Just ordered two new front tires. Inside of tires are toast. Had alignment done last Fall before a track event. Tires were fine.

Here are before and after #'s. I don't understand how changing camber on one side destroyed both tires.

LEFT CAMBER CASTER TOE
BEFORE -0.90 +7.30 +0.31
AFTER -0.90 +6.80 +0.00

RIGHT CAMBER CASTER TOE
BEFORE -0.30 +7.40 -0.07
AFTER -0.90 +6.90 +0.00

Any comments would be appreciated.





[Modified by Chalky'sC5, 9:36 AM 5/7/2003]

 

If your 'after' specs are correct, and there's no reason to think otherwise, your alignment settings are conservative. They should not wear out your tires like that. Negative camber will wear the inside of the tire out sooner than the outside, but that's the price you pay for the improvement in cornering. Toe settings other than 0 will also wear your tires quicker, but you are at 0.

Assuming the alignment specs are correct, the only things I think of are:
1) you have put thousands of miles on the car since the alignment.
2) you are using a REALLY soft tire compound
3) you are running your tires under-inflated causing the outsides to wear out sooner than the middle and the camber setting is putting most of that wear on the inside.
4) you hit some major potholes or speedbumps, that changed your alignment
5) you changed the ride height of the car, after the alignment, which changed your alignment.

Good luck in troubleshooting.

 

Took it in yesterday to a Chevy dealer for a four wheel alignment. The alignment numbers did not even come clsoe to the alignment numbers following my last alignment. Both front tires had toe out and the right rear had toe-out.

I haven't put that many miles on the car since the last alignment. My conclusion is that the first alignment was not done properly. Car drives much better now.

 

It's hard to find someone good to do work on Vettes

 

OK, a few tips! The alignment is only as good as the machine they have you on! Make absolutely sure it is on a 4 wheel laser alignment machine, and the guy knows how to use it. The tolerances we are talking to day are well inside the error margin of some of the older machines. Also if they have not maintained their equiptment it will not read well either.

Also if you have lowered it, or they have jacked it by the frame immediately before the alignment the car may not be settled. If they jack it by the frame on the alignment rack, just back it off the rack and drive it around till it settles again. (very important) I have seen guys jack them up on the racks to check ball joint wear. They throw a bottle jack under it and jack away. They should place the jack under the a-arm if they are going to do that, and I don't recommend that either; it should be a completely separate check and NOT performed just prior to alignment with the car on the rack.

Corvettes are infact funny animals to get aligned right. First they have two front ends. The rear has the same alignment capability as the front. Second they are performance cars.

Yes hitting or sometimes even a slight bump on a curb can in fact knock the alignment out.

As for tire wear, If you can detect the abnormal wear by hand (not eye) it is already to late for that tire. Tires set wear patterns, once the pattern is set, that's it. On the EMTs you can change because they are so stiff, but you really suffer, and the wear pattern syndrome is still there. For example if you have excessive inside wear and cupping, you can align the car to proper specs or even over correct (not recommended) but the inside is already worn and will continue to wear with the rest of the tire. A normal tire will have a tendency to sit and conform flatter than the EMT.

There are some really good people out there who know what they are doing on Corvettes, seek them out. Go to the autocross tracks and ask questions, and watch the guys. I chalk my side walls and check the wear on my Hoosiers after every run. I am lucky as the Guy I use for alignment also does a lot of autocross, and sometimes I have him take a look just to be sure.

Later!

 

go to http://www.vettebrakes.com/align.htm for specs for all types of driving and racing on all corvettes

 

:iagree: :yesnod: :yesnod:

 

Clem:

I looked at the recommendations from vettebrakes but after my last experience I decided to go with factory settings by a qualified garage.

 

i ran the factory specs on my 97 and 99 C-5 and they both wore the inside edges of the front tires at 10,000/12,000 miles and now i have my 02 set to vettebrakes daily driver setup so we will see what happens. the "0" chamber setup is what is recomended in corvette quarterly to prevent the front inside edge wear. :chevy

 

Clem:

I looked at those camber settings. I even played with using .5 degree negative vs. the factory .7 degree. What made me change my mind was the fact that I had 18K on the front tires before I had it aligned by the "local shop" and had a very good wear pattern across both fronts. It was only after the local shop did his thing that the inside fronts went to hell.

On teh other hand, I will watch the wear when I put the new front tires on. If I see anything funny, I will dial the camber back to closer to 0 degree.


[Modified by Chalky'sC5, 3:47 PM 5/11/2003]