After doing 1000+ alignments...
'Uneven front toe' won't cause a car to pull.
It WILL give you a crooked steering wheel.
96GS#007 is correct about the tolerance in factory specs. Entirely possible for it to be 'in spec' but still drift.
Side-to-side differences in either camber or caster can cause a pull. Most alignment guys are in a hurry, so anything showing green on the machine is good to go.
I could set one up with everything green, and have it practically make U turns...
All things being equal, road crown will typically cause a car to drift right.
I like even F camber, with slightly more (1/2*?) caster on the ride side to compensate.

Same advice for anyone:
Find a performance shop, and be prepared to spend more than the local tire shop.
But expect the tolerances to be held to within .1 degree of where you want them, or they should be able to explain exactly why that wasn't possible.
If you are limited to the local tire shop, ask to speak to the alignment tech. Explain what you're after, and why. Offer to 'make it worth his while' for the extra time he'd need to spend.
An extra $20 or 2 can go a long way!

 

I will take your word for it but I don’t see how uneven toe couldn’t cause a car to pull one way. I don’t think he ever gave me a paper showing the final specs and if he did I threw it but the last shop it was at was a one man shop. He had a lot of experience and had aligned many many corvettes. I explained to him the trouble I had been having with it and he spent well over an hour really dialing it in. I was with him the whole time, he took his time and showed me all the specs on the machine. He said he pretty much got it perfect and would be shocked if it didn’t drive straight as an arrow. Unfortunately the guy has since passed away so I can’t go back and follow up with him.
So what would you suggest, find a performance shop and try another alignment? Should I change any parts out, maybe the tie rods? Also, could a slightly misaligned front sway bar cause a pull to one side?
What I can tell you is that the car drives and handles good. When I hold the wheel straight the car drives straight but whenever I release the wheel it immediately wants to slightly turn right, enough to make the car to slowly start pulling. It feels as tho there is just slightly more resistance when turning the wheel left then compared to turning right. Should I just try another alignment before changing any parts? I appreciate any help

 

With 'uneven' F toe, unless you are physically holding the steering wheel straight ahead, the motion of the car will naturally equalize the toe between sides.
Moving the steering wheel off its straight ahead position, but not causing a pull by itself.
Unlikely that any sway bar issues would make a car pull, unless maybe it's bent enough to give you some nasty corner balance issues. Super longshot on that one...
Might be worthwhile to check the ride height anyway. Measure at the frame, not the fenders. The numbers don't matter, but they should be pretty even side-to-side.
Also a longshot, but a defective steering rack could cause a pull. I've heard of it, but never saw it for myself.
If it is that, with the F wheels raised off the ground, I'd expect them to move off to the right as soon as the engine was started.
Again, never actually seen it!
Might also be worth taking a close look at the suspension bushings. If they're soft, things move around and they may wind up in a different position on the road than they are in the shop.
Then the best bet, IMO, is to get another alignment, and post up the settings if it still pulls.
Keep us posted...

 

I will check the ride height and all bushings and other components. If everything checks out okay I’m going to try another alignment. I will follow up with the final numbers and let you guys know if any changes. The steering rack was removed, not by me, to change the harmonic balancer awhile back. The shop that did the work left the passenger side steering rack bolt off and I drove it around for awhile like that so I really hope it didn’t damage the rack. Seems like this all started right after that was done. It just sucks because before all that the car drove nice and straight. If my steering rack is damaged i am going to be so pissed off.
Thanks for the help, I’ll follow up soon.

Also wanted to add, I just measured ride height from the frame just behind the front wheels and also at the bottom of the cradle and the passenger side sits at least 1/8 of an inch lower than the driver side, maybe a little more. Is this normal?
Also I took a couple of pics of the lower control arm bushings on the passenger side, so these look worn? The driver side looks the same.

 

I wouldn't worry at all about an 1/8" difference.
From the pix, the bushings look OK to me... kind of hard to tell. Can you move the control arm back and forth, if you pry between the carrier and the arm?

 

measured at the frame jacking points there was an almost 1/4” difference, and about 1/8” difference at the cradle. My garage isn’t perfectly level so it’s hard to say. There’s no movement in any of the parts, including the control arm. I made one more video of you don’t care to watch.You’ll see I mention how I drove the car for a little while with a missing passenger side steering rack bolt. Could it have damaged the rack itself or possible the tie rod? If I end up buying new inner and outer tie rods should I go with stock ac delco’s or Moog? The Moogs are significantly less expensive and have always heard they are pretty good. Also, I’m going to have the alignment shop use the PFADT street specs for the new alignment

 

Very unlikely that the missing bolt would have done any internal damage to the rack or tie rod.
It's tough to tell from the video, but the rubber part of the R/H, forward, upper control arm bushing might be slipping out?
If it walks around, it can effect caster, which will cause a drift. "Pulls to the side with the least positive caster."
My best advice: Try to find a competent front end shop, have the whole car, front and back, inspected, and then realigned.
Post up the before and after!

