SMGT Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 Looking for some advice from those here more knowledgeable than I. I had camber bolts installed and front end aligned. They said they aligned to Ford specs which is -.75 deg. My question is when looking straight on at the tires from the front shold they look completely straight? They still look to have negative camber to me but I can't really tell if it is the same as before. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68fastback Posted September 23, 2010 Report Share Posted September 23, 2010 Looking for some advice from those here more knowledgeable than I. I had camber bolts installed and front end aligned. They said they aligned to Ford specs which is -.75 deg. My question is when looking straight on at the tires from the front shold they look completely straight? They still look to have negative camber to me but I can't really tell if it is the same as before. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks! That's likely .75* negative camber, which means the wheels should be a bit further apart at the bottom when viewed from the front. I'm not familiar with the Ford spec on the GT500 but mild negative camber is a typical factory setting for this type of suspension/layout for decent handling and good front tire wear. For track use you'd typically want considerably more negative camber (for better handling in turns) which on the street would cause advanced inner-edge tire wear but which is not as much of a concern on the track as handling is. I don't think camber is adjustable on these cars, so likely they just checked it and it was in-spec. They probably also set a slight amount of tow-in (again not familiar with the factory spec, but I'd guess about 1/8" two-in) which is low enough to not materially negatively affect tire wear but still preloads how the tread tracks relative to the rim just (slight inward preload) enough so the car feels responsive (quicker 'turn-in' response) without being twitchy when going straight. Caster is the third leg on the steering stool and affects the propensity of the front weeks to return to center after they're turned. This is also fixed on these cars, I beleive. I won't use the shopping cart analogy since it's routinely misued and since automotive caster is not a pivot offset but is the actual front-back tilt of the steering axis. Even though more caster makes steering 'heavier' overall, in general more postive caster is used in racing to provide more both high speed stability/centering as well as less quirky fine adjustments by overcomming the dynamic reduction in center feel that occurs when 'dancing-on-the-edge' at the track. Camber/caster plates are available (mount on th etop of the towers in the engine compartment) and the better ones permit you to adjust both by loosening a few nuts, adjusting the plate location (which adjusts the mounting geometry of the top of the front strut), and retightening the nuts. These are popular with folks who track their cars since it permits them to put on their race geometry at the track and then retuen it to more street-friendly settings between track-days. Hope this help put the dealer's settings and your intended uses of the car in a more usefull context. -Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMGT Posted September 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2010 Very helpful. Thanks very much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68fastback Posted September 23, 2010 Report Share Posted September 23, 2010 ...welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordRocks1 Posted September 23, 2010 Report Share Posted September 23, 2010 I just had mine installed and car aligned, yes mine also looks like it still has a negative camber but the mech said all is within spec. My car sure drives a whole lot better/smoother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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