Got my alignment finished today over @ FasTrack

Great place, a pro shop that can deal with custom suspensions no problem.

Car was aligned weighed, so it would be correct with me in it.

Set the ride height 1st.
Stock is
7.8in front & rear
I set mine @
6.25in front
5.75in rear
which actually makes the wheel lip clearance even.

Camber, I decided to go ahead and crank up the camber since I have my truck for a daily driver, and I like to autocross.
Front
2.5 degrees
7.0 degrees caster
0.05 degrees toe out
Rear
2.0 degrees
0.20 degrees toe in

I managed to get that much caster & camber with the much ride height because I have adjustable a-arms on the front.

Previously, I had the car 'in the weeds' but this made the top a-arms angle UP, stock they angle DOWN, so I knew that couldn't be good for geometry.

Like to see a side view photo and one from the rear with the 2* negative camber. Is it very noticeable to the eye? You have coil overs, I take it.

Yes coilovers

BTW I still got 0.75in of washer left!

Here some pics

It looked like a 4x4 before I cranked it down and got it aligned
[IMG]http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff87/swiftwood/Corvette/blower%20build/IMG_20110911_183128.jpg[/IMG]

I put the 16in's on since it's due to go to the dyno soon
It looks rake higher in the back, but it's not
It's actually LOWER in the back
[IMG]http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff87/swiftwood/Corvette/blower%20build/IMG_20110927_131110.jpg[/IMG]

still better than the STOCK ride height
[IMG]http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff87/swiftwood/Corvette/bigmeats1.jpg[/IMG]

Yes I got that much camber with the ride height set this high.

Interesting ...

I wish I had the points to spend to go to those adjustable A-arms. Stock I can get to 0* camber in the front.

Tte adjustable lower bushings are going in at the end of the season this year.

FYI I took this pic last year when the car was 'in the weeds'

[IMG]http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff87/swiftwood/Corvette/Suspension/newstancewithcoilovers.jpg[/IMG]

Looking good. Change wheels much?

Yeah, used to chance them every weekend

Hopefully the Wilwoods will fit under the stock buzzsaws (the 16's are out) or I'll need to get yet another set!

If it was me, I'd be running 5 degrees of caster especially for autocross. But run what you want.

Why 5?

I thought we wanted as much as we could get

My recollection is more caster is better for straight line stability. Don't know how that relates to autocross.

Quote:

As much camber as you can get, yea.

But more castor just makes it harder to turn the wheel, slows down your steering input for auto-x (where you need really quick input).

Castor is what makes the wheels point straight relative to the direction that the car is moving, it's why the car will track straight with your hands off the wheel on the highway. Stock spec is 6 + ).5, great for holding your coffee in one hand and texting with the other on a road trip. But the extra effort to turn the wheel just makes your steering inputs slower (even with a quick rack).

5 degrees will make the steering feel lighter and more responsive (C4's are harder to steer with the stock settings, I've noticed it on the track).

5 degrees won't affect the straight-line driving noticeably on the street like the toeout will. Your toeout setting is good but it will make the car twitchy in a straight line and somewhat over bumps but we all run the cars that way and you don't notice it at all after a while.

We run 3 to 3.5 degrees on the open wheel cars, we bought a used Formula E to use as a rental, it had 5.5 degrees of caster and was almost impossible to drive (manual rack).

OK, I was told to set the caster as high as I could in order to get the wheel to come back ASAP when exiting a corner.

Most of this is from the Vette brakes alignment specs

I can definitely try your suggestion out.

I'm opening up new doors with these adjustable arms.

For comparison here's a BSP car I photographed back in SoCal

315f/335r

Lowered so much the wheels are flared

[IMG]http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff87/swiftwood/Corvette/2005%20SoCal/IMG_0159.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff87/swiftwood/Corvette/2005%20SoCal/IMG_0160.jpg[/IMG]

Quote:

I think VB says 5 for auto-x but would have to look it up.

The other thing with the adjustables is the bump steer can be easily changed. Well, the adjustment is easy, checking it takes a while and you have to check all the alignment if you make a change.

Quote:

Not what you want for autocross.

How are you guys measuring castor? Kind of a bitch to do.

Be careful with your upper balljoint there, seems like a lot more angle then they are used to.

measured caster on the alignment machine

suspension was at full droop, balljoint should be OK

Quote:

I use a Longacre gauge.

Turn the wheel out 20 degrees, zero the gauge, turn the wheel in 20 and read the casror directly on the gauge. nice tool.

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You can also do it with a digital level.

We discussed building the adapter to fit the wheels quite a while ago. It's way more cost effective to build your own with a Craftsman level than but a SmartCamber.

But using a digital (or SmartCamber) is kind of a PIA. You have to do some calcs or have the chart from Smart. I've done it before but went back to the Longacre because it's so easy.

IIRC you may be able to download SmartCamber's manual.

Doing some more research, it turns out stock is an anhedral suspension geometry

The IC is on the outside.

Which of course changes when the car is lowered