 

Thanks for the help. I went ahead and ordered some Moog inner and outer tie rods for both sides. I figured while I was messing with it I would go ahead and swap them out. I’ll take it to a good alignment shop once I have them in and have them go over everything. Others have suggested to go with the PFADT street specs, what’s your take one that?

 

I like 'em!
Just be aware... they show toe in as a negative value.
Every alignment machine I've ever seen uses a positive value for toe in.
For track use, many people use a small amount of toe out at the front, to help with turn-in response.
Avoid that for the street, even if it's a dual use car. On the street, tires are forgiving of too much negative camber, that is badly needed on the track.
F toe out will wreck the tires on the street, for only a minimal gain on the track.
Rear toe out is to be avoided. It will make the back of the car 'lively', and it will constantly be trying to pass the front.

 

So it’s showing for the tow a negative value but what would that look like on an alignment machine? Is that (+0.17) what it would show?
I will relay that information to the alignment guy.
Also, after I put the Moog tie rods on and get the PFADT alignment, if it still pulls right what would be your next move? Tires?

 

Check the bushing on your upper control arms as well. The C6 bushings can squeeze out over time. I'll look tonight to see if I have pics from my 2013.

 

as you can see in the video that I posted above, all four bushings on the control arm seem to be in good shape and there’s no movement on the control arm at all when I’ve tried to move it. Also, it looks exactly the same as the driver side.

 

Make sure there's nothing amiss in the rear of the car before the alignment.
Let's look at the before and after alignment numbers... hopefully the alignment solves the issue.
Just tell the tech that the Pfadt toe settings are TOE IN, not toe out, and make sure he's aware of the pull before he starts.
To avoid that "Unfavorable stack up of tolerances...."
If you've already swapped the tires side-side, they won't be the cause. I can imagine a similar pulling effect from the rear tires, but can't recall ever seeing it....
Good luck!

 

Will do. One last thing, should I loosen the sway bar end links and re-torque them with the suspension loaded or does it not matter? When I originally installed the sway bar and end links the car was in the air with no load on the suspension

 

Without adjustable end links, your ability to screw up installation of the anti-roll bar is limited to the amount of clearance in the mounting holes on the control arms and on the ends of the bar. It's not a lot.

I would mention it to the alignment tech, and ask him to loosen and re-torque the nuts with the car on the alignment rack. With the nuts loose he can see if the links are unloaded with the wheels level. If they're not, the bar is being preloaded, which you don't want.

Also, the tech should be checking his work by driving the car after alignment. You shouldn't be the one to discover whether the car still pulls to one side.

 

Whats the best way to go about tightening the end links with the suspension loaded if doing it from jack stands?…just put a floor jack under the control arm and jack it up some?
Also what’s the best way to make sure the sway bar is centered? There’s no positioning marks on the sway bar for where the bushings go best I can remember. I know it sort of aligns itself once the end links are in position but technically it could still be off centered since the bar can move side to side

 

I would do what I suggested, tighten them up however you can, and have the tech crack the nuts loose and re-tighten them on the alignment rack. It won't amount to much, because there isn't much play in the mounting holes, and stock links are not otherwise adjustable.

If you find it difficult to get the links in the holes without jacking up one suspension arm, something is crooked, in which case your bar may end up pre-loaded. This will be obvious on the alignment rack.

As for centering the bar, just make the ends equidistant from the frame rails or other reference and you should be fine.

I would take the car to an alignment shop that knows Corvettes and does race cars. Racers are much more picky about alignments.

 

Just to follow up on this, I replaced the inner/outer front tie rods, removed the front sway bar and end links and re-installed making sure it was centered. Replaced the rear outer tie rods, removed the rear sway bar and re-installed making sure it was centered. I also torqued all the end link nuts to spec with load on the suspension. Got an alignment scheduled for this Friday so I’ll follow up with the results and post the final numbers.

 

Alright guys I am beyond aggravated with this car. Got an alignment today and the car still pulls to the right just the same as before, no change.The tech spent a good two hours on getting it dialed in. I am convinced either my steering rack is messed up or my tires are bad, despite them being new. I replaced inner/outer tie rods on the front and the outer tie rods on the rear. That’s why the before is so out of spec on the alignment sheet. What the heck is going on here?!? The car did not do this back before the balancer was replaced and the new tires and sway bars were installed.

 

Wow, the alignment tech did a great job holding the tolerances to basically nothing.
Tip your technician appropriately!
Other than the rear camber being a little out, the before readings should have been pushing the car to the left.

If you've already swapped the tires side to side (try the rear too, just for good measure...), it just may be in the rack itself.
I've heard of it, but never actually saw one for myself.
Just out of curiosity... does the steering wheel turn the same number of degrees to the left as to the right, before it hits the stops?
Possible that the rack was reinstalled off center during the damper replacement.
Steering gears are cut with a tighter spot at center ("High Point"). I don't imagine it would cause a pull if it was off, but it might account for it being harder to turn one way, as you approach high point.
A longshot, but I'm running out of ideas!

Just to be absolutely sure that it isn't road crown, try the same stretch of road both directions in the same lane.
Think industrial park, early Sunday morning?
Good luck!