I don't have them on yet but I am planning on 18" wheels all around with 275/35 and 295/35's.

I don't race or even corner past 90%, just want the steering and ride to feel real nice.

 

I did it after changing tires to non run flats and lowering. The difference was remarkable. Worth its 80 bucks. Do it!
Frederik

 

CJS,
Align the car to the proper specs it was designed for.
You will not notice any difference in a Z06 alignment with your style of driving. It is mostly an increase in negative camber anyway.
The current alignment on your car could be in specs for it and also be in specs for a Z06 so you would not know what you had if the tech told you he did a Z06 alignment. An alignment is just settings within certain ranges. Not a big difference in Z06 or others. Highly overrated in my opinion.
Dave

 

Don't align your car until you put the new wheels and tires on it. A slight change in the offset of the wheels and sidewall stiffness can change your alignment settings. I would align to Z06 specs after the tire and wheel change. I have gone with a moderately aggressive Z06 spec alignment and have not noticed any abnormal or uneven tire wear. Remember the Z06 specs are from GM and would not be acceptable on a production car for the street if the tire wear pattern would be excessive. The Z06 alignment takes advantage of the softer sidwall on non-runflat tires. You can't go wrong with these specs.


[Modified by SAXN8R, 10:18 PM 1/22/2003]

 

:iagree:

Also I would stay on the conservative side of the settings. If you drive mild to moderate, I suggest neg 0.25 degrees Camber all the way around, 6 degrees Caster, 1/16 total toe-in in the front and Zero toe in the rear.

But that is just my opinion.

 

:bs

 

All your gonna say is BS? If I am wrong, please correct me, but don't just call BS and walk away. My alignment guy told me this is true. It makes sense, because with a different offset, the leverage the wheel puts on the suspension has changed.

 

[QUOTE] A slight change in the offset of the wheels and sidewall stiffness can change your alignment settings. [QUOTE]

Sax,
I asked my alignment guy that same question a few months ago. He said he tested a couple of car's alignment before and after new wheels and tires and there was no difference. In this case the tire and wheel size are different and I do not know if there would be a difference. Probably small, if any.
I agree,though, no alignment until the new wheels go on.


Sax,
What specs?
You struck a nerve here. (moderately aggressive Z06 alignment) What in the heck does that mean? I understand alignments pretty well and that even confuses me.
Did you read my post? I will try again.
You can tell a tech to align your car with Z06 alignment specs .
He will do that and give the car back to you and you are happy. Now if you read the sheet (most people do not, if they even get one) you may find that the car is within Z06 specs, let's say -.75 front camber. Wow! That is also within non Z06 specs. So what do you have? A regular C5 alignment as far as camber goes. Ditto for caster and toe.
Not trying to flame you but I want to help those trying to decide about alignment. I will argue all day that most of us can't tell .25 degree camber change. Can you tell the difference between .98 and .99 on a skidpad? Most of us can't. That includes me and I have been road racing for 17 years.
And cars that are only driven on the street certainly do not need an aggressive camber setup.
What no one talks about is the trade off for a lot of negative camber. Tire wear for one. Not always. Also, think about how a car will brake with the tires tilted in at 2 degrees negative camber.
For road courses, get aggressive as you want.
My real point is this; when you get an alignment, YOU tell the tech what settings you want. Not just "Give me a Z06 alignment". Unless you read the sheet, you do not know what you have. :confused:
I always give the tech a detailed description of how I want the car aligned. That includes my other cars, non-corvettes.
Just trying to help.
Really would like to see your alignment sheet if you have it.
Dave



[Modified by corvette dave, 11:27 PM 1/23/2003]

 

http://member.newsguy.com/~rmoburg/j...nt%20Specs.doc

There is the link to the alignment specs I used. My tech got me as close to the aggressive column as possible. Sorry if I was unclear in my original post. I know most people would not notice the difference, but some of us do. I wanted my car aligned so that I would be able to take advantage of the bigger rubber of the Z without too much uneven tire wear. I corner very aggressively on the street. I have been very happy with this alignment spec. Sorry I don't have the final printout available, but it was within hundredths of the aggressive column when the tech was done.

Corey

 

Thanks Guys for the info! I had it done now. I just got the normal vette alignment, but all the figures were within the Z06 specs. Except one rear camber was a little outside of Z06.

It steers great! I have never gotten one of the printouts before, like they gave me this time. It shows before and after figures and diagrams of what each adjustment is on the car.

About half of my alignment adjustsments were off. I have just had heads and cam and gears. So the engine and steering rack had been removed and also the rear suspension was off the car.

