Back from Alignment shop!!
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Race Director
Joined: Sep 2004
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From: Stockton, CA
Back from Alignment shop!!
It turns out my alignment wasn't that bad..everything except for toe was withing range or close to it.....whats kinda odd is when Bill & I replaced the steering rack and tie rods we set the toe to just about 0 with the laser levels......when I got home (60 miles) I did the Kibort measuring trick...it came back 1/16" (.0625) total toe in.....but the machine found it to be .5 total toe in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe we left something loose and it was increasing toe as I drove...I dunno... but the tow was precisely .25" per side....
The good news is it handles VERY well now.....it seems to have corrected my oversteer problem quite a bit....the rear seems more stable than before, but I won't know for sure until I hit the track to test it properly.....
The good news is it handles VERY well now.....it seems to have corrected my oversteer problem quite a bit....the rear seems more stable than before, but I won't know for sure until I hit the track to test it properly.....
Under the Lift
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From: Buckeye, AZ
Brian:
I wasn't very confident in the toe because my lasers mounts didn't sit properly on your 18" wheels. Remember how it changed just from shifting the position of the laser a little. Since it didn't sit on the highest point on the rim, I had to eyeball it. I have redone the mounts to sit correctly on large wheels. At least we had it dead even both sides (good centering).
Now your front tow is on the low end of the range. For street cars I prefer right on the money at 0.12-0.13 per side.
All settings were right-on in the rear before he did any adjustments. He should have done nothing there. Maybe the change is just measurement error.
I wasn't very confident in the toe because my lasers mounts didn't sit properly on your 18" wheels. Remember how it changed just from shifting the position of the laser a little. Since it didn't sit on the highest point on the rim, I had to eyeball it. I have redone the mounts to sit correctly on large wheels. At least we had it dead even both sides (good centering).
Now your front tow is on the low end of the range. For street cars I prefer right on the money at 0.12-0.13 per side.
All settings were right-on in the rear before he did any adjustments. He should have done nothing there. Maybe the change is just measurement error.
Last edited by Bill Ball; Mar 18, 2008 at 03:20 AM.
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From: saratoga, ca
Brian, just to double check the work, take the level and go out and measure it again and see if you can get a .18 degree total toe in (ie 1/16" toed in)
based on the results, the toe in was much greater when you showed up, being near .5 degrees or about 3/16" of toed in. I found it pretty hard to be off by that much with this technique, unless the way you are getting the marks at the front or rear of the tire is different.
Im curious on the rear. i thought the spec was max toe in of about .5 degrees. but on this chart, it has the max being much less, at .25 degrees. Is that different due to your newer car? Im at .36 degrees toed in , and wonder if that is too much for my race car.
I wonder what the other racers are using for toe in in the rear?
MK
based on the results, the toe in was much greater when you showed up, being near .5 degrees or about 3/16" of toed in. I found it pretty hard to be off by that much with this technique, unless the way you are getting the marks at the front or rear of the tire is different.
Im curious on the rear. i thought the spec was max toe in of about .5 degrees. but on this chart, it has the max being much less, at .25 degrees. Is that different due to your newer car? Im at .36 degrees toed in , and wonder if that is too much for my race car.
I wonder what the other racers are using for toe in in the rear?
MK
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Race Director
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 16,271
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From: Stockton, CA
Bill
I also was impressed that the toe we set was exact on both sides....a shade too much but exactly perfect...thats nice!! Other than Toe the alignment settings were still good......I remember Susan saying they aligned the car when I bought it, but it is not on any of my receipts?
MK
I am going to take some more measurements...probably wed...my level & tape method did seem to have quite a bit of variance too it.....
The car tracks & handles very well.....honestly not that much different than when Bill set the toe after the rack-tie rod change...but far better than the old sloppy steering rack and worn out tie rods causing a toe-out on the front....it feels more stable in corners....less "loose" than before...
I also was impressed that the toe we set was exact on both sides....a shade too much but exactly perfect...thats nice!! Other than Toe the alignment settings were still good......I remember Susan saying they aligned the car when I bought it, but it is not on any of my receipts?
MK
I am going to take some more measurements...probably wed...my level & tape method did seem to have quite a bit of variance too it.....
The car tracks & handles very well.....honestly not that much different than when Bill set the toe after the rack-tie rod change...but far better than the old sloppy steering rack and worn out tie rods causing a toe-out on the front....it feels more stable in corners....less "loose" than before...
