2020 GT500, Alignment Issues

[iGovernment]

My recent experience with this subject...

Do you have a lift or good jack stands? Are you mechanically inclined? If so, you can fix and manage this yourself. You have all the current settings from the last "professional" alignment printed out for reference.

I had a 2020 GT500 steering to the left recently AFTER a Ford dealership alignment. The car had been in track alignment setting and drove perfectly straight. However, the camber was maxed out and I didn't want that for street use.

Ford set it to a more street friendly setting, but of course, it now steered to the left after they did it. If had that steering wheel site line at 12 o'clock on any half decent road, it would drift. I brought it back, they said they got it straight. Not. Now it was steering to the right when the site line was at 12 o'clock.

I jacked up the car, marked the tie rods with torque paint so I could recall the existing toe, and adjusted both tie rods in the direction I needed. One full turn of a tie rod is a HUGE correction. Watch the tire movement. It only takes maybe a ¼ turn to make a noticeable difference. After a couple corrections and test drives, had the car dead center. And I mean it's PERFECT. Locked it down, remarked it with fresh torque paint, all good.

These cars will drive really straight and true once you dial it in. If your car is going out of alignment often and you're not off roading, something needs to be tightened to spec, or maybe replaced.

Good luck, you'll get it sorted.

Damn good advice. I don't have a flat place to do this. It all does make sense though. Thanks for the reply. I could bring it to a do it yourself shop, we have one where I work though. When I am home from work I will post the latest alignment photo.

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[TonyNJ]

Here's my last couple of alignment specs when the dealership had my steering off center. It wasn't steering straight when I got it back from these but it was perfect when I sent it in initially.

I adjusted as described above. Equal turns on both tie rods in the direction I needed the car to steer. Very minor adjustment and I'm set up perfectly now. It takes some fine adjustments. A good alignment guy will take the time to road test the car enough to get it right eventually. It takes some work and patience and a couple of tries.

 

[iGovernment]

My recent experience with this subject...

Do you have a lift or good jack stands? Are you mechanically inclined? If so, you can fix and manage this yourself. You have all the current settings from the last "professional" alignment printed out for reference.

I had a 2020 GT500 steering to the left recently AFTER a Ford dealership alignment. The car had been in track alignment setting and drove perfectly straight. However, the camber was maxed out and I didn't want that for street use.

Ford set it to a more street friendly setting, but of course, it now steered to the left after they did it. If had that steering wheel site line at 12 o'clock on any half decent road, it would drift. I brought it back, they said they got it straight. Not. Now it was steering to the right when the site line was at 12 o'clock.

I jacked up the car, marked the tie rods with torque paint so I could recall the existing toe, and adjusted both tie rods in the direction I needed. One full turn of a tie rod is a HUGE correction. Watch the tire movement. It only takes maybe a ¼ turn to make a noticeable difference. After a couple corrections and test drives, had the car dead center. And I mean it's PERFECT. Locked it down, remarked it with fresh torque paint, all good.

These cars will drive really straight and true once you dial it in. If your car is going out of alignment often and you're not off roading, something needs to be tightened to spec, or maybe replaced.

Good luck, you'll get it sorted.

I might give this a try. If I think this out correctly, tighten the tie rod is toe out and the opposite is in?

 

[Epiphany]

Just learn how to string the car up and do it all yourself. A camber gauge, some string, conduit, measuring tape, along with jack stands, etc. You'll never take it anywhere for an alignment ever again.

 

[iGovernment]

Just learn how to string the car up and do it all yourself. A camber gauge, some string, conduit, measuring tape, along with jack stands, etc. You'll never take it anywhere for an alignment ever again.

I've actually watched your video on alignments multiple times and other YT videos in the past hour. Saves me 150+ dollars plus maybe increase my IQ by .5 meh

 

[Epiphany]

Good to hear. Keep watching and reading. First time trying it can be a struggle but then suddenly, everything clicks.

 

[OX1]

Here's my last couple of alignment specs when the dealership had my steering off center. It wasn't steering straight when I got it back from these but it was perfect when I sent it in initially.

I adjusted as described above. Equal turns on both tie rods in the direction I needed the car to steer. Very minor adjustment and I'm set up perfectly now. It takes some fine adjustments. A good alignment guy will take the time to road test the car enough to get it right eventually. It takes some work and patience and a couple of tries.

But you notice your cross caster is .1 degrees. With modern cars, they are usually this close, MAYBE .3 degree cross caster max (on alignments I've personally done).

The procedure you describe is useful for centering steering wheel. The only way to truly "fix" a pull, at least partially caused by caster differences, is to adjust the caster. Not factory adjustable, and typically does not change, unless you bend or wear out front end parts.
You can compensate for it by messing with effective thrust angle, but not really the correct way to fix.

One thing that could be done (by OP), since he is exactly a degree cross caster, is get Vorshlags caster/camber plates. They are not infinitely adjustable for caster, but they have 1 degree of caster adjustment. Could set one side to stock and add one degree caster on the other side, to even them up.

 

[iGovernment]

I did order a new front tire since I have one tire that is from 2020 and previous owner replaced one and its from 2023. I am hoping replacing the 2020 tire will help with the slight pull I am experiencing. If not, hey I would like newer tires anyway, including my rears which are still 2020. I can get those later on.

I want to say thanks for all the replies so far as I get adjusted to having such a beast of a car. Learning something new everyday.

 

[OX1]

I did order a new front tire since I have one tire that is from 2020 and previous owner replaced one and its from 2023. I am hoping replacing the 2020 tire will help with the slight pull I am experiencing. If not, hey I would like newer tires anyway, including my rears which are still 2020. I can get those later on.

I want to say thanks for all the replies so far as I get adjusted to having such a beast of a car. Learning something new everyday.

if you really want to get fancy, you can find a shop with a "Road Force" balancer. The newer one's can actually measure the "pull" of a tire. In fact there is a procedure of measuring this pull on all 4 tires, and the machine (balancer) will tell you which tire to put where, to minimize overall pull. My Road Force balancer is a bit older, so not sure if that procedure is updated for vehicles where you are not running "square" setups (with either rims or tires not being able to be used front to back).

If the machine has the "StraightTrak" sticker like mine on the front, then it has this feature.

I bought my machine for the Road Force feature, and have not really used the StraightTrak much at all personally. Balancers typically have sensors 1 and 3 (#3 sensor is kind of hidden) in next pic (for vibration measurement/analysis), but this balancer also has a lateral force sensor (#2) that combines with the tire running under a 1400 lb load against a roller (attempting to simulate actual road forces).

This is the roller that is forced against tire.

The machine keeps statistics (below is only the one's where StraightTrak was selected, as it is optional when balancing). Of the almost 10K balances that had been done before I got it, virtually all of them were within 0-5 lbs side load (see left most column). But "Conicity" was pretty high on quite a few of them.

https://atlanticmotorcar.com/casestudies/radial-tire-pull-or-is-my-tire-really-cone-shaped/

It also measures Plysteer, which I don't fully understand, but am "told" it typically does not create a pull the driver can really feel.

https://www.tiretechnologyinternati...ily responsible,not discernible to the driver.

Anyway, just another "option" available, if you really think you have tires causing a pull.

 

[iGovernment]

I replaced my 2020 front tire and now it drives a lot better. My rears are still 2020 but after inspection they are still good. I wanted to document this journey for others. Any more updates or findings I will update this. There still is a slight pull to the right but it's a lot better. Going to try to find a shop with that StraightTalk. Thanks for all the tips. Happy holidays!

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