 

Well done, congrats. IMO it´s woth the bucks.
Frederik

 

CJS,
Is there any way you can post the before and after specs?
Thanks,
Dave

 

Changing to Z06 or Z06-like specs does make a noticable improvement in handling, many documented cases of this. I'm going to switch mine a modified Z06 setting that c4c5specialist has tested. They are similar to Z06s specs but a little less aggressive, particularly on the back wheels if I remeber correctly. IM me if you want them.

 

Dave, I don't have a scanner and I am picture posting challenged. I would take some pics of the data sheets and email them to you. Or to someone else to post.

 

NC,
How were these documented? I hope not by SOTP.
I am probably not explaining my point well enough. My fault.
Z06 specs are almost identical to the others.
Toe settings for coupes are identical for the Z06 as the coupe/vert.
Caster settings for the coupe/vert are actually higher than the Z06. Higher settings are suppose to be better for handling.
Camber f/r for Z06 maximum is 1.2 negative. Recommended is .70 negative.
Camber for coupe/vert max is .70 negative. Recommended is .20 negative.
So if your tech sets the camber for a Z06 at .70 which is recommended then all you have is a coupe/vert alignment at the maximum camber setting.
If the car is tracked then crank in the negative camber. For the average guy on the street it is not worth it. I think that is what this post was about. CJS said he does not race or corner over 90% of the car's limit. And he just wants the car to drive nice so I don't want to send him the wrong signal.
I just hope no one tells him to corner weight the car!
Do you think that braking distances increase with camber set at 2.0 negative?
Braking is also a part of handling. How about putting power down with very aggressive camber settings? It is all a compromise.
Ever see 2 or 3 professional drivers drive the same car in a race such as the 24 hours at Daytona? If possible they would align the car during driver changes. That is because each driver drives differently and requires different alignment settings. Of course that is not possible. At least not now. The alignment settings are a compromise of sorts so that they all can be somewhat happy with the car.
My point here is that we all have different driving styles that require different alignment settings. I think the worst thing you can do is to use someone elses
alignment settings. Especially from someone who does not race. Sorry C4C5.
If you use someone elses settings with the understanding that it is just a baseline then do it. If you are going to race or drive very aggressively on the street then get a baseline and adjust from there. If not, just use the factory settings and enjoy it. Most of us will not be able to tell the difference in a little camber change in normal street use. Whatever normal is. :lol:
Dave


[Modified by corvette dave, 11:33 AM 1/25/2003]

 

CJS,
Please email me the sheet to damontgomery437@yahoo.com.

Also I do not see any reason why the rear camber would be out of specs.
Thanks for the sheet.
Dave

 

Sent you an IM NCVetteman.

 

I updated my original spreadsheet to make it clear that the moderate and aggressive columns were not OEM values from the service manual.
http://www.corvetteforum.net/c5/toom...6alignment.htm

 

Dave, I guess everyone can have an option. I've been on this board for a couple years now. Everyone that has switched to Z06 or Z06-like settings (with non-runflat tires) has responded very postively to them here. That is good enough for me. The biggest difference between the specs is of course the Z06 has -0.5 degrees more camber. The stock C5 settings are nowhere close to ideal by any means, they are a sarcrifice to the runflat tires that don't allow negative camber without a skiddish ride and extreme tire wear due to the fact the sidewalls are so firm. The "custom" specs I'm going to use are in use by several members on different boards, they all speak very highly of them. I'll let you know soon.

 

NCVETTE,
Just as I expected. The results seem to be measured by SOTP. All I am trying to say is there are many of us asking for Z06 specs and getting coupe/vert specs. Then saying how the car corners like it is on rails. No way. What sometimes happens is they get what they think is a Z06 alignment after lowering and/or a tire change. Guess what? They probably do feel a difference, especially if they changed from run-flats to something else.
The only difference in the Z06 specs is this; at maximum negative camber you can go .5 degrees more with the Z06. But that is only if you ASK for it!

Another forum member just sent me these special Z06 alignment specs from C4C5. A lot of folks here had their coupes/verts aligned this way.
Only problem is this; they are not aggressive Z06 specs and fall into normal specs for the coupes/verts. Not a bad alignment but not a Z06 alignment in my books.
I am not bashing C4C5. I have read all his posts in the past and respect his opinion. He has given good advice on the alignment but people are not getting what they think.
Again, all I am saying is get what you want by telling the tech EXACTLY what you want the specs to be. Do not let him set the alignment in a range. What you will get almost always is an alignment within coupe/vert specs and also within Z06 specs, but no benefit.
We really are on the same side here.
Dave