bwill03z

I noticed my drivers side rear tire sticks out farther than the pass side. I had an alignment today because I just put 4 new outer tie rods on. The tire stuck out the same prior to the new tie rods. I had an alignment today and it did not change anything with the tire sticking out. The car drives straight. What could cause this and is this really anything to be concerned about? Here is a pic comparing the two sides and a pic of the alignment specs. Ive owned the car 6 years now with no accidents. It had a clean farfax when I bought it. What do u guys think?

neutron82

very common, to my understanding it is due to variance in how the body is glued onto the car

bwill03z

Wow, really? I love these cars but that's kinda sad. As long as it doesn't compromise anything with the cars driveability I don't really care.

neutron82

yeah, these cars are put together pretty sloppy... if you ever get to removing body panels and whatnot you will see... I love them too but they aren't the best built cars out there

ArtClassShank

I agree with you, but you gotta remember these panels expand and contract with heat everytime they sit outside or go for a drive.

neutron82

I didn't really mean the panels themselves but what you see underneath

bwill03z

Well hopefully that's all it is. I remember reading a post on here of a guy having the same issue, same side, and he ended up having a bent upper control arm on the pass side.

neutron82

nah, I'm sure your car is fine... if something was bent your alignment would be jacked and they wouldn't be able to correct it... so you can either use a spacer to move the passenger side wheel out to equal the driver side, get wide fenders and size the new wheels accordingly, or just deal with it... it is pretty annoying once you notice it though

bwill03z

Yeah good point. You can see on the spec sheet that he got everything within spec so I doubt anything is bent. It definately is annoying and always will be in the back of my mind but eh I will get over it.

6speedsteve

I also recall a thread where it mentioned the cradle not being perfectly centered on the frame from the factory.

bwill03z

I personally think that's what is going on with mine, but it's hard to say.

JUSTCRZN

bwill03z

not yet but I just had a conversation with a guy about doing that. When I get a few minutes I will do that

JPStryker

My 2003 Z06 has the same issue. Driver's side wheel is out farther than the passenger side and it is also 1/2" farther away from the front of the car making the passenger 1/2" closer towards the front.
The rear of the car sways or wiggles at speeds over 80. At 120 mph it's not even safe to drive.
It has new shocks. Factory wheels. No MODS on the suspension. Miles on the car are 32K.
The car also drives straight.But anything over 80 you can feel the rear of the car wanting to whip left and right especially when the suspension extends and compresses from going over a hump in the road.
I think the cradle is bolted to the frame incorrectly. I don't know the history on the car.
I highly doubt it came from the factory like this. This rear cradle was removed and not replaced properly most likely and and alignment was done to compensate.

neutron82

sounds like something might be bent on your car... putting the wheel poking out aside, the wheels should still be centered in the wells... I would get it in the air and on an alignment rack and see if anything is out of the ordinary

bwill03z

I just looked at mine again, it's at least 1/4in out farther on the driver side than pass side. I was thinking the same about mine as far as the cradle being removed and put back incorrectly at some point, nothing in particular leads me to believe that I'm just saying it's possible. I've visually inspected mine several times while in the air and everything looks fine. Mine drives straight and is smoothe at 80mph but it's been a good while since I went much faster than that because I rarely get to do any interstate driving... no good roads in my small town either to really open it up. Next time I am on the interstate I will get up to at least 100 and see how it feels. You would think if something was bent or put back that incorrectly it would be hard to get the alignment within spec.

6speedsteve

Here is one thread I found but not the one I remember.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...vement-c5.html

bwill03z

So from all the reading I've done about thisnit sounds like either my cradle has shifted from loose pins or it was that way from the factory. Either way, it's pretty damn annoying. Can someone direct me what to look at as far as the pins being loose or anything like that?

bwill03z

Gordy M

For those who autocross the car, this was a very common item. Some have said the cradle is the problem, loosened the cradle and have wedged it as far to the right as possible and then re tightened. Others have lowered the cradle and filed the opening slightly larger and then wedged and tightened the bolts. As I recall you can move it almost 1/32" but that has the effect of moving it 1/16 more centered.