I just got my front tires replaced and got all four corners aligned

My passenger front could not get a zero toe, the tech said it's likely because that corner has been crashed before (this did not show up on carfax, etc. when i purchased the car). I have been going to this tire shop for years with many of my old cars so I believe the tech.

So these front tires have 500 treadwear rating yet the inner tire for the passenger side is completely gone. such a waste. It's only been about 5000 miles since the tire swap.

So my question is how can I remedy this issue? I would hate to keep replacing front tires.

Camber kit?

 

It depends, doesn't it, on what is bent, damaged or broken not just a camber kit? I'd say first you have to determine what is out on the car then go from there. What are the details on the car? Year, mods, miles, when bought by you, replacement suspension, wheel parts, etc.

 

The tech doesn't specialize in Vettes so he couldn't really tell. Is this something that only a body shop can tell me? I do have a few local Vette specialist shops but I don't want to break my bank just trying to diagnose the problem...

 

Can't get 0 toe? I think the tech is clueless. The tie rod end and inner tie rod would have to be horribly mangled for that to be remotely true. With that much damage it'd be undriveable.

A camber kit is not going to fix a toe issue.

Any competent body shop can check the frame dimensions and any reasonably competent shop can check the suspension components.

 

Interesting

Hate it when a car becomes a potential money pit but what am I gonna do

Will get a second opinion from a body shop...

 

I would take it to another reputable alignment shop prior to taking it to a body shop.
good luck with it.

 

I'd guess a body shop can tell you, but if it were me I'd do the above first. And if you do need a good alignment shop, Clarence Brown used to have (and probably still does) a very good reputation. I might even try one of the Corvette-specific shops such as The Corvette Shop, or Excelsior Motorsports.

 

I agree with 96GS.


I would look for a motorsports shop if your guy is not knowledgeable on the Corvette. Really though, the Corvette isn't all that different/exotic from other cars with upper and lower control arms V.S. struts. The Toe adjustments are just threaded rods with a ball joint in the end, not all that tough to work with.

Having done two camber kits I can tell you they are expensive and usually a challenge for an installer, take time for them to get it right and your normal alignment shop may have trouble with it. I had one installed at a dealer and they didn't get it right, I ended up at at motorsports shop which generally has more experience with different set ups so they are used to thinking "out of the box". When the installer has to sit down and figure out the camber kit, his training is costing you money.

 

I agree.
I had a similar problem with an alignment shop. It took an unusually long time for the mechanic to get it done. When it was done, he told me that he was not able to get the caster on the drivers side in spec., so he compensated for it on the passenger side! what the heck? Then he handed me the before and after alignment print out. The after was worse than the before!!!
I high tailed out of that place really fast, took it to someone else who said the alignment was a mess! Everything was out of spec and to top it off, the camber bolts on the front were left loose by the first idiot! I got my money back from the first shop and left a detailed low rating for them on Yelp.
Some mechanics are excellent when it comes to working on other cars, but for some reason Corvette's seem to require an above average level of skill for a mechanic even though it's a Chevy and not really that difficult to work on.
Best of luck to the OP.

 

Are you sure the tech said he couldn't adjust toe? If he said he couldn't adjust caster he was probably correct, the caster adjustment is very limited on a C6.

 

Hal, Where in Austin is a good alignment shop? My front steering is off a bit.

 

The excellent place I used to use closed (Soul Speed). My last alignment was done when I bought tires at the Firestone on the North bound Mopac access road just past Parmer Lane earlier this year. The tech seemed to know what he was doing, he does the alignments for Corvette World just down the road.

 

I agree that the caster is very limited but can be adjusted by installing shims in the upper control arms. Most everyday alignment shops won't or don't know how to do it. It is old school mechanics.

 

Thanks for all the replies

I took my car to two alignment shops and both found extreme negative camber in passenger front corner - 1.4 degrees!

I need a shim on my upper control arm, around $150 parts and labor

They also said I need spacers?

Weird thing is before getting new front tires I never had an inner tire wear issue for the last 1.5 yrs owning and daily driving the car...I wonder what happened

Does the above sound like a good solution? Is it safe to modify the upper control arm? If I'm going triple digits, or taking turns at a high speed, any chance of failure etc.? Sorry I'm a suspension noob

 

-1.4 is hardly extreme unless you're talking a Camry.

Adding or removing shims is how you adjust camber and caster. Toe is changed via the threaded tie rod ends.

I strongly recommend you do a little C6 alignment research online. I have a sneaking suspicion you are confusing terms and measurements. Continuing to do so will result in incorrect advice being given.

 

Must be incorrect terms. Either that or the OP is a troll looking to cause problems.

 

Are you the only one who drives the car?????? Passenger side equals curbs ????
Just sayin
NSF

 

Did you just move from San Diego to Los Angeles?

 

Nope never lived in San Diego...why?

Also, my apologies for the confusion. The shops are all telling me different things.

The first shop told me the toe was off, but apparently it's not, it's the camber (I lost the first shop's alignment printout so couldn't verify). I've had cars with negative cambers before and none of them wore out the inside of the tire as quickly as my car is doing. In my experience toe is what controls if the tires wear evenly or not. Currently my passenger front tire is 80% new on the outside, and the inside strip is basically completely gone. It's ridiculous.

Here is the car's current alignment numbers:



My passenger side control arm is already maxed out, as you can see in the pic below. 2 of the shops are sure it's the bushing that's messed up.



So is replacing the bushings for the control arm the remedy to my problem? One shop said no, 2 said yes.

Annnnndd an added bonus, my front end always had a ticking noise when making turns. I did some testings in my garage to see if it's the wheel bearing, and it didn't seem like it was. A tire shop also said they think it's something loose within the brake caliper. This was a few months ago, and I made a thread with a video in it, but no remedy was found. Well the shop today was pretty sure it's the bloody wheel bearing, but they might be talking out of their *** so will need a more thorough inspection next week if I can manage to find time off from work.

 

sorry not sure what you meant here