right after I bought the car, and it's been fine - that's now 4 years. Should I do one again? YES! But I am broke.

 

Well I'm pretty much broke too, but if I have to chunk down money for two new tires I want to make damn well sure that they wear properly.

 

Are you sure he knows Corvetts? $59.99 sounds like a two wheel alignment price to me. Seems like it would have to be in pretty poor shape to need new shims and such.

 

seems i remember an alignment costing me one hour shop labor... about 50-60 bucks...

 

Make sure that your tie rod ends, ball joints, wheel bearings etc are in good shape. The alignment will only be as good as the parts. If you have any slack in it you cant get a accurate alignment.

 

I had my front and rear aligned, at best alignment shop in Florida,it cost 180.00 dollars.

 

There's usually a lot of variance on alignment prices, even within a given locale. And price doesn't seem to guarantee quality. I had mine aligned at a Buick dealer which just happened to be across the street from where I work. The car wasn't quite ready when I went to pick it up but I didn't mind because the tech was taking great pains to insure it was done to my desired specs. I got to talk to him and watch him as he finished up and was impressed with his sincere dedication. This all cost me a total of $60 for a four wheel alignment. Needless to say, I was very pleased and the car has driven and handled like a dream from that day. It sounds as if you have a little positive camber on the LF you spoke of. If it were just the under inflation, it would be worn on both outer edges. A good shop will also do a full check and let you know if you have any worn parts that would prevent your alignment staying put. Ask around and get recommendations as to who really does a good job. Good alignment techs will soon get a good reputation and following. Get in touch if you want the specs I used. I've since worn out a set of tires and they wore very evenly, yet the handling is noticeably enhanced over stock.

 

Are these the advanced street specs off the Vette Brakes website?

 

Hey

good four wheel alignment costs me $ 60.00, but then i live down here in the country

Jack

 

$100-150 at Firestone for a lifetime alignment.

You've never gotten the car aligned? Alignment is basic maintenance.

All of my cars for the last 20 years have been aligned every 3-6 mo, and it is very rare that they don't need at least a little adjustment.

My vette holds alignment the worst of any car I've owned or worked on.

 

A local mechanic that road races a mustang does my alignments on my car. The greatest improvement has been the 10 degree's caster over the factory stock 6 degrees OEM setting. This does not effect tire wear, camber settings wear the inside and outside of your tires. The C4 offers alot of adjustment with the upper and lower control arms. Charges $50 per job

 

I use a family owned shop, and it runs $75.

Anything over $100 is highway robbery. There is nothing mysterious about the C4 suspension....in fact, as 4 wheel independent setups go, it's quite simple. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

Regarding how stable the C4 alignment is, the front will hold it's settings pretty well. However, the rear camber can slip if you do a lot of hard driving.

 

Easy fix. Right after your next alignment before doing any hard cornering, scribe a mark on your camber alignment cams. If it slips, loosen the bolt, reset the camber, retighten the bolt.

 

Make sure you look for a shop with the latest equipment hunter etc, It might be your best bet to hit the Firestone dealer they usually have the 4 wheel hunters and cost around $100 unless you need to pay the corvette tax shims etc or the Goodyear dealer The newer Hunter alignment is done via lasers if that means anything

Alan