Winter tire help
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Instructor
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 220
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From: Virginia
Winter tire help
I’m shopping for new Michelin all season Sport 3+ZP and was concerned about alignment and such. What do they need to do when mounting the tires, etc.
My tires wore on the inside first, so I asked if they could set the castor to 0. The guy said the specs come from the manufacturer and that I would have to provide the specs if I wanted something different. Does that sound right?
2014 Stingray. 18,000 miles on the original set.
My tires wore on the inside first, so I asked if they could set the castor to 0. The guy said the specs come from the manufacturer and that I would have to provide the specs if I wanted something different. Does that sound right?
2014 Stingray. 18,000 miles on the original set.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 25,001
Likes: 2,702
From: Far NW 'burbs of Chicago
St. Jude Donor '13
I’m shopping for new Michelin all season Sport 3+ZP and was concerned about alignment and such. What do they need to do when mounting the tires, etc.
My tires wore on the inside first, so I asked if they could set the castor to 0. The guy said the specs come from the manufacturer and that I would have to provide the specs if I wanted something different. Does that sound right?
2014 Stingray. 18,000 miles on the original set.
My tires wore on the inside first, so I asked if they could set the castor to 0. The guy said the specs come from the manufacturer and that I would have to provide the specs if I wanted something different. Does that sound right?
2014 Stingray. 18,000 miles on the original set.
You're probably thinking about (negative) camber, which gives more cornering grip but tends to wear the inner edges of the tire.
What you really want to avoid is toe-out, which eats the inner edges of the tires faster than negative camber and also makes the car feel twitchy.
E-Ray, 3LZ, ZER, LIFT
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 34,920
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From: NE South Carolina
You really don't want the caster at 0, it should be something around 7'.
You're probably thinking about (negative) camber, which gives more cornering grip but tends to wear the inner edges of the tire.
What you really want to avoid is toe-out, which eats the inner edges of the tires faster than negative camber and also makes the car feel twitchy.
You're probably thinking about (negative) camber, which gives more cornering grip but tends to wear the inner edges of the tire.
What you really want to avoid is toe-out, which eats the inner edges of the tires faster than negative camber and also makes the car feel twitchy.
Exacty, if within spec leave caster alone! Toe is the biggest issue and my experiance is most dealers and even tire shops will put on an alignment machine and if a camber or toe is within the very wide GM spec will say all is fine.For example my Grand Sport rear tire Camber is within spec from -0.5 to -1.7 degrees. I specified a setting of -0.8. Specified all toe settings as well. Took dealer tech 30 to 45 minutes versus 5 minutes he could have spent correcting one toe that was out! Could have said all is fine, which is accurate per GM!
Suggest reading the links folks provided and had the tech what you want. In my case it was done at 400 miles and paid for by GM as part of warrantee!
Last edited by JerryU; Nov 9, 2019 at 12:56 PM.
