Performance Alignment

[ChrisR]

I tried the "search" because I remeber this topic has be gone over before, but it didn't find anything.

So, I'm doing a High performace driving school (road racing course) this sat. I figured I'd get an alingment and tire rotation on fri, since my steering wheel is always going a little to the right. I just wanted the specs on the performance alignment, like what to tell the guy doing the alignment.

THANks

 

[ShoGuy93]

I know alot about the sho's but i have really never herd of a performance alignment before. I may be wrong. But if i am please respond if there is such a thing....

 

[RStalveyARFF]

camber -1* all around, caster as positive as possible, slight toe in.

 

[ChrisR]

Thanks, that's what I'll tell'em at the alignment place. thumbs_u

 

[ShoGuy93]

See i learn something new on the forum every day!!

 

[94mtx]

chrisr,
sorry this may be a bit late, but if your going road racing, i would put more than neg 1 degree of camber up front. i have neg 1.5 and i drive on the street. it really helps the tires in the corners. and are you going to pir? the front straight is fun!! running flat out less than 1 foot from the wall. and just some free advice about pir and a sho, stick to 3rd gear to learn the track. also keep an eye on tire pressures and play with them a few lbs at a time. have fun on saturday

jon

 

[sdpatt]

Going more negative than -1 degree on the camber may help in the turns, but it will provide less grip for braking and acceleration and will cause increased tire wear on the inboard tread area. There are always compromises. The ideal camber setting will aso be dependent upon the tire.

The front wheel drive cars such as the Taurus do not usually take toe-in. They ask for straight or slight toe-out since the wheels will get toed in as the torque is put to the ground.

 

[NWGRN94MTX]

Hey Rebernatior,

Kerry has alinment spec's. I think they may be posted on the club's Yahoo site. If not, fire a message to him. He's post them. Ask him to put them in a file on there until I update the club's webpage.

 

[Todd TCE]

I'd have been all over it with 1-1.5neg camber and a touch of toe OUT in the front for the track. That toe IN is going to eat you up your tires...

BUT, you won't much like the feel of it on the street, thus you can't really call it a 'performance alignment' rather a track set up. Pay them to put it back to the normal alignment after the event or you'll be replacing those tires real soon with that much neg camber.

Sorry, there's no free lunch.

 

[RStalveyARFF]

if you get it done at sears, you just go to another one alittle later and say your alignment is whacked. 6 month warranty

 

[ChrisR]

Sorry, everyone else was too late. In fact I just got back from the track. I went with what SHO91MTX said, but do you think this is ok for the street too?

On a lighter note, Track days are SOOOO fun. It was a freakin blast! It was a driver's training, so we had instructors sit in in the morning, but I moved up to go solo in the afternoon. Gotta love the SHO in those straights - 110mph while passing 2-3 cars. I thought it handled very well for stock suspension. But you gotta hate the SHO at the end of the long straightaways - the stock brakes suck. Can wait to install my 13's.

Later all

 

[TopSHO92]

sdpatt:
Going more negative than -1 degree on the camber may help in the turns, but it will provide less grip for braking and acceleration and will cause increased tire wear on the inboard tread area. There are always compromises. The ideal camber setting will aso be dependent upon the tire.

The front wheel drive cars such as the Taurus do not usually take toe-in. They ask for straight or slight toe-out since the wheels will get toed in as the torque is put to the ground.

I agree with sdpatt. By tweaking the alignment, especially with the -1 camber or more, inner tire wear will become much more noticeable. The mileage you'll get out of your tires will decrease with the more negative camber you have. If buying tires more often isn't a factor, this type of alignment is fine on street or track.

Good Luck

<small>[ March 21, 2003, 02:48 PM: Message edited by: TopSHO92 ]</small>

 

[DeaconBlue]

With wide tires (235 or 245) and you drive your SHO mostly on the street, you want to have the front camber set at -0.60 to -0.70 degrees and the rear camber set at -0.30 to -0.20 degrees. Move the SF all the way forward to get maximum caster, mine is at +4.7 to +4.8 degress. If you have a full set of poly or TPR strut rod bushings, then have the front and rear toe set to zero. The only time I would recommend a 1/32" toe out is if you are still running factory soft rubber strut rod bushings.

Now the only change you would need to make for a track or autocross setup (with a set of track rubber), would be to increase the front camber to -1.5 degrees max.

 

[pjtoledo]

sdpatt:
,,,,,,,
The front wheel drive cars such as the Taurus do not usually take toe-in. They ask for straight or slight toe-out since the wheels will get toed in as the torque is put to the ground.

Time for some questions,,

If the centerline of the front wheel
hits the ground inside of the centerline of the steering axis,,, which it does,, Won't the front wheel then try to rotate to the outside when driving? Speeking in theory only, the "force" should try to pivot around the steering axis shouldn't it? Of course the opposite applies during braking, the front wheels should turn in. This does not take suspension travel into consideration. Comments guys??

Perry Toledo,Ohio