Morrisman1
Newish Member
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2022
- Messages
- 12
- Reaction score
- 24
- Points
- 3
I couldn't find a thread on this in particular, so I thought Id start one if people were interetsed.
Obviously wheel alignment is particularly important, however its something often done poorly, with some techs just twisting spanners till they see the green light and nip it up there. Some will go a lot further and strive for perfection.
But what is perfection?
The OEM have a particular alignment specification, this is likely to be a compromise of steering response, vehicle balance and tyre wear. It will account for aspects like bump steer (if there is any on this), toe changes on braking an acceleration etc. Its obviously based on a factory ride height, factory tyres and wheels.
I wasn't happy with the way my front tyres were wearing. I've done 25000km on them so far, and although most of the tread has about 3-4mm, the outer edge, especially on my passenger side, was wearing much faster. I've swapped the tyres over to put it on the side which wears less. To check where we are at with the alignment, I set up the trusty stringbox, a precision tool without all the flashy lights and price tag. I use it all the time on the race cars and its near impossible to beat for setting up toe.
My findings were as I expected, the fronts were just outside the factory toe-in specification, the rears were mid spec. This has the potential to be the cause of the front outer tyre wear. I've now aligned the front, and gone the other way, set it at the minimum factory spec for toe-in, which is zero toe i.e. wheels straight ahead. I haven't touched camber, and I have no way of measuring caster.
Initial drive results: the middle of the steering feels a little less sharp, the car isn't so twitchy in the 10mm wheel rotation around centre when on the highway, however once the car settles after a steering input, it bites hard. So the turn-in has become more aggressive, and less linear. Not necessarily a bad thing at all. It feels more like a rear bias car now and actually feels like you could scandi flick it into a corner if you were being silly. Ill be interested to see the impact on the fuel economy too. My car is a RWD GT, on the factory PS4 tyres.
But its worth discussing: Has anyone experimented with various alignment settings, whether they be within the stock range or outside of, and what results have been experienced? Obviously alignment setups will vary from strip, to track to road etc, and between AWD and RWD cars.
Obviously wheel alignment is particularly important, however its something often done poorly, with some techs just twisting spanners till they see the green light and nip it up there. Some will go a lot further and strive for perfection.
But what is perfection?
The OEM have a particular alignment specification, this is likely to be a compromise of steering response, vehicle balance and tyre wear. It will account for aspects like bump steer (if there is any on this), toe changes on braking an acceleration etc. Its obviously based on a factory ride height, factory tyres and wheels.
I wasn't happy with the way my front tyres were wearing. I've done 25000km on them so far, and although most of the tread has about 3-4mm, the outer edge, especially on my passenger side, was wearing much faster. I've swapped the tyres over to put it on the side which wears less. To check where we are at with the alignment, I set up the trusty stringbox, a precision tool without all the flashy lights and price tag. I use it all the time on the race cars and its near impossible to beat for setting up toe.
My findings were as I expected, the fronts were just outside the factory toe-in specification, the rears were mid spec. This has the potential to be the cause of the front outer tyre wear. I've now aligned the front, and gone the other way, set it at the minimum factory spec for toe-in, which is zero toe i.e. wheels straight ahead. I haven't touched camber, and I have no way of measuring caster.
Initial drive results: the middle of the steering feels a little less sharp, the car isn't so twitchy in the 10mm wheel rotation around centre when on the highway, however once the car settles after a steering input, it bites hard. So the turn-in has become more aggressive, and less linear. Not necessarily a bad thing at all. It feels more like a rear bias car now and actually feels like you could scandi flick it into a corner if you were being silly. Ill be interested to see the impact on the fuel economy too. My car is a RWD GT, on the factory PS4 tyres.
But its worth discussing: Has anyone experimented with various alignment settings, whether they be within the stock range or outside of, and what results have been experienced? Obviously alignment setups will vary from strip, to track to road etc, and between AWD and RWD cars.
