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I am getting a set of Firestone runflats put on the car next week and plan to have an alignment done at the same time. The driver's side rear wheel is wearing more on the outside (excessive camber?), but this is the only abnormal wear pattern I see.
Can someone post GM's recommendations for the various front and rear alignment adjustments?
I don't know if this helps or not but I just had my 99 convertible aligned after installing Pilot Sports and this is what they set it to:
Front: L/R
Camber -1.3/-1.1
Caster adjust 6.2/6.4
Toe 0.04/0.05
Rear: L/R
Camber -0.4/-0.4
Toe 0.02/0.02
Total Toe 0.04
Thrust angle -0.00
Any comments on these settings would be appreciated. I basically left it up to the guy to pick the proper settings. I only told him I wanted a fairly aggressive street setup.
I'll look up my settings and post them tomorrow....these were given to me by c4c5specialist as a custom setting between Z06 and stock....leaning towards peformance :D
Jim, here is a response I gave a while back, there isn't any right or wrong setting, just different setups according to the type of driving you do.
Here's my thoughts on alignment. I too had tire wear problems and was running on my third set of front tires by the time I acquired enough information about the C5 alignment to get things figured out, (I think). I set my own alignment in my home shop so I can try lots of settings with little expense.
First off, keep this in mind, you're driving a high performance car and a little aggressive tire wear is not out of line for a performance car.
According to GM document #776629 which gives alignment specs for the C5 & Z06, the (Preferred Front Camber is -.20 degree) for the FE1 & FE3 suspension. The (Camber Tolerance is +/- .50 degree). So if your front camber is anywhere between (-.70 degree to +.30 degree), you are within GM specs. You hardly need an alignment machine to get camber within that tolerance, that's almost in eyeball range.
The Good Year run flat tires have a wide square shoulder tread and very hard sidewall which will put much more pressure on the edges of the tread, due to a small camber angle, and will result in what seems to be aggressive tread wear on the edges of the tread, usually the inside. Non-runflat tires have a much softer more compliant sidewall and is part of the reason the Z06 camber is more negative.
The more square (0 degree camber) you set the runflat tire with the road, the less abnormal tread wear you will see.
I think it would be a wise move for GM to provide a set of "performance specifications" for aggressive driving, and another set of "touring specifications" for normal highway driving. They would need to provide a brief pro & con statement of the two specs and let the driver decide which way he wants his car set up.
So, back to the question as to what to use for good tire wear. Following is what I am currently running and with 6000 miles on the Stone RFT’s , there is no measurable wear variation in the tread.
Front
Camber: 0.0 degree, (error to the pos. side less than .10 degree if not exactly 0)
Caster: 5.0 degree, (steers a little easier and not nearly as important for street as it is for performance)
Total Toe: 0.1 degree pos.
Rear
Camber: 0.0 degree, (error to the neg. side less than .10 degree if not exactly 0)
Total Toe: 0.0 degree to neg. 0.1 degree
Since their appears to be so much variation with the specs I assume that I can go with the GM specs for my Firestones RFTs and be just fine. I don't want to run specs that will cause abnormal wear that's for sure.
I know this tread is old but I am at an alignment shop right now..
I had a god aweful torque steer and decided to have it checked. Turns out the alignment is out..
Having the alignment set to the specs CRUZMISL posted. I will post results after my hour drive home.
Thanks for these post guys..really helpful.
Great news...
Cars drives much better and the settings the were provided are a great all around set up..
I am liking this alignment a lot.. still have a weird movement when I'm loaded in 6th I can mov e the car with the torque...like the rear diff moves..rockingout of place...? Bushings look good. End links are new..is there a diff mount on the c5?
So after having Goodyear tell me it just needed an alignment, I drove home with the car doing the torque steer thing...
Sunday I jack my vette up to inspect the rear suspenion. The left felt likebit was the problem so I check that one first. I tug on the left rear and what do ya know? It had play. The toe link was loose!
I had to tighten the end with the big nut on it closest to the rear diff. Wasn't loose by hand but loose enough to throw out the toe 1.6 degrees!
Tightened the nut up and checked everything else.
Had Goodyear realign it for free after giving them an ear full for not checking it out...
My 99 FRC. Cured!! Squats and goes straight! Feels tight and precise. I bet you this is why the owner sold it as cheap as he did...lol
The alignment specs CRUZMISL posted are great. Car feels nice!
Email me and I will send you the specs. I have them in a TIFF file and I dont have time to upload them to my webpage now.
I'd like the alignment specs for a 1967 corvette convertible with a 350 engine and standard shift. It has 205/75 R15 radials mounted on stock wheels (rally). Please send to pgsmith@stny.rr.com
I'd like the alignment specs for a 1967 corvette convertible with a 350 engine and standard shift. It has 205/75 R15 radials mounted on stock wheels (rally). Please send to pgsmith@stny.rr.com
Take a look at Vette Brakes & Products website. They have alignment specs listed....at least they used to, the last time I looked.
Back in 2006 I posted alignment specs on ls1.com. factory specs came out of my hunter alignment machine. Guess it's time to update it and post on here.
Back in 2006 I posted alignment specs on ls1.com. factory specs came out of my hunter alignment machine. Guess it's time to update it and post on here.
That's a good idea, but keep in mind, the last poster asked about specs for a 1967 Corvette. Does the Hunter data program go back that far?