2006gtmike

I had my car aligned AGAIN and these are the final specs:

CASTER
L = 7.24
R = 7.54

CAMBER
L = -1.46
R = -1.83

TOE
L = 0.02
R = -0.02

The tech said the caster and camber are out obviously but they are not adjustable.
This HAS to be why my car handles like ****.
Can someone knowledgeable please tell me what to do?

Frankobates

You may have a bent strut

2006gtmike

The struts and shocks have all been replaced.
The front stock lower control aems were replaced with the GT500 arms.

I have the Steeda Plates but apparently no technician knows how to adjust the camber/caster.

2006gtmike

So the tech said with the Steeda plates being on top of the strut he can't adjust the plates. I told him you just have to move the plates left or right but he said they won't. I talked to Steeda and they told me you can adjust camber. WTF!

Norm Peterson

I'm afraid that your tech does not know how to do anything besides look at digital numbers from the machine's database and tell whether what your car measures out at, matches them exactly or not. At best, he does know and is trying to squeeze a bigger job out of you, but I really think he's not capable of making judgement calls.

Caster is NOT out. The preferred setting is +7.1° with a tolerance of ±0.75° and a maximum difference side to side of 0.75°. It's OK and even preferable for the right side caster to be higher than the left side, as this makes the car naturally resist drifting down into the gutter on crowned roads.

Your left side camber is within spec, but just barely (-0.75° ± 0.75°). Only the right side is out. But it's not so far out (on the "high" side") or so different from the left side as to make your car "handle like ****". Since you already have a caster effect in the direction away from the gutter I'd rather see these camber measurements closer to being equal.

I suspect that your lowering springs combined with a car built with a little more than -0.75° camber is behind this for both camber and caster.


But please explain your handling complaint a little better. What do you think it's doing that it shouldn't, or isn't doing that you think it should be doing? What are you doing with the steering, throttle, and brakes when these things either happen or don't happen?


Norm

Norm Peterson

If I'd known that before, I wouldn't have gone so easy on your "tech". Right now, he's just a warm body collecting a paycheck, good for nothing more than doing "toe-n-go" work and with no interest in learning any more than that (hey, he may already be at his mental limits as it is).

Don't walk, RUN from that place.


Norm

Sleeper_08

This is why I get my car aligned by a guy that races. It costs a little more but he knows what he is doing.

We also get to swap "war stories" while he's doing the car.

2006gtmike

The service advisor told me that they even had a guy that owns a Shelby look at my car and they couldn't help, haha. I wonder what "kind of Shelby" he owns. Then the service advisor said his shop is incapable of aligning my car and told me to go to another shop that handles high performance cars. I called this supposed high performance place and they would want me to DROP off my car to get a freakin' alignment. I think that's crazy.

Anyway, there is a slight bounce I feel in the seat when my car drives over any uneven pavement. It's not a terrible bounce but it's slight, like a pulse or slight shake. The handling in the front end of my car (from the front passenger side) seems not so crisp and precise. It can be at any speed, but it's more noticeable at highway speeds. I am extremely picky and it just bothers me because whatever it IS, it's NOT right, haha. I am no auto mechanic or suspension guru so I don't know how to put into words what exactly is happening.

The car feels like it wants to dance/skip around especially when I make sharp turns. For example, making a sharp right turn the front right wheel/tire feels like it wants to travel or wobble upand down more than it should. The wheel/tire feels jumpy as if it doesn't want to stay planted. I can't confidently throw my car around like I once was able to. I'm not accelerating either. I just make a sharpright turn at 30 MPH and can usually make the car slide smoothly but the front right tire moves erraticly. The travel is sloppy. Bumps seem to make the front end of my car to lose its composure. It feels as if the bumps are not being absorbed properly.

I don't know what has changed. I had my wheels/tires balanced and rotated. I have my tire pressures set at 33 lbs all around. I had the front control arms replaced entirely. The struts and shocks were all replaced. I have tried different settings
(soft & firm) on the shocks and it doesn't help. I have the front Strano swaybar set in the middle hole because I found that to be the best of the 3 settings. I don't think it's the stock front endlinks because I hear no rattling but I could be wrong. So could it be a bushing? a bearing? tie rod? What would symptoms of bad motor mounts be?

I'm not about to go to other shop and dole out more money and not get any results.
I need a suspension expert to drive my car so they can experience what's going on.

Anyone live near Philly that's knows these cars?

parchisi

A couple weeks ago I tried to get my car aligned at a shop in Vegas. The tech there said that he wouldn't adjust the Maximum Motorsport C/C plates, you couldn't adjust from the top of the strut, and instead he wanted to elongate the lower control arm mounting holes. The current specs were close enough, so I said "No thank you sir" let him adjust the toe, and left, but not before he got 80 of my dollars.

Norm Peterson

Sounds like the tech is afraid to use any procedure not specifically covered in the factory shop manual. Buy a $40 Harbor Freight digital angle finder and learn how to do it yourself. Seriously.

Out of curiosity, what are the specs as it currently sits, and how frequently do you drive through the corners hard?


Norm