[Z06] Just got an alignment, doesnt seem right
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 279
Likes: 1
From: RI
Just got an alignment, doesnt seem right
I lowered my car last week and after replacing the tires due to extreme inside wear on the fronts I decided to see if I could get a less agressive alignment. Thing is I do not think I like it. It seems like I really have to turn my wheel a lot more to take corners and the car pulls to the right now. It doesnt pull much but it does not stay straight with my hands off the wheel. I told him I didnt have abnormal rear tire wear but it looks like they adjusted my rears anyway. Also neither side is even, does that matter? They said I would be good.
Racer
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 295
Likes: 1
From: Placerville CA
you are certainly correct - your car should not pull. I am certainly not an alignment expect, but appears to have gone pretty conservitive and even out of spec in some areas. I'm in the Sac CA area and MSI did my alignment. He placed weights in the front seat to simulate my weight and did his street/auto cross compromise. I do like my alignment! It was also said that the Z will wear the inside of the tires some.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 279
Likes: 1
From: RI
Yea I know that Zs wear out the inner of tires, so I was trying to avoid that but I still want my car to feel like a Z06 when I drive it. I feel like I lost that feeling as far as its handling is concerned. I do not race it or autocross it or anything, so I figured I could drop the aggressive camber some, but I think its too much.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 17,982
Likes: 1,074
From: Lansing MI
If your only driving the car on the street then your setup is pretty close. For one thing, you will not burn up the inside edges nearly as fast, another is that it the car wont follow the grooves in the road as much. It shouldnt pull right, if it does then i would question the tires. Switch them side to side and see if it still pulls. If it still pulls right then raise the castor on the right side. I would not lower the castor on the left side. Disregard everything i just stated if your are going to track this car.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 279
Likes: 1
From: RI
If your only driving the car on the street then your setup is pretty close. For one thing, you will not burn up the inside edges nearly as fast, another is that it the car wont follow the grooves in the road as much. It shouldnt pull right, if it does then i would question the tires. Switch them side to side and see if it still pulls. If it still pulls right then raise the castor on the right side. I would not lower the castor on the left side. Disregard everything i just stated if your are going to track this car.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 16,135
Likes: 5
From: Newberry FL
Cruise-In VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '07
you are certainly correct - your car should not pull. I am certainly not an alignment expect, but appears to have gone pretty conservitive and even out of spec in some areas. I'm in the Sac CA area and MSI did my alignment. He placed weights in the front seat to simulate my weight and did his street/auto cross compromise. I do like my alignment! It was also said that the Z will wear the inside of the tires some.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 279
Likes: 1
From: RI
The Z from the factory has a more aggressive camber setting for better handling which wears out the inner of tires quicker in a nut shell. Thats just a basic summary from what I understand, but there is a lot of info on the subject on these forums.
Damn that sucks but must look nice, mine is only lowered on stock bolts. I do wish it could go a little lower though.
Damn that sucks but must look nice, mine is only lowered on stock bolts. I do wish it could go a little lower though.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,618
Likes: 5
From: Overland Park KS
You're kidding right? (looking at your post count). It's well known the Z06 is setup with aggressive negative camber on the front tires so they wear on the inside first. The outside edge can appear fine but the inside edge may be down to cords.
