Camaroguy18

well my car is going into a GM chevy dealer tomorrow to get the t-top weatherstripping done. I asked them to also do an alignment on my car since I just redid the suspension, and new wheels/tires. They told me because of the fact that I lowered the vehicle and got different wheels, they cannot align my car there. They claim that if they do it to GM spec it will be all out of whack (which I understand). But who then, can I bring my car to, to get it aligned? Thanks in advance

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

That’s utter BS, an alignment checks the suspension geometry relative to the body and the 4 corners relative to one another, different wheels and a lowered ride height doesn’t change that. In some case, if you lower a car enough it might not be possible to align it correctly, at least not without adding parts for a greater range of adjustment, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be done.

BUT if they don’t want to do it, I wouldn’t force them either, you’ll never get a good job done by someone that doesn’t want to or thinks they can’t do it.

For that matter, you probably don’t want to align it to factory specs anyway. There are some good numbers posted in the assorted faq’s and similar documents around the net that will give you a good idea of what you should do for what you expect of the car.

AlkyIROC

I just took my race car to an alignment shop last week and got the same story. "We only align to factory specs" I told them I didn't care because I knew what specs I wanted. The only problem you might have is if the suspension has been modified, they may not have enough adjustment to bring it within specs without having to do modifications.

When I got the race car done, I was in the car while it was being done. I wanted my weight to be part of the alignment. The caster and camber were actually pretty close to factory specs. They brought the camber a little closer but my suspension is so active with the V6 springs and drag struts that it's easy to lift the front end and have it stay up which changes the readings. I wanted as much caster as possible. When checked, it was +4* on both sides which is about factory specs. They tried to give me more but there wasn't any adjustment left. The only way I could get more caster would be to pull the top of the shock tower off and extend the elongated caster adjustment holes. Not something I wanted to do at the time. The toe was out slightly because I eyeballed it after modifying my steering linkage. That's the only adjustment I was really worried about. Toe was set in relation to the rear axle which is only out .5* to the left.

If my race car can be aligned, there's no reason a street car can't be aligned even with aftermarket components. I have no idea what they're talking about in being "out of whack" Camber should be set to zero no matter what you've done to the suspension to prevent tire wear. Toe should be zero or ever so slightly toe'd in. Caster is a non tire wearing angle and should be in the +2 to +4 range on both sides. Unless your modifications don't allow enough adjustment, there's no reason a proper alignment can't be done.

Don 79 TA

i do aligments at my friends shop.
you can also put what ever specs you want into the system.

i definately recommend not using a dealer for something like this, but rather a specialty shop if there is one near you.
we have a few, and one guy is an old timer, does it by measurements no electronics.

Camaroguy18

yea thanks, I got an appointment tomorrow with the shop that did my sfc's....they seem to know what to do. Any recommendations for specs as a 'weekend driver'....maybe with a little street advantage for when I get a bigger engine?

AlkyIROC

https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/faq/thirdgen.shtml

Scroll down to the suspension section.

Camaroguy18

oops, 83 Crossfire TA mentioned that above too... thanks

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

Shoot for about 5* caster (.5% more on the R then L to compensate for road crown), about -.5 to -.75 camber (as much as -1 if you’re _really_ hard on the car, but if that’s a good spec that probably means that you’re getting a couple of tickets a week) and about 1/16” toe in (some people recommend a little more for aggressive driving but I can’t for the life of me give a good reason why to do that, for tight autox courses or slalom no or even a little toe out is good)