Wheel Alignment
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 17,982
Likes: 1,074
From: Lansing MI
Why these cars come with settings that are pretty close to a track only car, is hard to understand.
Its like setting up a track only car with street settings. Stupid.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 25,007
Likes: 2,707
From: Far NW 'burbs of Chicago
St. Jude Donor '13
I don't know if it's because the factory doesn't get the alignments right, or if they change as the car settles when you accumulate some miles.
The GM tolerances on alignment specs are absurdly wide, and still all four new Corvettes we've had over the years had at least one parameter that was outside even the factory range when almost new.
You can get a free alignment during a certain range of miles (something like 500 to 4,000, but don't trust my memory) if you tell the dealer that "it handles funny at high speed, please check the alignment" or some such. Our local dealer doesn't ask too many questions and will use whatever specs I give them, just so long as they are within the factory range for warranty. They do a good job. OTOH, some dealers do a really crummy job, hard to predict.
The C7 is one of the few cars in the world where the rear caster is adjustable, it requires special tools that many dealers don't even know exist, and can't be measured on a normal alignment machine. The service writer will usually tell you they can do it because he doesn't know any better. Do your homework and know what you're talking about with the guys.
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Racer
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 348
Likes: 175
From: Central Texas
I second the rear castor setting comment above. My dealer actually explained it to me so they knew what they were talking about they just didn't get it right the first time. When I got the car back I noticed when I hit a small dip on the toll road going about 75-80mph the car swayed left then right. As I read in a older post it felt like I was in a boat that get hit on the side by a wave. I brought it back and they realigned it and now it's perfect. Make sure you take it to someone that understands that rear castor adjustment or they will screw it up. Somewhere on here I read that there are very few cars that have it so most shops don't understand it.
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 25,583
Likes: 16,942
There is no one factory alignment setting, because they spend very little time aligning the cars precisely after assembly. They are all over the map, and it pays to check shortly after taking delivery.
Also agree on the rear caster setting observations above. We've seen new cars with positive rear caster settings on one side and negative on the other. That can cause real handling problems.
Also agree on the rear caster setting observations above. We've seen new cars with positive rear caster settings on one side and negative on the other. That can cause real handling problems.
Last edited by Foosh; Feb 18, 2019 at 04:35 PM.