To Align or not?
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 482
Likes: 80
From: Florida, Tampa Bay
To Align or not?
Trying to save a little money and debating if an alignment is needed before I install my new Goodyear GS D3s. Pics below are of my old firestone Indy 500s with about 4 years and 45,000 miles. Wear appears slightly more on the inside edge but wondering if a new alignment would make a tire wear any better after 45K.
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Last edited by smittydog; Dec 2, 2009 at 10:12 AM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 1999
Posts: 2,365
Likes: 0
From: Vancouver BC
Having some more wear on the inside is normal, since you run some negative camber on Vettes. How's the steering wheel...still centered? Is the wear the same on both sides? Does the Vette pull to one side? If all those things check out, I don't see why you would need an alignment done...but if you feel better after having your wheels aligned, by all means do it. It usually only costs about $100 or so. Indy
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,266
Likes: 8
From: Indian Rocks Beach FL
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10
I get my alignment checked every six months and constantly monitor tire wear. With the cost of top tier tires I figure it's cheap insurance. My car is a DD plus I do a lot of long road trips.
Racer
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 283
Likes: 2
From: Troy MI
If you got 45K miles and the tires look like that - congrats! I'm lucky to get 15-20K - but maybe I drive it a little bit differently.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 482
Likes: 80
From: Florida, Tampa Bay
My wife drives the car to work and back every day. I'm a straight line guy and the backs don't last near as long. I was getting a little wandering on the crowns of the road and found my steering coupler was a little lose and now it drives fine and the tires look good. The only place around here that can get my lowered car on thier rack is the stealership and I'm not confident they'll get it any better than it is nos. Money is always a concern and if it doesn't need an alignment I can replace my worn out tire sensors with some rebuilt ones. Keep the comments coming and help me make up my mind! 
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 4,353
Likes: 22
From: Bella Vista Ca
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Racer
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 343
Likes: 1
From: LasVegas Nevada and NSW Aust
Your tires look quite good, a wheel alignment is only needed if you are experiancing un even tire wear and or if the car is pulling to one side. The only time you should need to re align your car is if you have hit something like a curb hard or if you have changed the geometry of the car by lowering it or if you have replaced steering components such as rack tie rod ends or the like. I had my everyday driver checked after 5 years of driving and the alignment was fine and did not need adjusting.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 1999
Posts: 2,365
Likes: 0
From: Vancouver BC
...some shops actually mess up a good alignment by doing sloppy work. And they don't car about your Vette when they take it for a test drive...I wouldn't trust just any shop. At least take it to a Vette specialist. Indy
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 6,801
Likes: 13
From: Anywhere where Cones need hit
Cruise-In 9-10 Veteran
CI-X Auto-X Champ (race tires)
St. Jude Donor '07-'09
I almost got the Z aligned by firestone when they put the tires on, but they had enough trouble getting my car in the air to change the tires... and their alignment guy refused to even attempt to put the car on their alignment rack stating that a bone stock C5 was almost a nightmare to get up there, and after my dropping it on the stock bolts, they wouldn't touch it.
I agree.. cheap insurance to go with the new tires.
I agree.. cheap insurance to go with the new tires.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 41,037
Likes: 9,801
From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
If the old tires were wearing fine (as you seem to indicate) then don't even check the alignment. Just backing a freshly aligned car off the alignment rack and driving it back on can change the readings enough to make it seem like you need another adjustment.
You take a risk everytime one of the tire shop alignment techs works on the car. I had my C5Z aligned to my specs at the local GY shop this year. Stood right by the machine and checked the guys work. He still screwed it up by not tightening the lower control arm alignment cams sufficiently which slipped once I got the car on the track. Caused all sorts of handling problems. When I took it back the manager was there and as soon as he heard what happened he gave the guy a royal butt chewing. When I had previous alignments done at that store the manager was the one that did them but he wasn't working the day I had it done this year.
Bill
You take a risk everytime one of the tire shop alignment techs works on the car. I had my C5Z aligned to my specs at the local GY shop this year. Stood right by the machine and checked the guys work. He still screwed it up by not tightening the lower control arm alignment cams sufficiently which slipped once I got the car on the track. Caused all sorts of handling problems. When I took it back the manager was there and as soon as he heard what happened he gave the guy a royal butt chewing. When I had previous alignments done at that store the manager was the one that did them but he wasn't working the day I had it done this year.
Bill
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 1,474
Likes: 4
From: Tracy CA
I've played with alignment alot since owning C5's.
Factory coupe settings are OK. Wear is fairly even - traction and turn in is OK.
Z06 settings are much better turn in at the cost of inside tire wear on the fronts.
I even had an alignment specific to tire wear. I couldn't stand the way the car handled. It was terrible.
Factory coupe settings are OK. Wear is fairly even - traction and turn in is OK.
Z06 settings are much better turn in at the cost of inside tire wear on the fronts.
I even had an alignment specific to tire wear. I couldn't stand the way the car handled. It was terrible.