Just got back from getting the C5 aligned. I went in because my steering wheel was off approximately 5 degrees from center when driving straight. The car tracked straight on the highway and while braking, but seemed overly sensitive and susceptible to bump steer.

Measurements Before Alignment

I was amazed how far the alignment was out of specification. I am always very careful to avoid pot holes and I have never hit a curb with the tires.


There was a big improvement after the alignment. The steering no longer felt light and sensitive and bump steer was minimal. When I got home I was comparing the printout to the factory specifications. Everything was within specification except rear cross camber. The individual rear cambers were within specification, but the cross camber was 0.7 degree and the maximum permitted is 0.5 degree. We want to go away for a few days and put 800-1000 miles on the C5. Will driving with the cross camber out of specification cause any additional tire wear. The handling is fine.

Thanks

 

Yow! I'd be pissed at whoever did your alignment... taking away all negative camber up front? Leaving you with 0 camber in the LR and -0.8deg in the RR? I think that's an awful job. :-( I'd also be concerned about one rear being toe'd in and the other toe'd out.

I doubt it'll cause you any serious tire wear for a short trip, but I'd look for a better alignment [shop] in the near future personally... who'd you use so I can stay away? :-)

 

I am going to give them a chance to fix it first before naming names. What do you recommend for the front and rear camber settings? I see the factory preferred individual front camber is -0.2 degree.

 

All depends on what you're doing with the car. You should dig into the C5 Tech area and see what folks say. I plan on doing 0 toe, -1.75deg camber up front, and 1/8" total toe-in, -1.25deg camber in the rear on my C6. That's pretty aggressive if you're just street driving... check out what these guys have to say on the C5:

http://www.vbandp.com/instructions/h...ruct/align.htm
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ight=alignment

And I'd tell them to make left/right match... if you can only get -0.7deg on the left, then only put -0.7deg in on the right, etc. Same for the toe... I definitely don't want toe-out on the left and toe-in on the right... *shudder* And you _definitely_ want toe-in in the rear or life will get exciting much too quickly...

From a bit of searching, the 0deg camber up front will supposedly help tire wear with the run-flats on the C5... not sure why the C6 doesn't suffer the same problems given the camber people are running... so I over-reacted there, but I'd definitely get the rear toe fixed.

 

I'd have to agree with most of what gkmccready said.

From that printout it looks like the shop uses a Hunter alignment rack and the WinAlign software. So they have good tools. As long as the rack is calibrated properly and the alignment guy is trained on it.

I would have left your camber alone with exception of getting the LR camber to -0.6 to match the RR. Having a 1/2 deg of negative camber is not going to hurt you on tire wear and will give a little improvement in handling. Getting your caster right on both sides and closer to 7deg was a good thing. Your front toe settings were bad and getting them to 0 will really help with tire wear. In the rear a little toe-in is a good thing on a Vette, any generation from C4-C6.

Some shops will just try to set camber and toe to 0 all around because it makes the car easier to drive. If you want it more aggressive handling with a little tire wear tell them to use the Z06 settings. That will put some negative camber in there while still keeping caster high.

I run -1.5 camber with 0 toe and all the caster I can get in the front. Then -1.0 camber with 1/8" total toe-in in the rear. That is so I can run track events with the GY SCs on my Z06. Driving it on the street/highway with those settings is not a big deal. But you get some inside edge tire wear.

It depends on what your goals are. Setting camber and toe to 0 is fine for a street sedan. Kind of boring on a Vette...

 

Thanks, I really appreciate the feedback. We just got back from a 700 mile road trip and did not encounter any handling problems. I don't autocross or run on a track, but I do enjoy spirited driving on curvy back roads. Especially in the Sierras or Santa Cruz mountains. You suggested the ZO6 settings for my Yokohama AVS runflats. I heard it was not recommended to use these setting for runflats.

 

Finally had a chance to go back to have my C5 realigned. Their top alignment mechanic spent a lot of time on my car and did his best to dial in all the service-preferred settings from the 2001 Corvette service manual.





If your looking for an alignment shop in the San Jose area that can give you an appointment on short notice, get you out in an hour, guarantees their work, provides excellent customer service and only charges 89.00 for a four wheel alignment, then Genuine Automotive in San Jose would be my choice. Another plus is the shop owner, Simon, is a Corvette enthusiast and currently has a ZO6 on order.

NOTE: They are not set up for lowered cars. In addition, their top alignment technician works Monday through Thursday.

Contact info:

Genuine Automotive
4098 Monterey Rd.
San Jose, CA 95111

Ask for Simon
408-362-0314

Website

 

I go to the Firestone on El Camino in Santa Clara(South Bay training store). I got the lifetime alignment for $159 or $169, I don't remember the exact price. Anyway, whichever place you take your car, to get even a lowered car on the rack all they have to do is place something like a pieces of wood or used brake rotors in front of the ramps to help with clearance for driving on and off. Once it's on the rack any place can do the alignment.

As long as you stay within your factory specs you will be fine for tire wear with non track use, but more aggressive street settings are:

Front Camber - The most negative you can get, -0.7
Front Castor - The most positive you can get, +7.9
Front Toe - Very Slight negative amount, -0.03

Rear Camber - A little negative, -0.5
Rear Toe - A little negative, -0.5

If you go in these directions staying within your car's specs, you will be getting as much handling advantage as the car will offer without sacrificing your tires.

This post was good info for me since I didn't know the C5 ranges before reading this. I have a Z06 that I daily drive and track, so my settings are a little different. Even though your ranges are slightly different than mine the principles are the same.

Dog