(From Subdriver)
Z06 Specs:
Front Individual Toe: +0.04 degree +/- 0.10 degree
Front Sum Toe: +0.08 degree +/- 0.20 degree
Front Individual Caster: +6.9 degree +/- 0.50 degree
Front Cross Caster: within +/- 0.25 degree
Front Individual Camber: -0.70 degree +/-0.50 degree
Front Cross Camber: within +/-0.25 degree
Rear Individual Toe: -0.01 degree +/- 0.10 degree
Rear Sum Toe: -0.02 degree +/- 0.20 degree
Rear Individual Camber: -0.68 degree +/- 0.50 degree
Rear Cross Camber: within +/- 0.50 degree
C5 Specs:
Front Individual Toe: +0.04 degree +/- 0.10 degree
Front Sum Toe: +0.08 degree +/- 0.20 degree
Front Individual Caster: +7.4 degree +/- 0.50 degree
Front Cross Caster: within +/- 0.50 degree
Front Individual Camber: -0.20 degree +/-0.50 degree
Front Cross Camber: within +/-0.50 degree
Rear Individual Toe: -0.01 degree +/- 0.10 degree
Rear Sum Toe: -0.02 degree +/- 0.20 degree
Rear Individual Camber: -0.18 degree +/- 0.50 degree
Rear Cross Camber: within +/- 0.50 degree
(From Subdriver)
Z06 Specs:
Front Individual Toe: +0.04 degree +/- 0.10 degree
Front Sum Toe: +0.08 degree +/- 0.20 degree
Front Individual Caster: +6.9 degree +/- 0.50 degree
Front Cross Caster: within +/- 0.25 degree
Front Individual Camber: -0.70 degree +/-0.50 degree
Front Cross Camber: within +/-0.25 degree
Rear Individual Toe: -0.01 degree +/- 0.10 degree
Rear Sum Toe: -0.02 degree +/- 0.20 degree
Rear Individual Camber: -0.68 degree +/- 0.50 degree
Rear Cross Camber: within +/- 0.50 degree
C5 Specs:
Front Individual Toe: +0.04 degree +/- 0.10 degree
Front Sum Toe: +0.08 degree +/- 0.20 degree
Front Individual Caster: +7.4 degree +/- 0.50 degree
Front Cross Caster: within +/- 0.50 degree
Front Individual Camber: -0.20 degree +/-0.50 degree
Front Cross Camber: within +/-0.50 degree
Rear Individual Toe: -0.01 degree +/- 0.10 degree
Rear Sum Toe: -0.02 degree +/- 0.20 degree
Rear Individual Camber: -0.18 degree +/- 0.50 degree
Rear Cross Camber: within +/- 0.50 degree
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 16,135
Likes: 5
From: Newberry FL
Cruise-In VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '07
You're kidding right? (looking at your post count). It's well known the Z06 is setup with aggressive negative camber on the front tires so they wear on the inside first. The outside edge can appear fine but the inside edge may be down to cords.
(From Subdriver)
Z06 Specs:
Front Individual Toe: +0.04 degree +/- 0.10 degree
Front Sum Toe: +0.08 degree +/- 0.20 degree
Front Individual Caster: +6.9 degree +/- 0.50 degree
Front Cross Caster: within +/- 0.25 degree
Front Individual Camber: -0.70 degree +/-0.50 degree
Front Cross Camber: within +/-0.25 degree
Rear Individual Toe: -0.01 degree +/- 0.10 degree
Rear Sum Toe: -0.02 degree +/- 0.20 degree
Rear Individual Camber: -0.68 degree +/- 0.50 degree
Rear Cross Camber: within +/- 0.50 degree
C5 Specs:
Front Individual Toe: +0.04 degree +/- 0.10 degree
Front Sum Toe: +0.08 degree +/- 0.20 degree
Front Individual Caster: +7.4 degree +/- 0.50 degree
Front Cross Caster: within +/- 0.50 degree
Front Individual Camber: -0.20 degree +/-0.50 degree
Front Cross Camber: within +/-0.50 degree
Rear Individual Toe: -0.01 degree +/- 0.10 degree
Rear Sum Toe: -0.02 degree +/- 0.20 degree
Rear Individual Camber: -0.18 degree +/- 0.50 degree
Rear Cross Camber: within +/- 0.50 degree
(From Subdriver)
Z06 Specs:
Front Individual Toe: +0.04 degree +/- 0.10 degree
Front Sum Toe: +0.08 degree +/- 0.20 degree
Front Individual Caster: +6.9 degree +/- 0.50 degree
Front Cross Caster: within +/- 0.25 degree
Front Individual Camber: -0.70 degree +/-0.50 degree
Front Cross Camber: within +/-0.25 degree
Rear Individual Toe: -0.01 degree +/- 0.10 degree
Rear Sum Toe: -0.02 degree +/- 0.20 degree
Rear Individual Camber: -0.68 degree +/- 0.50 degree
Rear Cross Camber: within +/- 0.50 degree
C5 Specs:
Front Individual Toe: +0.04 degree +/- 0.10 degree
Front Sum Toe: +0.08 degree +/- 0.20 degree
Front Individual Caster: +7.4 degree +/- 0.50 degree
Front Cross Caster: within +/- 0.50 degree
Front Individual Camber: -0.20 degree +/-0.50 degree
