BC427

At 900 miles I had my 2008 Z51 in for an alignment check mainly because it was suggested from this forum. The numbers were:
LF camber -0.8 RF camber -0.8
LF toe 0.12 RF toe 0.13
LF caster 7.8 RF caster 7.8

LR camber -0.3 RR camber -0.1
LR toe -0.10 RR toe -0.6

They were changed to:
LF camber 0.0 RF camber -0.1
LF toe 0.00 RF toe -0.02
LF caster 7.8 RF caster 7.8

LR camber -0.3 RR camber -0.1
LR toe -0.03 LR toe 0.01

Fast forward to 3,800 miles and one year later. After one, less than 30 mile run in the hills with a couple of 1g turns I arrive home to notice that from the outside in past center of the front tires the tread is gone.
I mean really disappeared. With strings of rubber hanging wear the grooves were. The rears look brand new.
Something is wrong so back to my alignment guy. First look shows that both tires wore evenly in the exact places. So up on the rack and the numbers were:

LF camber -0.7 RF camber -0.7
LF toe 1.07 RF toe 1.03
LF caster 7.6 RF caster 7.6

LR camber -0.1 RR camber -0.1
LR toe -0.12 RR toe 0.08

I'm under the car and I say "so what came loose"? Nothing is loose. The cams did not slip. But what did change was the the front end dropped almost an inch from the last alignment.
So just a thought for all new owners. At about 3,000 to 5,000 miles spend a little money and have the alignment checked. Just for your piece of mine. So the new Kumhos got ordered somewhat earlier than expected.

AORoads

wow! good idea to check.

RicK T

Interesting. Thanks.

JRHAWK9

wow, some toe induced scrubbing.......

ls1wolf

Im just guessing here, but possibly some of the "driving habits" are caused by this. I have 2,000 miles on my 08 and the tires are fine. Yes, I plan on an alignment - but there is no way GM would allow cars to roll off the line with new tires being needed every 3-5,000 miles.

MachAll 2005

[QUOTE=BC427;1570512006]

LF camber -0.7 RF camber -0.7
LF toe 1.07 RF toe 1.03
QUOTE]

Your alignment shop may have had equipment problems...........IF the camber had "changed" after they set it wouldn't the toe go to "toe-out"?

Did it drive funny after they did it..........did you notice a change during the time from "out of shop" to "tire wear noted"????

Gearhead Jim

Adjusted your post a little.
Many people have posted about their new C5 or C6 being out of spec on alignment after delivery. We drove our 2006 home from the museum without anything aggressive or hitting any big bumps, had the alignment checked, both front & rear were outside the limits.

Great Dane

Just replaced all four tires on my 06 with 6800 miles. Never had the alignment checked until a couple of weeks ago. Way off and ate up all four tires.

cclive

A friend got a 50th anniversary Z06 brand new and had to replace the passenger front tire at 3000 miles because of bad alignment. After a little confrontation, GM covered it on warranty. So bad alignment from the factory can definitely happen.

BC427

A couple of notes.
First the Vette does not get driven as if I was racing it. Been there done that. The rears are looking brand new. Second after 1,000's of alignments since the Vette the alignment shop would have noticed a problem. I also know they very well and they would have told me. Third, the wide variances that GM allows as their alignment specs leaves me to think they are covering their collective behinds.
I'm not suggesting that the alignment needs checked every 3,000 to 5,000 miles. Once a year is what most shops recommend. I'm suggesting that in the beginning owners should have the alignment checked at that mileage. One last note. When I picked up my Vette the salesman walked me over to his demo and pointed to the front. Your front end will drop to this level once you get some miles on it. He was correct.

C6DuffMan

I was told that too. That they settle about 1/2" - 3/4" during the first year.

danl72

Thanks for the info.

TEXHAWK0

How do you know the cams did not move?
Did you mark them?

I found that even using an impact wrench (which I hate anyway), the alignment shop still did not get the front cam bolts on my car torqued to the required 125 ft-lbs. The last time I had my car aligned, I marked the cam positions with a paint pen on the frame, and torqued the nuts with a torque wrench. The alignment has not changed again.

Almost every new GM car I have owned needed to be aligned from the factory. I have seen noticeable tire wear within the first 1,000 miles. The last car I bought, I told the dealer that I wanted the alignment checked before I took delivery of the car, but they would not do it until we drove the car enough to show there was a problem. We did, and GM paid for the alignment.

TEXHAWK0

[QUOTE=MachAll 2005;1570514187]It seems like if you add negative camber by pushing the bottom of the wheel out, then it would decrease the toe-in on a rear steer car.

MachAll 2005

[QUOTE=TEXHAWK0;1570517934]You are correct.....my error..

turboboy95

16000 miles, never had an alignment... tires look fine. Never noticed a drop in the car either. Maybe it did, just done remember.