Modshack

There's been lots discussed about the accuracy/innacuracy of the factory, off the line, alignment work. having about 5500 miles now on my '08, I decided to have it checked. Primarily for my piece of mind, as well as Tire wear, not that I was having any apparent issues. I had a recommended independent do this today with the following results. he was very careful and spent about 2 hours on the car total. Apparently the set-up for the Vette is time consuming. Bottom line is the front toe was pretty far out, as well as the right rear toe. Rear Camber, while within the broad spec, was not optimum (unless you're a Zero camber highway cruiser, and don't go around curves!). I'm sure, over time, this would have resulted in some uneven tire wear. Anyway, here's the read-out. Well worth the $115 just to be sure and optimize everything for a good baseline. Top is before with Red out of spec. Bottom is after..

JFTaylor

Looks like a very through job. Well worth the $ spent considering tire replacement is $1000 to $1500.

Wish I could find a guy like that around my crib.

arcticblast

In my experience, a 4 wheel alignment can be covered under warranty if your mileage is below 7500. I've only used it once, but have 2 new Vettes that will be checked by 5000 miles.

greenie99

I understand that Chevy will warranty an alignment within the first 12k.

Modshack

They may...I bought the car out of state so don't have a working relationship with my local dealer, and I Hope I don't have to develop one (fingers crossed). I doubt they would have taken the time to dial it in like the guy i went to. For instance, the rear camber is "in spec" but not optimal. Would they have taken the time, or just said "yeah, it's in spec"? Who knows. I can guess though. I do know that the guy I went to did. In the grand scheme of things, $115 was money well spent to me.. I'm not the kind of guy who likes other people working on his car. of the 54 I've owned, i can count on less than 10 fingers, the number of times I've had to take one to anyone. The local dealer sells 3 vettes a year. i doubt his expertise was up there with the guy who has aligned a lot of them. My money, My choice. YMMV!

Modshack

Just took the car through my test twisties... Previously I had a Very, Very slight feeling of instability in fast left hand sweepers. Very slight corrections needed to keep the car on its line. I originally suspected tire pressures...Looking back and at the alignment results, I now conclude it was the right rear toe being off... I'm really sensitive to chassis behavior so something like this may go unnoticed by some. Bottom line is the car feels great now. Very consistant left and right and a perfectly centered wheel (which was a little off before). Just in time for my trip out to the Tail of the Dragon and the Cherohala Skyway next weekend!

C6~Missle

During the factory tour, they showed us the alignment "chassis" that is used to calibrate the alignment machine daily. They seem to go through some serious measures to make sure the car is properly aligned at the factory.
As the car comes down to the floor at final assembly, it is then run over some bumps to allow the suspension to settle for the alignment check. It was pretty impressive to see all the systems and checks that go into the build.

I will keep an eye on the tires for sure.. I had museum delivery.. and the car tracks very straight and smooth.
Those cars that see dealer delivery go thru holding areas, transport trucks, dealer racks, etc... have more of a chance at getting "knocked" around more. The tie down methods are also tough on suspension settings.

Modshack

Good to know, but at 150 cars per 8 hour shift they have about 3 minutes to perform this operation!....Also, by the time you spot wear issues it's usually too late.

Probably more than adequate for mass produced consumption though!

fignewton

Steve, I had mine done at about 3,500 mi too, and it was off same as yours, by about the same amounts.
Alignment is cheaper than buying tires!
fig

8850

I just had my 08 checked with a mechanic I've been using for years for alignment. My passenger side toe was off quite a lot. My camber on the front passenger was -.7 which is in tolerance but -.4 ideal. Drivers side was -.5. He brought both into -.4, adjusted the rear and front toe. Front toe was in specs but slightly off after the camber adjustment. Also the caster was in the 8.? which he brought back to 7.8.

Had I taken it to the dealer I would have left it a day and gotten a piece of paper back that said "ok was within specs". They would not have taken the time to get it this close. You usually can't even watch the dealer mechanic do the work. I watched very closely and worked with my mechanic to get it the way I wanted. $65 bucks!

Modshack

Yup...those were my feelings too..