Chazz

In the quest for a good alignment, I purchased new all new tires and had the suspension inspected last Thursday morning. I then drove the car for a day and went back the next day for a true no lift alignment. The toe in results were 0.13 deg. left and right and the specs from the alignment computer give an acceptable range of 0.80 to 0.17 deg.,so according to the machine, my car is right in the middle of the acceptable range and absolutely symmetrical. However my owners manual provides a range on toe in of 0.17 to 0.33deg, so according to that , the car is a little out of spec on the low side. Question: does the difference merit a return to the dealer and an inevitable arguement, since they will rightfully claim that the car is in spec? The car has stock wheels, stock tire sizes and nearly stock ride height.

worf928

Chazz, the spec books show front toe spec as 15' +/0 5' which is .1667 to .3333 degrees total toe (i.e. the sum of the toe from the two wheels.) If you take 1/2 of that spec (0.0833 to .1667) you get the toe setting range for each wheel with the steering wheel centered and locked. So, with .13 degress of toe on each front wheel your total toe is .26, in spec, and your car will motor down the road with the steering wheel dead straight.

Tommy928

Unless your car is wandering on the highway I wouldn't worry about it. A little less toe gives you better turn-in and decrease understeer, something the 928 needs help in. I typically ask my shop to adjust the toe close to 0 degree just to improve the transient response and more neutral handling. No problem with tire wear either.

drnick

i agree with having the toe close to zero, i have my 86 set up this way (the 88 will be too next alignement). also increasing front castor all the way aids stability.

Chazz

Thanks, guys. So I'm in good shape with toe in. The car still pulls slightly to the right. The camber is in spec on each side, 0.57 deg left and 0.38 deg right, but the difference, left to right is 0.19 min. and the spec is 0.17 min. so that is slightly out. The caster is out of spec at 4.97 right and 4.78 left where the spec max is 4.0. What needs to be fixed to get straight tracking?

bd0nalds0n

Chazz--who did your no-lift alignment?

Tommy928

It is unlikely that your alignment is causing the slight pull to the right. In fact your alignment setting promote a slight pull to the left. Assuming your suspension bushings and brakes are in good shape, the most likely cause for the pull is the tires, even when they are new. If the internal belts of your tires are not layed up perfectly they will cause the tire to torque one way or another causing a pull.

Bill51sdr

Curious about this too... By the way, your pull to the right may be due to road crown. Is it happening on the freeway as well?

Darien

Had mine done with the Hunter System (at Sears), it's dead on

Chazz

Brian, my first choice for the alignment was North Coast on Cedros in Solana Beach, which I think you recommended in an earlier thread, but they don't sell tires and I wanted to avoid a finger pointing episode (something I have experienced more than once with other cars in the past), so I got in touch with Dan's Precision in Encinitas. They do a lot of Ferraris and Porsches and seem to really know the 928, but, though they sell tires, they couldn't get my car's size before Sharktoberfest, so I resorted to Evans which is conveniently on my way to work. They did the tires one day and the alignment the next. I watched the set-up so I know it was done OK. Maybe it is the tires. It is not the crown of the road; I tested it in the opposite lane with the slope to the left.