Appreciate the detailed review. Glad you got it sorted out.
GS Street-Friendly Alignment
- Thread starter cdnrx1
- Start date
Appreciate the detailed review. Glad you got it sorted out.
ddgermann
Power User
What does that mean exactly? Your dealer will not even check your allignment or they won’t adjust it. I wonder if they have the proper set up for the rear alignment.
Interesting as plenty of owners have had the alignment checked and adjusted by the dealers after a settling period on their new cars. By adjustment I mean corrected to factory specs or moved to a more neutral setting.
This is a hot topic around here.
ddgermann
Power User
You may never have any problems but it’s good to get it checked.
There was some debate as to this being part of the dealer break in service for corvettes that dealers try and avoid.
I do not have the answer to that one but my 17 was not checked as far as I can remember from last fall. Either way it can’t be a bad thing to spend $100 to save the tires.
Replacements for your car are $3000 for the 4 of them.
Sorry for the late reply. No it is not lowered, but appears lower than some. Dealer said it was correct "Z" height .
ddgermann
Power User
My 13Z (C6) certainly had a aggressive alignment from the factory. Same hop turning at slow speeds as my C7Zs and there was a thread here last year showing inside edge tire wear on a few generations if I remember correctly.
@MikeysZ06 just had his fronts replaced on his Blues Brothers 07Z and had some funky inside wear as well. They weren’t scrubbed to the cords but he can elaborate as to his alignment and what he found.
I’ve got 7100 km on my 17 now and the tires were off it yesterday. They looked fine but my KMs have been almost all highway this summer so maybe city drives are the nemesis to the tires with this factory alignment. This is a popular subject so likely you will get some good input and examples here.
Who likes dropping 3k on tires after 15,000 km of street driving? Pretty much nobody.
No,they weren’t down to the cords but they were on their way that direction. The service guys at Shag did the alignment to the spec sheet that @Jeffer2013 posted awhile back when I had the new fronts mounted. I believe @RockyPM is using these settings as well. So far,I’ve got no complaints. Again,thanks Jeff/Paul.
AxeZ06
Power User
I booked an appt with the stealership for an alignment and lof, next week.
They claim (on the phone) to have what it takes for the alignment to do all 4 corners, and said they've done several C7's.
Tire longevity means more to me. I'm after the less aggressive street setup. Only track time mine sees is a straight line, 1/4mile at a time.
Any advice?
Thanks.
They claim (on the phone) to have what it takes for the alignment to do all 4 corners, and said they've done several C7's.
Tire longevity means more to me. I'm after the less aggressive street setup. Only track time mine sees is a straight line, 1/4mile at a time.
Any advice?
Thanks.
ddgermann
Power User
Lots of guys have done this street alignment on their C7s. Haven’t heard anything negative so far. There was a thread on this a couple years ago and the reports were no noticeable difference in handling
Jeffer2013
Power User
let us know how it works for you
on my gs it was fun to drive and liked the wear pattern
I only managed 1600 kms or so Jeff with the new front tires (PS2 ZP) and settings. The Cold Lake trip was just over 1200 of those kms and she tracked nice and straight there and back. 2 runs out to Canmore and that was it for last year. Probably not going to notice anything yet,good or bad. I’m guessing around 5000 might be a good indicator. I doubt I’ll get that many in this year.
Ross, thanks for the reference to the Ottawa shop who stated they have the right stuff for a full alignment. Will call them next week. I had my '17 Z51 into the dealer for oil service and requested they check wheel alignment because it has started to pull slightly right for the last ~1500 kms. It was no surprise that they said the alignment was in spec and stated "wide tires are more sensitive to road crown". Strange that the wide tires on my Silverado truck don't cause a right pull on the same roads. I also asked that they do the suspension upgrade flash but the answer on the service report is; "The upgrade flash is only applicable to cars equipped with RPO FE6 and not FE4 suspension. That is not what official Chevy says!
The front tires on our 2005 were wearing on the inside and would have been toast before 20K miles. Another set of wheels and tires that I bought were showing the same wear pattern. It was eventually decided to zero the camber on the front wheels. Wear is even on the Firestone runflats that we installed on the new rims and the car drives just as well as before.
I used the same spec sheet that Mike posted above and when I had new front tires installed at Northgate Chev in Edmonton. Very little front wheel hop on slow turns after the alignment. Sure hope it helps with tire wear.
No issues yet Jeffy.
- Thread starter
- #38
Hi Brian:
When I spoke with Sean Getty I was convinced that he had, not only the equipment, but also the knowledge to perform a proper 4 wheel alignment on a C7. I wish that I had found him before I made the appointment to go to Syracuse, it would have saved me a lot of time. However, I will say that the alignment done by Jeffry's Auto Body has proven to be spot on. Tire wear is even and handling has remained sharp, positive and consistent. The response from your dealer regarding the alignment is typical and, in fact, may be correct. The problem is that the specs, as provided by GM, are so broad you could drive your Silverado through them. The other major factor is whether or not the dealer has the right equipment and is capable of using it. Those are big "ifs" for most Ontario dealers based on my experience.
It's unfortunate that the majority of Chevrolet dealers lack the specific knowledge and training necessary to competently service the C7. Your experience with the MRC situation is an all too common example of how Corvette owners are frequently mislead by dealers who are clearly uninformed yet they feel qualified to provide advice which, at least in this case, is just plain wrong. The MRC upgrade is applicable to all C7's with RPO's from FE2 to FE7. In other words, any C7 with magnetic ride. Show them this article: https://www.corvetteonline.com/tech-stories/demystifying-the-c7-magnetic-ride-upgrade/ and this: file:///C:/Users/wilfr/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/MRC%20Upgrade%20Doc%204873206%20(1).pdf, GM's official notification. And people ask me why I've been doing my own repair and maintenance for over 45 years.
Good luck and please post your results of the alignment if you get it done at Getty Automotive.
Best regards
Ross
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