Front Cross Camber: within +/-0.50 degree
Rear Individual Toe: -0.01 degree +/- 0.10 degree
Rear Sum Toe: -0.02 degree +/- 0.20 degree
Rear Individual Camber: -0.18 degree +/- 0.50 degree
Rear Cross Camber: within +/- 0.50 degree
Micah
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 279
Likes: 1
From: RI
Well I was able to drive it a little more today on my way to base and it isnt as bad as I thought it was. I was just over thinking it yesterday, but I did lose some cornering performance obviously. I think in the near future I am going to bring it to a better shop and have them set the fronts to -0.4 or .5 and the rears to -0.2 if that makes any sense.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 457
Likes: 0
From: LaGrange Ga
Well this type of question is right up my alley. Most of the information posted here is good and true however there are some oversights.
First, check the pull condition in both left and right hand lanes of the interstate. Roads are crowned for water drainage (among other things) and this will cause a car to want to pull right in the right hand lane and left in the left lane. (Assuming 2 lane interstate, 3 lanes are a bit different)
Also, when you lowered the car was it corner weighted? If you corner weights are way off this can cause some poor / inconsistent behavior.
Important: wear on the inside of the tires is not only cause by excessive camber, but also by large amounts of toe out in the front. One must find a compromise between tire wear and performance in this area.
The suggestion to swap tires from side to side to fix the pull issue is a good one.
Tire conicity (force built into radial tires due to belt placement, tire quality issues etc) may be different on one side to the other causing a pull to the right or left.
Also, check tire pressures. A difference of 1 or 2 psi from side to side can cause pulling problems.
My opinion on factors most important in a drift/pull situation are:
Tire conicity (PRCF, PRACT)
Cross Camber
Thrust Angles
Tire Pressure.
Personally I wouldn’t mess with the caster and I would make the right front camber a bit more negative (to increase force due to camber thrust) if everything above checks out o.k. The problem is, you could take a car that has a slight right pull in the right lane and make it pull even worse in the left lane.
A final thought: Many alignment shops will fudge the data they give you during a printout. Many alignment shops will lean on a car to move the heads causing the data to go in spec.
Many shops are known to “set the toe and let it go”
A funny side story: Back in my racing days (open wheel, amateur stuff) we used to tell people that we ran completely different setups on the right side and the left side of the car, (spring rates, caster, camber, damping, tire pressures etc.) We explained that with this method we could develop the car 2x faster than other teams, since we had two different setups on the left and right sides, if the car turned better to the left we would use the left setup all round and so forth… I can’t tell you how many people fell for that one. Good times.
First, check the pull condition in both left and right hand lanes of the interstate. Roads are crowned for water drainage (among other things) and this will cause a car to want to pull right in the right hand lane and left in the left lane. (Assuming 2 lane interstate, 3 lanes are a bit different)
Also, when you lowered the car was it corner weighted? If you corner weights are way off this can cause some poor / inconsistent behavior.
Important: wear on the inside of the tires is not only cause by excessive camber, but also by large amounts of toe out in the front. One must find a compromise between tire wear and performance in this area.
The suggestion to swap tires from side to side to fix the pull issue is a good one.
Tire conicity (force built into radial tires due to belt placement, tire quality issues etc) may be different on one side to the other causing a pull to the right or left.Also, check tire pressures. A difference of 1 or 2 psi from side to side can cause pulling problems.
