I recently purchased a 2017 Grand Sport and I now have about 2000 miles on it. A friend of mine that has a 2013 GS with 17000 on it had to replace both front tires. Inside edges on both were down to threads. After replacing his tires, he had it aligned and the front toe was way off. Long story short, I decided to get my New GS aligned, and lo and behold, rear toe was out of spec and 3 of the 4 corners had out of spec camber. I seriously recommend getting an alignment (maybe even make the dealer do it prior to delivery) no matter how new your Corvette is. My buddy dropped a grand on new tires before he had to.

 

That's not at all unusual. The factory does not do precise alignments, they leave Bowling Green with alignment settings all over the map.

 

First the dealer should check alignment on warranty IF you have less than 500 miles. You should wait to put some miles on the car to let it settle in, I waited ~400 miles. Just tell them it is pulling slightly to the right (on crowned roads, most will!)

Second if you're not tracking and want the best tire mileage have them set the camber on the least camber end of the spec. The GM spec is very broad. I had mine checked and the camber ranged from -1.4 to -1.7 degrees. Within the GM spec on the high end. Had all four set to -0.6 to -0.8 degrees, again within spec on the minimum side. That will wear the inside edge less.

Turned out one front toe was in the red. All set now in the center of the spec, near zero. Took a while for the tech to make all the settings as I requested on a sheet I provided. Not sure they were obligated to do that, but he did.

As is my normal MO, I was watching from the open door outside the alignment bay and he invited me in to watch the Hunter alignment info as he made the adjustments. All was covered on warranty.

 

I had mind done at 400 miles car was drifting left 2 corners bad camber and toe was out on front wheels

 

One dealer told me 7000 miles, another 9000, but only if you have a complaint--e.g., pulling to one side. The warranty manual says 7500 miles.

 

.......when transported they are tightened down, that has been known to affect alignment

 

There you go! Watch your tires for excessive wear, have your car realigned if necessary before 7,500 miles.

 

My '17 Z51 felt off,so at 1000 miles I had it done.

Yep.....it was off.
$90. Worth it.


\db2

 

Not sure if I was lucky or if it was checked. Luckily, arrow straight after 5,000 miles with no noticeable excessive wear. Good advise nevertheless. If it pulls, pull it in and discuss it with the service writer. I've found they are always impressed when vettes come in and noticed people around the shop do the casual look thing. Most (good) Chevy dealers have dedicated Corvette technicians who only do Corvettes and have lifts set up for them (along with knowing what they are doing) so nothing is broken. I specifically asked about this when I purchased my car. So far Rick Hendricks Chevrolet in Norfolk (where I bought the car) has been spot on for service. I expect nothing less from Mr. H.

I'm very certain I could have saved some by buying distant but 2 miles away made it easy and easy beats $ sometimes.

 

The only issue is the alignment rack lift! My car was delivered to a great small courtesy delivery dealer. Was impressed with their installation of my Stage 2 aero splitter and side skirts. The Service Manager and Vette tech even invited me into the Service bay to watch the side skirt install. The manager identified two small paint issues I would have missed. They brought the Vette to their body shop and repaired in an hour.

I mentioned I might be back to have the alignment checked after a few hundred miles (my intent was to have the camber settings reduced to the low end of the broad GM spec) and the Service Manager took me over to the alignment rack. It was designed to handle trucks (big sellers in our area) and he said we'll have to see if the splitter clears -IMO it would not have. Even checked a few places in town and their alignment rack ramps were also steep and high.

When I had ~400 miles I btought it to the large Chevy/BMW/,Mercedes dealer in town (who have always been happy to Service Vettes I bought from other than that dealer) and they said it would clear their alignment rack ramps. Watched as one tech monitored as the other drove the car up the lift ramps. Cleared the carbon fiber GM splitter by 1/2 inch! Air dam scraped, as expected.

Tech reduced the camber from the initial -1.4 to -1.7 degrees on all 4 wheels to what I specified, -0.6 to -0.8 degrees (all within the GM spec) and adjusted and out of spec toe on one side, mading all centerline, close to zero. All on warranty.