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Below are some pics of the method I used to do the track alignment on my 2016 C7 Z06. I believe the way I made adjustments (See Chart) are correct but wanted to see if others agreed or if I was doing something wrong. I have the stock setup on my car, I do not have the AMP suspension plate set-up. I spent a few bucks on the tools but well worth the money, the knowledge you gain is worth every penny. There are alot of threads on the actual procedures and wasn't sure about hijacking someone's thread with this info, but wanted to get some feedback. I can share the fine details / procedure if anyone wants it, but like I said there's plenty of threads.
Tools Purchased
*GMCH-47960-10
Digital Angle Gauge Adapter*Simple Digital Angle Gauge
*Longacre 78298 Digital Caster Camber Gauge
*QuickTrick Swivle Turnplates
*Longacre 79505 toe plates
Blank form if anyone wants it I used the strings for toe alignment and double checked the total toe out with the Toe Plates for acuracy. Pretty hard to read .5mm on each side but easy to confirm 1mm total toe out with the plates. After using a wood spacer strip to set width, which worked fine I replaced the wood with a 1/4"×4"x84" steel plate and clamped it to the jack stands. I let the string wrap around the end to set the width. I like tjis better but didn't take a picture. Next time I set it up I will get a pic.
Last edited by JCSIII; May 23, 2018 at 07:29 PM.
Reason: Spelling
Nice write up. I have always done my own alignment similarly in my own garage on all my previous Corvettes. I recently had the alignment of my 2016Z done at a very Corvette friendly dealer, Abel Chevrolet. I watched them do a digital caster adjustment on the rear and dial in the rest is the alignment to my specs. The one thing different from the C7s vs all prior Corvettes, is that after the alignment has been completed, the steering angle must be reset by the computer. After my alignment was completed, my original steering angle was 1.2 degrees different from the post alignment reading and the the tech 2 or whatever is used now was needed to correct the new setting. It was explained to me that this step important for the active handing nannies to read the steering input correctly.
Below are some pics of the method I used to do the track alignment on my 2016 C7 Z06. I believe the way I made adjustments (See Chart) are correct but wanted to see if others agreed or if I was doing something wrong. I have the stock setup on my car, I do not have the AMP suspension plate set-up. I spent a few bucks on the tools but well worth the money, the knowledge you gain is worth every penny. There are alot of threads on the actual procedures and wasn't sure about hijacking someone's thread with this info, but wanted to get some feedback. I can share the fine details / procedure if anyone wants it, but like I said there's plenty of threads.
Tools Purchased
*GMCH-47960-10
Digital Angle Gauge Adapter*Simple Digital Angle Gauge
*Longacre 78298 Digital Caster Camber Gauge
*QuickTrick Swivle Turnplates
*Longacre 79505 toe plates
Blank form if anyone wants it I used the strings for toe alignment and double checked the total toe out with the Toe Plates for acuracy. Pretty hard to read .5mm on each side but easy to confirm 1mm total toe out with the plates. After using a wood spacer strip to set width, which worked fine I replaced the wood with a 1/4"×4"x84" steel plate and clamped it to the jack stands. I let the string wrap around the end to set the width. I like tjis better but didn't take a picture. Next time I set it up I will get a pic.
My alignment order is Camber, Caster and then toe. Camber is more important and I want to get that as close to what I want as possible. I will sacrifice caster to get camber. The first step in setting camber is pulling the one shim from behind the UCA dog bones at the front wheels. Then I tweak the rear lca cam to get any more camber I need plus some positive caster. If I max it out then I adjust the front to get more camber while reducing caster. On my C5s and C6 I did change the shims behind the UCAs to add some more caster adjustment but I have stopped installing unequal shims behind them as I think it increases UCA bushing wear.
How are you stabilizing your toe plates so they don't move improperly when you tighten the tape measures to make your measurement?
Bill
Last edited by Bill Dearborn; May 24, 2018 at 01:58 AM.
The one thing different from the C7s vs all prior Corvettes, is that after the alignment has been completed, the steering angle must be reset by the computer. After my alignment was completed, my original steering angle was 1.2 degrees different from the post alignment reading and the the tech 2 or whatever is used now was needed to correct the new setting. It was explained to me that this step important for the active handing nannies to read the steering input correctly.
I need to get my car inspected I'm going to talk to the tech about this. Good info, thanks.
My alignment order is Camber, Caster and then toe. Camber is more important and I want to get that as close to what I want as possible. I will sacrifice caster to get camber. The first step in setting camber is pulling the one shim from behind the UCA dog bones at the front wheels. Then I tweak the rear lca cam to get any more camber I need plus some positive caster. If I max it out then I adjust the front to get more camber while reducing caster. On my C5s and C6 I did change the shims behind the UCAs to add some more caster adjustment but I have stopped installing unequal shims behind them as I think it increases UCA bushing wear.
How are you stabilizing your toe plates so they don't move improperly when you tighten the tape measures to make your measurement?
Bill
I found if I did the Caster 1st then moved both bolts/plates (B&C on my chart) the same amont for camber adjustment my caster stayed true. I had to lift the car on quickjacks to adjust the toe. Took a few movements to get a feel for how much impact an adjustment made to the toe. I must of lifted the car and drove it to settle the suspension at least 8 times. I did find that I could mount the camber gauge with the car on the ground and take a reading. Lets say it read 2.1 degrees and I wanted 2.5 thus i knew I needed .4 more degrees. When I lifted the car with the gauge still mounted it would read 1.9 so I would adjust to 2.3. Put the car in the ground drive it and I had my 2.5. Caster and camber were easy. Toe took alot of time to get absolutely perfect.
I found if I did the Caster 1st then moved both bolts/plates (B&C on my chart) the same amont for camber adjustment my caster stayed true. I had to lift the car on quickjacks to adjust the toe. Took a few movements to get a feel for how much impact an adjustment made to the toe. I must of lifted the car and drove it to settle the suspension at least 8 times. I did find that I could mount the camber gauge with the car on the ground and take a reading. Lets say it read 2.1 degrees and I wanted 2.5 thus i knew I needed .4 more degrees. When I lifted the car with the gauge still mounted it would read 1.9 so I would adjust to 2.3. Put the car in the ground drive it and I had my 2.5. Caster and camber were easy. Toe took alot of time to get absolutely perfect.
I was never able to move the lca cams sufficiently together to maintain caster. Besides on my C5s and C6 I ran out of Caster adjustment before I reached my desired camber settings. For instance on the C5s I could get -2.3 front camber on each side if I gave up any hope of having anything close to the stock +7.4 caster setting. I had to settle for something in the low 6s to get the camber I wanted since any adjustment to increase caster would reduce camber.
Another question how are you measuring your steering angle so you get the proper caster reading on the gauge? I have the same LongAcre AccuLevel as you do that requires turning the steering wheel 15 degrees out and then 15 degrees in to read caster accurately and determining 15 degrees is not easy without turn plates.
Another question how are you measuring your steering angle so you get the proper caster reading on the gauge? I have the same LongAcre AccuLevel as you do that requires turning the steering wheel 15 degrees out and then 15 degrees in to read caster accurately and determining 15 degrees is not easy without turn plates.
Bill
I use these turnplates. Not sure how good others are but you can move these to 15 degrees just by grabbing the tire/rim (not steering wheel) QuickTrick plates $229.00 on amazon. Longacre plates were almost $700.
Alignment Method