My opinion on factors most important in a drift/pull situation are:
Tire conicity (PRCF, PRACT)
Cross Camber
Thrust Angles
Tire Pressure.
Personally I wouldn’t mess with the caster and I would make the right front camber a bit more negative (to increase force due to camber thrust) if everything above checks out o.k. The problem is, you could take a car that has a slight right pull in the right lane and make it pull even worse in the left lane.
A final thought: Many alignment shops will fudge the data they give you during a printout. Many alignment shops will lean on a car to move the heads causing the data to go in spec.
Many shops are known to “set the toe and let it go”
A funny side story: Back in my racing days (open wheel, amateur stuff) we used to tell people that we ran completely different setups on the right side and the left side of the car, (spring rates, caster, camber, damping, tire pressures etc.) We explained that with this method we could develop the car 2x faster than other teams, since we had two different setups on the left and right sides, if the car turned better to the left we would use the left setup all round and so forth… I can’t tell you how many people fell for that one. Good times.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,184
Likes: 3
From: KADS- If it has wings or an engine, I can break it. Dallas TX
Pretty close, you have a little less neg. camber. and more positive toe(wheels pointed in toward centerline).
Z06's eat tires and brakes, just the nature of the beast.
Service preferred settings are:
front: -.70 individual camber, +6.9 individual caster, +.04 individual toe, +.08 total toe
rear: -.68 individual camber, -.01 individual toe, -.02 total rear toe
try for exact settings, an extra 10 minutes of work. most neighborhood shops just get it within range, which is close enough for a surburban, but sports cars can "feel" the small adjustments. I had to take it to a performance shop to get it set right on the money.
best of luck
Z06's eat tires and brakes, just the nature of the beast.
Service preferred settings are:
front: -.70 individual camber, +6.9 individual caster, +.04 individual toe, +.08 total toe
rear: -.68 individual camber, -.01 individual toe, -.02 total rear toe
try for exact settings, an extra 10 minutes of work. most neighborhood shops just get it within range, which is close enough for a surburban, but sports cars can "feel" the small adjustments. I had to take it to a performance shop to get it set right on the money.
best of luck
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,618
Likes: 5
From: Overland Park KS
Thanks for the info and listen just because I have a high post count doesn't mean I know everything. You may know everything, but I still learn things about these cars from time to time. I had never heard this before and was curious, so why come across so aggressively. BTW, my previous to C5s were COUPEs and I am finding out there are a lot of things about the C5Z (I recently purchased) that really impress me on just how greatly built and designed these cars are.
Micah
Micah
Once you drive your way through a set of tires you quickly understand the negative camber because at first you're kinda upset the insides are bald but the outside looks fine and you don't know why.
If you need any further assistance don't hesitate to ask....I know my way around the C5s.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 16,135
Likes: 5
From: Newberry FL
Cruise-In VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '07
I mentioned high post count because I have seen you around on the board and I thought perhaps you were being sarcastic/funny. I see you have only owned your Z a few months so sorry to offend.
Once you drive your way through a set of tires you quickly understand the negative camber because at first you're kinda upset the insides are bald but the outside looks fine and you don't know why.
If you need any further assistance don't hesitate to ask....I know my way around the C5s.
Once you drive your way through a set of tires you quickly understand the negative camber because at first you're kinda upset the insides are bald but the outside looks fine and you don't know why.
If you need any further assistance don't hesitate to ask....I know my way around the C5s.
I honestly had no idea about the camber issue/point that was made. I have noticed that my car's stance is different than that of my previous models, but never considered it to be due to this. I am still learning about this car. It really is an amazing automobile. I really appreciate the info. I am going to be lowering it a little more and those numbers will help when I take it to the shop for a guide.
Thanks and no hard feelings here.
Micah
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 6,209
Likes: 33
From: Texas-out west
I have my 03z set to std c5 specs and helps keep tire wear down since I do not track car, have 30k on tires with over half tread left except one front tire which was off and wore inside
other is great
other is great
