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I've seen some posts mention a degree of variability on how cars come out of the factory.
I know I saw a thread with different alignment settings a few weeks ago.
One setting was "street/occasional track" another was Track, etc. I'm interested in the former specs.
I just got a new GS and want to bring the specs to my shop, check out the factory settings and adjust if necessary.
I've done the search thing...Can anyone point me to it?
Here are the specs you requested. I had mine set up to "street/occasional" specs at the DSC shop, and it's an excellent set-up. The car both tracks and handles better than whatever random setting it had at BG.
You didn't say what kind of driving you intend to do; all street/Hwy or a little track mixed in. If you are like me and do nothing but street/Hwy, you have got to dump most of the Camber otherwise the inside front tires will wear faster than the rest.
To get a nice flat wear pattern for street driving, go with this setup. I have been using it for way over a 100K miles now and my tires wear even side to side.
The top half is before, the bottom is what you want to use for street. Keep the Camber at -.5 degrees average or less.
Thanks Foosh and Hisvet. Your posts are just what I was looking to find again.
I do spirited street driving and plan to get to the track here - Roebling Road - after the 1,500 mile break in period AND after going to Spring Mountain.
I am excited to step up from my 2016 base ( Z51 sway bars only ) to the Grand Sport.
I just have 175 miles on it but have been experimenting with settings - and offering to drive by buddie's homes at 05:30 to wake them up with the Track exhaust setting.
I'm not having any abnormal tire wear at the DSC street/occasional specs above, and if you value handling on the twisties, negative camber definitely makes the car better. The rear caster setting is also critical.
I agree with Foosh's setup. I always like to run a bit more negative camber than standard.
Also, Hisvette, the tire killer is not so much camber as it is toe. Camber at anything 2 degrees and under won't do much... The tire killer is toe if out of spec.
True, incorrect toe will kill tires also....I keep mine at 1/16" or less (toe in). BUT Camber will wear tires prematurely even IF toe is correct. By adding more camber what you are doing is adding more weight to the inside (or outside) of the tire and that will cause uneven tire wear.
If all you are doing is watching tire wear with your eye, then it's way too late once you notice uneven wear. Every time I change my oil, I check my tire wear down to the thousands....if I see more than .010 to .015 difference between left, center and right, I will tweek the alignment accordingly. Currently my centers on the rear are wearing a little more than the edges; that means I need to drop a lb. or so of PSI to get them to flatten out.
I have 25K miles on my current set with tread depth running right around .200 deep.....that's mainly Hwy miles; track time so far, one weekend (8 sessions).
True, incorrect toe will kill tires also....I keep mine at 1/16" or less (toe in). BUT Camber will wear tires prematurely even IF toe is correct. By adding more camber what you are doing is adding more weight to the inside (or outside) of the tire and that will cause uneven tire wear.
If all you are doing is watching tire wear with your eye, then it's way too late once you notice uneven wear. Every time I change my oil, I check my tire wear down to the thousands....if I see more than .010 to .015 difference between left, center and right, I will tweek the alignment accordingly. Currently my centers on the rear are wearing a little more than the edges; that means I need to drop a lb. or so of PSI to get them to flatten out.
I have 25K miles on my current set with tread depth running right around .200 deep.....that's mainly Hwy miles; track time so far, one weekend (8 sessions).
OK, but better handling is much more important to me than getting 25K miles out of a set of PSS. I'm not eyeballing things, I know how to use a tread gauge. I'll have no problems at all getting 15K-20K out of my original set of PSS using the DSC Sport settings above with -1.2º negative camber.
The settings you posted above are not the best set-up for optimal handling, and you don't even post a setting for rear caster, which is also critical.
Thanks Foosh and Hisvet. Your posts are just what I was looking to find again.
I do spirited street driving and plan to get to the track here - Roebling Road - after the 1,500 mile break in period AND after going to Spring Mountain.
I am excited to step up from my 2016 base ( Z51 sway bars only ) to the Grand Sport.
I just have 175 miles on it but have been experimenting with settings - and offering to drive by buddie's homes at 05:30 to wake them up with the Track exhaust setting.
I have the rear caster tool that you can borrow. I had my Z51 aligned at Trinity Motorsports in Pooler. Going to be taking the Z06 in here in the next month or so to get aligned. Not headed to Roebling until the end of September, so I got time.
Just an FYI.
I have the Z51 option and planned to have the alignment set to DSC Street/Occasional Track.
I don't know if there's a difference in Alignment specs from the Factory between a Base suspension and the Z51 option.
But when I went to have it done, it was already set from the Factory to the DSC Street/Occasional Track Alignment specs.
And the settings were so close it didn't need adjustment.
Had it checked at 7,000 miles and now with over 10,000 miles the tires are wearing fine.
Alignments out of the factory are pretty much random. Some are close to GM specs and some are way off. My information comes from Mike Levitas, who told me that when I was at DSC Sport having mine done. Mine was pretty far off. DSC is in a good position to make that observation since they're now doing a lot of C7s.
And, you are 100% correct that the DSC street/occasional track recs are very close to GM recommendations.
Hi Clay, yeah I've seen a lot of posts on bad Factory alignments and was surprised mine was good.
Either way I didn't expect it to be like the DSC specs
Hi Clay, yeah I've seen a lot of posts on bad Factory alignments and was surprised mine was good.
Either way I didn't expect it to be like the DSC specs
so in the collective wisdom of all who responded here, go to a specialty shop or dealer? I assume a good dealer has the tool for the rear. I will call before going.
I assume also I can give the specs to the alignment tech and get it done correctly.
Bad assumption?
Would a local specialty shop be better?
Seems like luck of the draw either way.
I've had good results with my local dealer service dept. I believe I would get a before and after print out.
It has been reported that some dealers have the tool, but most probably don't. I think you're better off at a specialty shop, but make sure they have the tool. The part number is listed on the DSC spec sheet posted above.
Hey Foosh, etal
Just want to let you know that I found one of the real good alignment guys in Savannah and got my GS in today. I only have 950 miles on it and haven't hit any potholes.
My *** couldn't tell if there was anything wrong and I wasn't pulling.
But,
Turns out the right rear was off quite a bit both Camber and Toe.
Right front was minimally out of range for Toe.
"Total Toe" front and rear was out of range.
Here's a pic of the printout.
I think we are close enough now to the recs from DSC. What do you think?
Thanks for your posts and help.
Cheers,
Mike
Looking at your before numbers they are close to the numbers on my 15Z. However, it looks like the right rear may have slipped Vs being that way from the factory. If the lower control arm cams weren't tightened sufficiently on that side the LCA could have easily slipped outward and caused the tire to toe out.
Here are the specs you requested. I had mine set up to "street/occasional" specs at the DSC shop, and it's an excellent set-up. The car both tracks and handles better than whatever random setting it had at BG.
Yes, they are good for Stingray, GS, and Z06, which are all built on the same chassis w/ the same suspension geometry.
However, you might want to go the DSC website, where they've posted an updated spec, based upon additional testing. But, they are more minor tweaks that won't make a huge difference from those posted above.
Mine were done at the DSC shop using the above specs, and the car is on rails. My factory alignment must have been horrible given the difference.
Help finding thread - alignment
