i have had my 2000 coupe mn6 aligned three times in 2 months. by a chevrolet store and twice by les schwabb. first time by schwabb they used 2001-2004 specs. was ok but pulled to the right a bit much. now after the 2nd time to 97-2000 spec this thing seems to have the worst bump steer i have ever seen in just about any car. the car goes straight as an arrow but it drives me nuts. any white line in the road like they use to mark cross walks or stopping points or freeway cement cracks side to side causes the rear to feel as though its jumping sideways on you. do this in a corner and its like the *** is gonna come out from under you. i run firestone firehawk run flats at 31 psi. HELP!!!!!!!! what is the best all around alignment specs for my car. i know some times the factory isnt perfect, sometimes is, but any ideas how to make me FEEL as though i own a car that can out handle most as it should. thanks for your help
ron
oh here is pic of my toy

 

You don't need an engineer, just a good mechanic that knows what they are doing. You need to set the car to factory specs, and check all the suspension components for wear or damage. If everything checks out OK, and the alignment is set to optimal specs, (not just within the range) the car should behave properly. If it doesn't, it is time to look elsewhere, especially to the tires. If you have acess to a friends Vette, and can swap out the wheels, you can check it out that way. If not, you can try swapping the tires side to side, and see if it changes anything. Yes, they are uni-directional, but you are not going to keep them this way, but just test and see if anything changes. Do the fronts first and test drive, then the rears.
Your car is either:
1 not properly aligned, all 4 wheels
2 has some bent damaged or worn suspension components or frame
3 has some loose suspension or crossmember mountings
4 has some bad tires
Once you go through these four things, you will have found the problem.
Find someone who will investigate the problem, find the cause and fix it.

 

I like the modified Z06 alignment specs, but as the gentleman above said, could be worn components as well. Add shocks to the list.

How many miles?

 

the car has 31144 miles. it is tight. the bushings are in great {to the eye shape} our corvette mech at work says it is a very nice car. i purchased it in november. had a frame check done also at that time. the car has had quite a few mods, engine, suspension "springs" , brake hardware, was lowered i had it raised to stock. hence the allignment to begin with. the mgr at les schwabb did the allignment to factory, except he adjusted the rear slightly to compensate for the factory right hand pull allittle he said. cant remember if he said "camber" or "toe" but it was 5 degrees. i remember that. he is a good friend, and someone i deal with alot, buying wheels/ tires from. i work at a chevrolet store and sad to say, i dont know if my store, or most chevrolet stores, are the perfect place to have an alignment done on these cars. some however, have the know how and equipment to do this. i think i might have to bring it to one, a ways out that deals with and works on many more corvettes than our store. not to knock my place but, we sell about 20-25 a year some here in town sell 80-100+ year and suspect they have the service issues that go along with those sales. any body delt with these so called bump steer ellimonator end connectors?? here are the brakes and tires i have. the schwabb guy told me z06 have a different allignment. what will that do to mine??????

 

My F45 front shocks were worn out after 33,000 miles (leaking) and replaced under warranty.

The symptoms were exactly as you mentioned. Under acceleration through a sweeping corner, the rear was weaving side to side.

Just something to check.

Here are the specs:

Front Alignment Specifications

All
Front Individual Toe
+ 0.04
+/- 0.10

All
Front Sum Toe
+ 0.08
+/- 0.20

All
Steering Wheel Angle
0.0
+/- 1.0

FE1 & FE3
Front Individual Caster
+ 7.4
+/- 0.5

FE1 & FE3
Front Cross Caster
Within +/- 0.5
--

FE1 & FE3
Front Individual Camber
- 0.20
+/- 0.5

FE1 & FE3
Front Cross Camber
Within +/-0.5
--

FE4 (Z06)
Front Individual Caster
+ 6.9
+/- 0.5

FE4 (Z06)
Front Cross Caster
Within +/- 0.5
--

FE4 (Z06)
Front Individual Camber
- 0.70
+/- 0.5

FE4 (Z06)
Front Cross Camber
Within +/- 0.5
--

Rear Alignment Specifications

All
Rear Individual Toe
- 0.01
+/- 0.10

All
Rear Sum Toe
- 0.02
+/- 0.20

All
Rear Thrust Angle
0.0
+/- 0.10

FE1 & FE3
Rear Individual Camber
- 0.18
+/- 0.5

FE1 & FE3
Rear Cross Camber
Within +/- 0.5
--

FE4 (Z06)
Rear Individual Camber
- 0.68
+/- 0.5

FE4 (Z06)
Rear Cross Camber
Within +/- 0.5

 

This is by no means profound, but here goes.... I bought my 2001 F45 equipped coupe in June of 2001. During the winter, while it was parked, I lowered the car, just with the adjustment available using the stock bolts.

