Specs for a front end alignment?

[Mariob01GT]

Anybody got any idea... I remember you can tell your shop some settings for the front end alignment that are a bit better then factory and still don't wear your tires out as much.

[new2roush]

I don't know the exact changes to the factory spec, but if your alignment shop is a good one, they should know how to improve the settings. Some of changes will depend on the type of driving (racing) you do and to some extent your personal preference. For example, I prefer just a little less toe-in than factory spec. But that is just my personal preference.

To answer your previous post about alignment/tire wear, my totally uneducated guess is your tire is wearing because of improper camber or toe-in or maybe a combo of both. Only sure way to tell is checking the alignment.

[Terry720]

My research indicates that for the best performance....you want:

1/4* of Toe-In
1/2* of Negative Camber
6* of Positive Caster

Steering will be a little heave at slow speeds, but will be much more stable and responsive at high speeds.

you will probably need Caster/Camber plates to make these settings.

If you don't have C/C plates....tell them you want as much Caster as possible. However, I dond't think there's much they can do for you. from that aspect.

Essentially, increasing Caster will move the center point of the wheel behind pivot point. Basically, you will be trailing your front wheels....like a shoppping cart! This will increase the cars inherint desire to go straight and give you a much better feel for the road when in turns.

if you're looking for better autocross performance....you want to increase that Negative Camber number as far as you can go and work back from there. Plus, reduce the caster number as much as possible. That way....the car will want to turn all the time, you will have maximum rubber on the road in tight turns and will be dynamically unstable. Good for autocross....BAD for street driving and tire wear.

Check here for more advice:
Alignment

[Ccdemon]

Dale emailed me these specs.

Min Max

Caster 2.45 3.95

Camber -1.35 0.15

Toe 0 0.25

[SteveL]

I had MM caster / camber plates installed today and had the car setup differently than before.

I was running +3.6 / +3.7 caster, -0.7 camber, 1/16" total toe in. Caster was set about as far it would go with the stock plates.

The new numbers are: +5.3 / +5.9 caster, -1.5 camber, 1/16" toe in. The shop recommended the 0.6 caster difference though I'm wondering if that's too much of a difference. I wanted the -1.5 camber. A little on the conservative side but figured it was a reasonable compromise between street and track use.

Too early to tell how well this setup works. Two things were immediately noticable. Steering is tighter now because the alignment was slightly out (left side toe was -0.07). There is a slight increase in road noise and feel most likely due to the solid instead of rubber bushings.

[magic]

With 100 miles on my 360R I took it to the worlds best alignment guy (in my world, anyway). He's tweeked new cars for me before. John was amazed and said these guys knew what they were doing and spent some time on it. Used my car to check his machine calibration! Not so with my '01 stock GT that John completely re-set-up, immediately noticable difference.
I saved the settings (factory Roush) but not in front of me now--will get and post.
Still baffeled about oil capacity--takes 6+ quarts to fill my car with filter. maybe because I always drain on ramps hot and then go do something else for a while so it dribbles dry. Also noticed if filter is left on until drained, more oil comes out drain hole when filter removed.
Put a Gripp strut brace on the '01 GT and really liked it. Hood/fender gap stopped move when driven hard. Anybody know of one that will fit around SC on the 360R?

[mln385]

Just a thought but does the supercharger use the crankase oil for lubrication?If so this might explain the extra quart.

[magic]

No, I checked this out. The SC is filled with separate synthetic, don't know specs, and should be ok for 100K with no service. There is a fill plug in front where you can check level, but not necessary--Hank