[Jimbeau11]

Originally Posted by Cujo159

The dude was trying to say that I needed extra eccentric bolts for the front struts and an extra bolt that goes into the top hole of the front spindle, the hole that is perpendicular to the direction of motion of the car.

This is exactly what the Firestone guy said. I know.......you get what you pay for......., but before I put the cage in they'd been taking my C5Z from track specs to street and back for years.

[Hops]

HELP! HELP! Today my dealer it telling me I might need mechanical modifications to get the factory track alignment spec! And I have a track night next week! He’s now waiting to hear back from the factory. After reading this thread, I now know this dealership doesn’t know what they’re doing, anyone know of a SS 1le friendly alignment shop in Maryland, DC, NoVa?

[carguy55]

I use my local Goodyear store. I take in the specs I want and it gets done with a printout of the before and after.

[Tim M]

Hops: Search out a 'race' shop...they will be much more accommodating. Yes, corner tire stores can do it too, but they have to be willing/friendly.

$150 alignment at a race shop for quality work always will outweigh the challenges with budget places (bad alignment can wear a $400 tire very quickly).

You do not have to have a track alignment to visit the track...I'm barely over stock and have 400+ miles on a track.

[Hops]

Originally Posted by Tim M

Hops: Search out a 'race' shop...they will be much more accommodating. Yes, corner tire stores can do it too, but they have to be willing/friendly.

$150 alignment at a race shop for quality work always will outweigh the challenges with budget places (bad alignment can wear a $400 tire very quickly).

You do not have to have a track alignment to visit the track...I'm barely over stock and have 400+ miles on a track.

yeah, i perhaps naively, reasoned that since gm designed the camaro for a track alignment, that a chevrolet dealer would be the best place to have it aligned.... LOL. Thankfully, i stopped them in time from trying to align my car. i can get the car today. I got some shop recommendations from FNxR3DNECK. i might use the shop i track aligned my bmw with camber plates.

I might actually skip the alignment for a first track night... there's no way i can push this car... i'm used to a 230hp 128i!

[Hops]

If a shop can align my old bmw 128i with camber plates.... would they be able to track align a SS 1le? I called this shop, and they said they specialize with euro cars, but haven't done a SS.

[Hops]

decided to DIY on the alignment, with toe plates and a digital level, i was able to get -2.5, -2.55 in the front, and i'm front toe'd out 1/32". Thinking of putting up a DIY for this (if no one else has). It did take a lot of time!

[Tim M]

Hops: I used to do it myself as I was fed up with shops. I ended up slightly off and after a 7000 mile road trip = two toasted rear tires (toed in)...I now defer to a computerized alignment a good race shop can provide.

Even inconsistencies in the pavement where you do the alignment can change the settings.

Good Luck!

[TRZ06]

Just an FYI,

I had the track alignment on my SS 1LE last year. I decided to have it rechecked when I got new tires 2 weeks ago.

While I am not doing track stuff yet, I daily my car and it sees its share of crap CA roads and a few potholes here and there and I was impressed that my alignment has held almost completely from a year ago. My neg. camber was slightly higher on one side of the front, but the toe F and R was right on.

Tire wear has stayed consistent/even as well.

I'm impressed with the robustness of the 1LE

[Hops]

Originally Posted by Tim M

Hops: I used to do it myself as I was fed up with shops. I ended up slightly off and after a 7000 mile road trip = two toasted rear tires (toed in)...I now defer to a computerized alignment a good race shop can provide.

Even inconsistencies in the pavement where you do the alignment can change the settings.

Good Luck!

Really? You have me concerned about pavement inconsistencies, didn't think toe plates would be that sensitive to that. I made two sets of initial measurements, even drove the car around the block between them. I got reproducible numbers, but i did measure from the same spot in the garage.

Before i did the toe adjustment (after setting the camber and driving around the block), i was at 5/32" total toe out 0.38 degrees. I couldn't loosen the tie rod lock nut so i drove up on concrete pavers, and surprisingly, that didn't change the the measurement much (it was then 4/32" out).