Good weather returned, I drove the car a hundred miles or so, to let it settle, and I took it for an alignment. I went to the "hoidy-toidy" sports car shop in town, as at the time, they were one of the few with the new high tech, optical alignment machine. After they were done, the car felt so glued to the road, I was happy like a pig in swill.

A few months go by, I unfortunately hit a pot hole, and the car didn't feel right. Took the car back to the same shop, and by that time, the owner of the shop had become a distributor of Hunter equipment. They tell me the car will be even better, now that they have the absolute latest in a front end machine. The previous machine was a John Bean unit.

Long story short, the car has never felt the same as it did right after the first alignment. The second time the foreign car shop did the alignment, the car was terible. I complained, and to their credit, they checked it over three more times...at no charge. It seems that I, as well as another customer, complained about our alignments on the "new" Hunter, and they re-checked the machine. It wasn't 100% in adjustment, so they re-aligned our cars, and made a couple of minor tweaks. They did try to satisfy a customer(me), so in that respect, I can't complain.

Since then, I've hit another pothole, tried another shop, and still, the car doesn't feel the same as that first alignment. Maybe it's as simple as me getting used to the feel of the car, or maybe the car wasn't 100% correct from the factory, and that first alignment just happened to hit the "sweet spot", and we haven't quite hit it since. I don't know for sure, but I do know that a well aligned car is a joy to drive, and one that isn't, is just frustrating as all hell.....

 

Here's $0.02 worth of free advise.

My base coupe had the bump steer and the only thing that fixed it was the Z06 sways and Bilstein sport shock and eliminated the runflats with their stiff side walls. These tires have a lot of unsprung weight and there's just no way to keep them glued to the road over a rough surface. If you are running stock shocks you'll never feel safe, they are simply weak shocks. As for the Z06 alignment specs, don't! Your run flats will wear out real quick. The Z06 has standard tires and can accept the more aggressive camber settings. But if you are looking for a good shop, Firestone has good equipment and a lifetime alignment for a flat fee of $150. If you like to tweek the suspension as I have done it's well worth it.

*If the springs were changed and the stock shocks were used that's a good place to start, as the shocks can't keep up.

Note: stand by the tech as he sets the alignment and make sure he sets it as you want and not just within the huge range that's allowed. Ask for a print out of the final setting.

 

I found that the dealer's Hunter alignment machine was way off. They insisted the machine was checked regularly but when alignment conflicted with tire shop they had it really checked and agreed.

 

Add me to the "Hunter is out of alignment" list as well.

Same problem here.

 

I had a similar problem. Got rid of the runflats and it went away.

 

I'm sure you're mistaken, but if you do have something in the rear end adjusted to 5 degrees to compensate for the pull, you're lucky to keep it on the road. You won't have to worry about the rear tires either, they won't last long.
Like I said, I'm sure you're mistaken about this.

 

YOU KNOW VERY WELL COULD HAVE BEEN .5 DEGREES i dont know for sure he just said it would make it trail better. and track better when it came to road grooves.

 

[ was lowered i had it raised to stock. hence the allignment to begin with. t[/QUOTE]

Aahh... here is something to check... If the ride height is not adjusted properly, that is, if the settings are uneven, you will get many of the problems you describe. Many people adjust the ride height by checking the height at the wheel wells, this can easily lead to an uneven spring setting. Follow the factory procedure for adjusting ride height, especially taking the measurements from the designated locations.

 

Aahh... here is something to check... If the ride height is not adjusted properly, that is, if the settings are uneven, you will get many of the problems you describe. Many people adjust the ride height by checking the height at the wheel wells, this can easily lead to an uneven spring setting. Follow the factory procedure for adjusting ride height, especially taking the measurements from the designated locations.[/QUOTE]



Good point. Generally, one of the "designated locations" are the lower control arm pivot bolts.

 

Hey pal.....not sure if this is your whole problem, but.....As everyone knows, the C5 likes to "change lanes" when you go over bumps at speed...kinda scary hitting a plate in the road at 70mph....the guy next to you looks a you in horror as your mirrors are about to touch....scared me afew times.....

What we sell/install.....is the BAER Brakes Bump steer kit...it consists of 2 front and 2 read outer tie rod ends what are actually "rod ends" and not like the factory ball and socket type....They are adjustable to correct the poor factory geometry of the steering link to the lower control arm.....after you install them, there is a procedure to (should be done by a very competent alignment guy) set them up properly....

WHA-LA problem gone! we have had great luck with this and BAER makes first rate products. Might wanna give it a try...

Chuck CoW

 

anybody tried these bumpsteer kits????