Alignment Murk

[SkySoldier]

Ok. The Soldier needs an alignment so that at the autox he won't be too embarassed. In searching the forums (this one and the Solstice forum) I'm finding some variences. This is causing confusion Not to mention anxiety I'm getting the alignment on Sat. so any help would be greatly appreciated.

[snaponbob]

I have had two alignments. The first was to 1.75 deg neg camber front and 1 deg neg rear. It made a remarkable difference. But it was not enough. After two events I had a second alignment to 2.3 deg neg front and 1.7 deg neg rear. Zero toe f/r. The improvement was less pronounced, but the wear patterns at events was better. If I didn't care about my street tires I would have cranked in more negative camber, but I do, so I didn't. At these settings, most people that have done this say that tire wear is not really affected.

BTW, I am running Hoosiers 245/35X18 A6's at about 43/39 f/r.

[SkySoldier]

Thanks for the reply. I really appreciate it. Can I further impose and ask what your caster settings are? As time progresses I am sure that I will be playing with the settings, but this gives me an excellent starting point. Thanks again!

[snaponbob]

Don't worry about getting "cute" with caster. The rear caster requires a special electronic instrument from GM. IF your store has it, just stay at the factory rear setting, or as close as you can, and keep the left/right caster equal. On the front, factory caster is 8 deg. Once my car was adjusted beyond 2 deg negative there was a loss of caster to about 7 deg neg. At 2.3 negative camber the most caster I could maintain was about 6.2 on one side and 6.5 on the other. This small deviation did not induce any pull on the road. But, since these cars are very much handle build, your alignment impact on caster may be different.