When i was done with the tie rod adjustment of 90 degrees clockwise on each side, it was out 1/32" (0.08 degrees). Just a few minutes ago i measured it again after 50miles of driving, and it's now 0.0". But again, i've been making these measurements from the same spot in the garage! I guess i should make another toe measurement with the car parked the other direction.

[TRZ06]

Originally Posted by Hops

Really? You have me concerned about pavement inconsistencies, didn't think toe plates would be that sensitive to that. I made two sets of initial measurements, even drove the car around the block between them. I got reproducible numbers, but i did measure from the same spot in the garage.

Before i did the toe adjustment (after setting the camber and driving around the block), i was at 5/32" total toe out 0.38 degrees. I couldn't loosen the tie rod lock nut so i drove up on concrete pavers, and surprisingly, that didn't change the the measurement much (it was then 4/32" out).

When i was done with the tie rod adjustment of 90 degrees clockwise on each side, it was out 1/32" (0.08 degrees). Just a few minutes ago i measured it again after 50miles of driving, and it's now 0.0". But again, i've been making these measurements from the same spot in the garage! I guess i should make another toe measurement with the car parked the other direction.

I am not a fan of manual alignments. Every time I have had a shop try to do that, it always come out screwed up and the driving dynamics suck.

Get it professionally done with a laser machine. Once and done.

[John Blue SS]

Originally Posted by Ryephile

Get a new dealership and alignment shop, they're both useless and/or incompetent. Also, pretty much everyone's alignment has proven to be out of whack off the truck from the factory. It's their job to get the car out the door, not fiddle with alignments.

Provoste is on-point, as always. To adjust the front camber you need to loosen the nuts and then tap the bolt back to release its clamping force from the strut, as it holds tight without the nut because of its splines.

Everyone has been able to get at least -2.0° with stock struts. What you're at now will decimate your outside shoulders very quickly. Even -2.0° has proven to be inadequate for advanced-level HPDE pace, more like -2.5 to -3.0 is appropriate, but you need to either elongate your strut holes or get camber plates to get that far.

I know this is an older post but I wanted to thank Provoste & Ryephile for your picture & tip on the splined bolt regarding how to adjust the front camber. The front bolts in my 2020 SS 1LE were really tight & needed a couple good whacks to pop out so I could adjust the camber. Unfortunately, my local dealer either didn't know that these bolts needed to be popped out before adjustment or would not adjust to the track setting of -2deg. My bet is that they didn't know about the splines on the bolt preventing adjustment.

[TRZ06]

Originally Posted by John Blue SS

I know this is an older post but I wanted to thank Provoste & Ryephile for your picture & tip on the splined bolt regarding how to adjust the front camber. The front bolts in my 2020 SS 1LE were really tight & needed a couple good whacks to pop out so I could adjust the camber. Unfortunately, my local dealer either didn't know that these bolts needed to be popped out before adjustment or would not adjust to the track setting of -2deg. My bet is that they didn't know about the splines on the bolt preventing adjustment.

Yeah, the first time I took mine to get done , the mechanics didn't know how to do it either. I had to show them a thread on how to do it.

I was able to get -2.4 in the front and -1.6 in the rear, but I think that may have knocked the front toe out a bit after driving it for a bit. So, I am now back down to -2.3 in the front and -1.5 in the rear.

I will say that this car loves neg. camber. I can feel a grip difference just going from -2.4 back down to -2.3 around the same on-ramp near me.

[UnknownJinX]

Old thread, but just thought I'd add a data point as well.

I took my SS 1LE to a reputable local shop for an alignment and the guys there initially also had trouble setting the front camber past -1.5 degrees. I told them about this thread and they eventually figured out that, yes, you need to pound out that splined bolt to allow even more camber adjustment and take it to -2.0 degrees and beyond. They told me that apparently, GM has been using this design from the 80s as they are pretty experienced and saw that design on old GM cars before. They ended up charging me more for the alignment, which is fair as most people here used more expensive shops to get it right anyway.