Second Guessing my new alignment

[ManBearPig]

I went to an alignment shop I trust yesterday and put the car on the rack. Ive been needing to do this for a while after I put my Steeda springs in. I always felt the car was a little "twitchy" after the drop and just assumed it was goofy alignment. Turns out....the settings weren't really too far off. I asked the shop to try to duplicate Ford's FRPP "performance" settings of -1.5 front camber, 0 front toe, -1.9 rear camber, .2 rear toe. The rear settings were already dead on (both toe and camber) so we didnt mess with that at all. Passenger front was at -1.5 so we didnt touch that either. Driver front was -1.9 so we did set that to -1.6. Front toe was also off but we dialed that to 0. So overall, I ended up with exactly the specs I asked for, even though we only made tiny adjustments to the front. Ive done some reading now (probably should have done it before hand) and found that these FRPP performance settings may not be ideal after all.

According to some further research, both front and rear camber settings are less than ideal for a street car. I'm thinking front should be closer to -1, whereas rear camber should be closer to -1.5 for a street car. I think less camber would help reduce the twitchy feeling. Additionally, it would take away that goofy look the car has from behind (I followed my car home from the alignment shop and noticed the rears are visibly cambered in).

I do not daily drive the car, but i don't track it, either. Its a Sunday driver for me that gets less then 4k miles a year.

My question is....Am I far enough off to warrant going back to take a half degree of negative camber out of each wheel? Or are my settings ok for a street driven car?

Thanks

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[ManBearPig]

edit...also forgot to mention I am on Steeda sport linear springs. Drop was exactly 1" at all 4 corners so this is a much milder drop than many of you guys run. I also have a set of 1" spacers on each wheel which probably exaggerates the camber to a small extent as well.

 

[BmacIL]

I went to an alignment shop I trust yesterday and put the car on the rack. Ive been needing to do this for a while after I put my Steeda springs in. I always felt the car was a little "twitchy" after the drop and just assumed it was goofy alignment. Turns out....the settings weren't really too far off. I asked the shop to try to duplicate Ford's FRPP "performance" settings of -1.5 front camber, 0 front toe, -1.9 rear camber, .2 rear toe. The rear settings were already dead on (both toe and camber) so we didnt mess with that at all. Passenger front was at -1.5 so we didnt touch that either. Driver front was -1.9 so we did set that to -1.6. Front toe was also off but we dialed that to 0. So overall, I ended up with exactly the specs I asked for, even though we only made tiny adjustments to the front. Ive done some reading now (probably should have done it before hand) and found that these FRPP performance settings may not be ideal after all.

According to some further research, both front and rear camber settings are less than ideal for a street car. I'm thinking front should be closer to -1, whereas rear camber should be closer to -1.5 for a street car. I think less camber would help reduce the twitchy feeling. Additionally, it would take away that goofy look the car has from behind (I followed my car home from the alignment shop and noticed the rears are visibly cambered in).

I do not daily drive the car, but i don't track it, either. Its a Sunday driver for me that gets less then 4k miles a year.

My question is....Am I far enough off to warrant going back to take a half degree of negative camber out of each wheel? Or are my settings ok for a street driven car?

Thanks

-1.5 front is perfectly fine, though if you don't track or autocross it, -1.25 would be better. For the rear you want -1 to -1.25.

 

[MedStang]

What shop did you go to? If you don't mind me asking.

 

[Bluemustang]

-1.5 front is perfectly fine, though if you don't track or autocross it, -1.25 would be better. For the rear you want -1 to -1.25.

Why less negative camber in the rear?

 

[Doctor Fishtail]

Why less negative camber in the rear?

Tire wear.

 

[BmacIL]

Why less negative camber in the rear?

Balance between straight line performance and cornering performance. The best for one is not the best for the other. The front isn't driven so you can focus on more cornering while still keeping enough for braking.

 

[ManBearPig]

I had the car aligned at Todd's Complete Auto Care in Murfreesboro TN. They aren't an alignment specific shop, but Todd is a good friend of the family, runs an honest business, is a Mustang enthusiast himself, and is as careful working on cars as I am. He also recently got a new Hunter Hawkeye alignment machine. He and I spent several hours getting everything we messed with exactly like I wanted it. When I left, I was happy. It wasn’t until I started doing some reading I found that the -1.9 rear camber isn't as ideal as I thought. I'm wondering if I should have it done again, and if so…do I shoot for -1 or closer to -1.5? There seems to be a pretty big opinion base on what is ideal, with some guys saying as much as -1.7 (and FRPP says -1.9) This is a street car, but does not see daily use. I don't mind a little more tire wear since I only put 4k miles a year on the car….but I don't want to wear out a set of tires immediately, either. I'm at 3800 miles now (most of those miles have been post-drop) and the tires are wearing pretty evenly so far. My main concern is handling, as I still feel the car is a little twitchy and unstable. Would less camber (front and rear, or even rear only) make a noticeable difference? Or am I just feeling a positive effect of drop springs…quicker handling?

 

[Gibbo205]

Hi there

This is what I would sum up:

Fast Road setup:
Front Camber: -1.00to-1.25
Front toe: 0:05 toe in either side
Caster: Max possible should be +7
Rear Camber: -1.25to-1.50
Rear toe: 0:12 toe in either side


Track setup (street tyres)
Front camber: -1.50to-1.75
Front toe: neutral or slight toe out
Caster: Max so 7+
Rear camber: -1.60-1.80
Rear toe: 0.12 toe in either side

If running semi slick then dial in more negative camber front and rear, again more so if running a slick, if conditions are wet then ideally run fast road setup on track unless you have cut wet slicks.


Drag setup:
Front Camber: -1.00
Front toe: 0:02 toe in either side
Front caster: 7+
Rear Camber: -0.50, or even 0.00
Rear toe: 0:05 toe in either side


The above are good starting points, also for track driving a lot is down to driver preference also.

 

[Norm Peterson]

As you seem to have found, even the settings for street-only driving will be somewhat subject to driver preference. Personally, I'd try adjusting the front toes to a tiny bit 'in' (something like 0.05° or a little less individual, definitely under 0.1° total).

Lightening up the amount of negative rear camber relative to the front camber will reduce understeer. It would be up to you whether slightly 'looser' handling is something you'd want.

Stiffer springing probably has made the car take a set a bit more quickly (it's not rolling quite as far and it gets there more quickly).


Try to avoid looking at visible rear camber with an IRS like it's something being 'wrong' (like you might for a stick-axle car thinking the axle had somehow become bent). Once it's set to your preference for your driving, let the resulting appearance look 'right' to you because it actually would be 'right' for you.


Norm

 

[NightmareMoon]

Norm knows his stuff. If the car still feels a little twitchy, try slightly more toe in as he suggests.

Toe makes the steering twitchy, stable, or gives you a dead spot if you go too far. Camber wont have as much of an effect like that.

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