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Alignment Gurus deciphering help

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Old Aug 3, 2017 | 03:02 PM
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Default Alignment Gurus deciphering help

Only change service dept made is in red.
The rest of the numbers are as set from factory.

Car pulled to right initially, now seems ok. But I'm wondering about future tire wear due to numbers all over the place.

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Old Aug 3, 2017 | 03:52 PM
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Looks okay.

Butt......what is your VERY IMPORTANT REAR CASTER????

It may be okay, but the dealership should have written it on your printed out form.

The rear caster is not a digital read out and automatically printed on the form like the other specs, but it sure should be noted!!!

.
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Old Aug 3, 2017 | 04:34 PM
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The numbers don't really look too spread.
For tire wear, the front camber and toe in should be very close to zero.
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Old Aug 3, 2017 | 04:44 PM
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It doesn't look bad but the specs are listed differently than what is listed in the service manual. From the factory service manual here are the specs for the C7.



Your right front toe was changed from a huge amount of toe in (wheel pointed to the left). Before the adjustment the steering wheel would be twist to the right to get the front wheels pointed straight down the road. This isn't technically a pull since it is the steering wheel that wasn't centered correctly. The left front toe was changed a small amount (maybe just how the alignment machine interpreted things after the large change on the other side) but you now have a small amount of toe in that is almost equal in front. That with the small camber settings should help reduce tracking on uneven pavement surfaces.

You didn't highlight all of the changes made. Rear toe changed as well. Before you had toe in on both sides and afterwards you had more toe in on the right and some small amount of toe out on the left. That gives you the minus thrust angle shown in your chart. What that means is the rear wheel thrust direction is pointed slightly to the left which means if the steering wheel is centered dead nuts it will have to be turned slightly to the left for the car to go straight down the road (Dog Walking). Front toe can be jiggered to make the steering wheel straight while the car is going down the road sideways but that is only a visual. If you look at the two front toe settings you can see that the front wheels are pointed slightly left with the steering wheel centered so you more than likely wouldn't notice the dog walking because the steering wheel has been basically rotated to the right just a smidgen so it doesn't show the slight angle.

Bob, is right about the rear caster but I found during my playing with rear camber and caster settings that it usually fell into GM's factory specs with almost all settings of the rear camber. The spec is for each side and it can vary from -0.8 to +0.8 degrees on both either side and still be in spec. I suspect that is why most GM dealers don't bother with worrying about rear caster. If they sell 500 Corvettes per year there are only 10 or 20 owners that will want the rear caster set because they track the cars. Everybody else's cars are close enough.

Bill
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Old Aug 3, 2017 | 05:00 PM
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Originally Posted by Bill Dearborn
It doesn't look bad but the specs are listed differently than what is listed in the service manual. From the factory service manual here are the specs for the C7.




Your right front toe was changed from a huge amount of toe in (wheel pointed to the left). Before the adjustment the steering wheel would be twist to the right to get the front wheels pointed straight down the road. This isn't technically a pull since it is the steering wheel that wasn't centered correctly. The left front toe was changed a small amount (maybe just how the alignment machine interpreted things after the large change on the other side) but you now have a small amount of toe in that is almost equal in front. That with the small camber settings should help reduce tracking on uneven pavement surfaces.

You didn't highlight all of the changes made. Rear toe changed as well. Before you had toe in on both sides and afterwards you had more toe in on the right and some small amount of toe out on the left. That gives you the minus thrust angle shown in your chart. What that means is the rear wheel thrust direction is pointed slightly to the left which means if the steering wheel is centered dead nuts it will have to be turned slightly to the left for the car to go straight down the road (Dog Walking). Front toe can be jiggered to make the steering wheel straight while the car is going down the road sideways but that is only a visual. If you look at the two front toe settings you can see that the front wheels are pointed slightly left with the steering wheel centered so you more than likely wouldn't notice the dog walking because the steering wheel has been basically rotated to the right just a smidgen so it doesn't show the slight angle.

Bob, is right about the rear caster but I found during my playing with rear camber and caster settings that it usually fell into GM's factory specs with almost all settings of the rear camber. The spec is for each side and it can vary from -0.8 to +0.8 degrees on both either side and still be in spec. I suspect that is why most GM dealers don't bother with worrying about rear caster. If they sell 500 Corvettes per year there are only 10 or 20 owners that will want the rear caster set because they track the cars. Everybody else's cars are close enough.

Bill
I didn't highlight anything...the service manager highlighted the only thing that he said was changed in my alignment, which was the right front toe..

So....if the Actual and Before numbers are different, there was a change made to the alignment?

Maybe I should take it to a different alignment specialist.

Thanks Bill...
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Old Aug 3, 2017 | 05:17 PM
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Originally Posted by VNAMVET
I didn't highlight anything...the service manager highlighted the only thing that he said was changed in my alignment, which was the right front toe..

So....if the Actual and Before numbers are different, there was a change made to the alignment? YES, generally. Although sometimes moving the car around to make one change can affect how the machine reads something else. I was at a GY shop one day getting an alignment done and the machine was slowing changing readings while nobody was touching anything. Just a slow change one way and then back the other. The door was open and maybe the wind outside was affecting things.

Maybe I should take it to a different alignment specialist.

Thanks Bill...
I don't see anything wrong with what they did. I have found it common that typically available alignment machines don't have the factory specs loaded into them.

Bill
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