auto-x and road race people, what are you doing for your alignments specs

[leet]

I know there aren't very many of us, so lets share our info and experience


I have a lifetime alignment at firestone so I've played with a few different setups, but this is what I have found to work well so far


with s.techs, stock ECS, and rear control arms
for camber I had them give me as much camber as possible in the front, I think it was -1.4* this got rid of alot of the plowing problems, and kept me from burning off the outside edge of the tire like I had been doing

for the toe I added 1/8" overall tow out, this made the initial turn in really nice and makes the car feel very responsive

for the rear I just zeroed out everything, I tried a little camber in the back but it didn't do much

this was about the best I got the car to feel with that setup

ksports and rear control arms
I'm still experimenting with the ksports since I haven't had them for too long, but this is how I have it set up now

car is sitting a little bit higher then it was with the s.techs

2 turns of preload on the springs front and rear

one turn of the damening knob in the front and rear

-2* of camber in the front

1/8" toe out

0 camber/toe in the rear

so far this has been good, the car seems to lean more towards oversteer now instead of plow, I'm still trying different stuff though.
I did end up getting rid of the toe out, I figured I would sacrifice a little bit of the handling for tire life, other then inital turn in the car feels about the same without the toe though
the ride isn't too stiff, and it stays nice and flat through the turns

[Highboosted]

Stock suspension for now, maximum neg camber (about 1 degree) in front. A little toe out (less than a 1/8th, it just came off the rack like that) in front, and a little toe in at back.

I still wear off the shoulders of the tires and have understeer with constant throttle, oversteer on command with a bit of a lift. Basically it sucks.

K-sports will be on soon, and my initial adjustments will be almost -1.8 front, -.5 back for camber, no toe front, back toe'd in a bit.

I have a feeling the front camber is going to get crazy as I chase tirewear and feeling.

[leet]

yeah I was still burning the shoulder off with -1* too

[91vr4n00maxima]

-2.5 front -2.2 rear minimal toe out in front and minimal in in rear.

tein HAs, stock sway bars, front and rear strut tower bars.
wore evenly across all 4 tires.

[leet]

oh yeah I forgot to mention my front and rear strut tower bars

[leet]

bump

[mitsuscott]

I drive to the track with 1 degree negative camber on all four, as well as tow in 1/32 front and rear.

After a nice warm up I will generally have the front camber to 2.5 degrees negative.

[Erron Spalsbury]

With the JIC's, pillow balls and the cam bolts, I have a smidge over 3* camber up front and 2* in the rear. 1100 pound front springs and 700 in the rear. The setup as far as dampening changes from track to track. I usually find the biggest bumps on the track and find a good setting that keeps the car from bouncing as I go over. It's not max setting, like maybe 4 clicks front and 2 in the rear? That's about where I start anyway. Stock sway bars still. With this kind of spring rate, I've yet found a need for them to upgraded. (car will 3 wheel as it is) As far as tow in/out, none. I try to set it as close to straight as I can get it. I've played with the tow before and where I felt it gave benifit to add tow out, made my car a bit too "snappy" in the turns. I did see improved braking for tow in, but turn in suffered so I went back to straight. I do my own alignments as well.

Great thread..

Erron S.

[Struggly]

Tein Flex w/ camber-caster plates, stock sways:

Ran a very conservative -1.5/-.75 camber with zeroed front and rear toe last year.

I'm probably going to step up to -2/-1.5 for the upcoming season. I'm sure I could run more, but I still do a lot of regular driving--far more regular than track--and I wasn't getting all that bad of tire wear on my settings from last year.

Clint

[leet]

Originally Posted by Erron Spalsbury

With the JIC's, pillow balls and the cam bolts, I have a smidge over 3* camber up front and 2* in the rear. 1100 pound front springs and 700 in the rear. The setup as far as dampening changes from track to track. I usually find the biggest bumps on the track and find a good setting that keeps the car from bouncing as I go over. It's not max setting, like maybe 4 clicks front and 2 in the rear? That's about where I start anyway. Stock sway bars still. With this kind of spring rate, I've yet found a need for them to upgraded. (car will 3 wheel as it is) As far as tow in/out, none. I try to set it as close to straight as I can get it. I've played with the tow before and where I felt it gave benifit to add tow out, made my car a bit too "snappy" in the turns. I did see improved braking for tow in, but turn in suffered so I went back to straight. I do my own alignments as well.

Great thread..

Erron S.

I noticed that too with the toe, the initial turn in was nice and snappy with the toe out but it feels more stable once you're in the turn with no toe


what do you use to do your own alignments?