Camber, Caster, and Toe

[DTNODYA]

OK, I am currently trying to find a place that will allign my car and provide a decent warranty ...

But for now, I have tried to get my alignment as close to 'spec' as possible but I don't know exactly what 'spec' is for our cars.

Are we supposed to have slight negative camber? What about toe? Does anyone have a picture of their car from the front or rear (like looking straight down the side of the car from the ground view)? If so would you post them please. I want to get a good idea of how the tire is supposed to "look" so that I can drive it for a week or so, until my CC plates come in.

I know it's kind of a strange request but if anyone can assist me with info or pics I would appreciate it.

 

[nwapache]

I don't know if you have Firestone tire shops in your area, but they have a lifetime alignment for 149$$.
Do yourself a favor and get the MM CC plates, they have the best adjustors.
As far as caster camber adjustments....they vary according to your handling characteristics, I don't know all the specifics but if you do auto-X you'd want to be able to change the settings depending on what kind of track you are running....If not, then getting adjusted as close to zero offset is your best bet.
I just realized I probably wasn't too helpful

 

[bdcardinal]

toe you want close to 0 as much as possible, with maybe a slight even toe in to allow for the tires getting pulled out on acceleration. caster, ideally you want to run as much as possible. i run about 5 degrees caster, but i think stock is around 4 degrees. you want a slight negative camber, about -.5 degrees. without a camber gauge or an accurate alignment rack, you arent gonna get it very close. although i was initally taught how to align cars with a bar and a ruler and that would get them pretty close.

 

[DTNODYA]

toe you want close to 0 as much as possible, with maybe a slight even toe in to allow for the tires getting pulled out on acceleration. caster, ideally you want to run as much as possible. i run about 5 degrees caster, but i think stock is around 4 degrees. you want a slight negative camber, about -.5 degrees. without a camber gauge or an accurate alignment rack, you arent gonna get it very close. although i was initally taught how to align cars with a bar and a ruler and that would get them pretty close.

Makes sense. How did you use the bar and ruler (level I assume)? You're talking about for camber only, no?

I just want to get it drivable where I won't eat tires for 1 week, my CC plates should be here Monday. My truck's water pump went poo and I am gonna driver my car for a month or so just because it's been a while.

 

[bdcardinal]

i used it for camber and toe. for camber you measure from the top outside of the tire and compare to the bottom outside. for toe you measure from the front outside and compare to the rear outside. i dont remember how to measure caster, but i think it involves plumb bobs. i just dont think of it anymore since i have 2 Hunter DSP 400 alignment racks at my work that i can use whenever i want.